Larry English is looking for some help, and he’s asking anyone willing to donate their time and effort to make Chattanooga’s debut as host of the USA Cycling Professional Championships a success.
The US Pro Championships will take place in Chattanooga May 25-27, with the top men and women professional cyclists competing for a national championship in road racing and individual time trial. The racing will be held at Volkswagen, downtown Chattanooga and on Lookout Mountain.
English, a local cyclist, has been given the daunting task of recruiting the approximately 450 volunteers that will be needed to help make sure this massive event rolls smoothly. Of those English has recruited so far, he’s assigned “captains” who are in charge of the different volunteer assignments to make the task run as efficiently as possible as more people sign up to help.
“We’ve been getting a fairly decent response so far,” he says. “We’ve got about 150 folks signed up, but we still have a ways to go.” English has been reaching out to local groups in his search for volunteers and he’s set up a Facebook page and web page where anyone interested can sign up to help as a course marshall, in the VIP area and elsewhere to make sure the racing goes smoothly for both racers and spectators.
The need for more volunteers is crucial, according to English, as the city prepares to put on this world-class sporting event for the first time.