Izzy Harris - ERC Youth Convenor
18 August 2022
We are pleased to announce that Isobel 'Izzy' Harris as taken on the role of ERC Youth Convenor. She brings energy, experience and enthusiasm to youth cycling and has done a great job with our Go-Ride programme over the last couple years. Please welcome her into this post.
Hiya, my name is Izzy, and I’m stepping into the role as Youth Convenor for ERC, which I’m very excited about. I grew up in Cardiff and moved to Edinburgh in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
I fell in love with cycling as a child due to my bike-crazed parents and joined a club (Maindy Flyers) at age 10 and never looked back. I started coaching when I was 16 as part of my volunteering commitment for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. As I was based at the velodrome in Cardiff I ran mainly track and road sessions for the youth club as well as the go-ride sessions for younger riders.
When I moved to Edinburgh, I soon tracked down ERC and asked if they had a need for more coaches (a recurring theme) and I’ve been here ever since. I took charge of Go-Ride at Inch Park in 2020 to restart youth activity post-lockdown and have enjoyed seeing the sessions flourish and our waiting list clear.
Now that I’ve graduated and have finished other commitments (Scottish Cycling’s Young People’s Panel) I have the time to dedicate to the Youth Convenor role as well as coaching at Inch Park for the foreseeable. I have a fairly wide discipline background now, road, track, cyclocross and mountain biking and hope I can use this to develop the youth sections. I’m passionate about widening participation for girls and making the sport more accessible for those from a lower income background, and I would like to work with the wider committee to develop the youth section using the experience I had as a youth rider and as a coach.
If you have any questions or ideas for the youth sections, please drop me an email at isobel.c.harris@gmail.com