Photo – Cycling Ireland
Former Ards CC member Anthony Mitchell is standing for President of Cycling Ireland.
Anthony was a member of Ards CC in the late ’70s and early ’80s, winning several Northern Ireland schoolboy championships and medals on the road, including a notable 1-2 with Alastair Martin at the NICF road race championships in 1980 (organised by our great rivals North Down). Anthony and Alastair also won the Northern Ireland Schools Cycling Championship for Regent House School, and represented Northern Ireland at the English Schools Cycling Association Championships.
Riders and officials at the ESCA championships in 1980. The Northern Ireland Team was made up of John Daly (Foyle), Alastair Martin (Ards), Gregory Hogan (Clan Eireann) and Anthony Mitchell (Ards). The team officials were Anthony’s father Hugh (top right), Ivan Towell (behind Jack), and a young looking Jack Watson (in the glasses).
Following his success, Anthony arranged with Regent House that he could go out cycling during games lessons, and soon several Ards CC riders were able to take advantage of this far-sighted policy, including Alastair, Brian Duff, John Speers and Andrew Doggart. This helped many riders develop a life long love of the sport, and was perhaps one of Anthony’s first brushes with the administrative side of the sport.
Anthony helped set up Movilla CC, and later joined North Down. He played a key role in the organising committee for the Tour of the North for many years, and also helped to set up and run the North Down Coastal Challenge – the largest Sportive event in Northern Ireland until the arrival of the Giro. For the last two years he has been on the board of Cycling Ireland, and has led a widely praised revival of the Irish road race league.
For many years, Jack Watson (also briefly a member of Ards CC) has been a top official in Cycling Ireland, including spells as President and Secretary. It is great to see another local man also reaching the top levels on the administrative side of our Sport.
For more details on Anthony’s campaign, and the other two candidates, check our sticky bottle.com for profiles over the next few days. To support Anthony, the club needs to have members present at the CI AGM in Santry on 7th November. This is a great chance to see how our sport is organised and run as well. If you’re interested in going down, contact any member of committee for more information.