Piedmont College Head Cycling Coach Jame Carney has been a familiar face in the community as of late, and that continued for the coach of the school’s newest program last week as he spoke at the Toccoa Rotary Club.
Coach Carney served as the speaker at the Toccoa chapter of the Rotary International Club on Tuesday, January 24 speaking about his experiences both with cycling at Piedmont College and in the Olympics, something which has become synonymous with the latest addition to Piedmont athletics.
“Over the years I have spoken at a few Rotary Clubs and I have always found them to be a great opportunity and experience,” said Carney of the speaking engagement. “Speaking with the Toccoa Rotary Club has special interest to us, the Piedmont Cycling Team, because not only are we just beginning but I feel that our entire area we live in is an undiscovered country for incredible cycling.
“Speaking with the Rotary Club allows me to not only speak about what were creating at Piedmont College but to speak about how amazing our area is. There is some work to be done to fulfill our true potential on both sides. Starting a team from scratch without even a club to pull from is a challenge but well worth it and so is all the hard work that needs to be put into the Lake Russell Refuge to rebuild the trails that were there decades ago. The potential of both these entities is immense.”
It’s the second time that the Piedmont Cycling Head Coach has been to a Rotary meeting as the speaker having done so in Athens, Georgia earlier in the year.
Though the coach’s Olympic record can be intimidating to the general public or even experienced riders, Carney shared his philosophy of the program which expressed to potential student-athletes that they don’t necessarily need to have the same resume to ride at Piedmont.
Carney’s experiences resonated with the group though and his talk on what brought him to Demorest was especially a piece of interest for the Rotary members at the Toccoa chapter of whom many either attended Piedmont or at least had come to know a graduate of the college.
The appearance only furthers the exposure of a program who sent shockwaves through the sport when PC won six national titles at their first-ever National Championship event, USA Cycling Track Nationals back in the early fall.
With the impact that Piedmont cycling has had, Carney is also aware of the impact that the Rotary clubs can have in the local community saying, “Now that I have spent a lot of time our surrounding roads, I know which go through, which don’t, which are in desperate need of minor bike shoulders/lanes. The Rotary Clubs are always super connected to their community and often have great input for solutions to problems/needs.”
Piedmont cycling returns when the Green and Gold travel to Gainesville, Florida for the Swamp Classic hosted by the University of Florida on February 11 and 12.
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