The UK has been missing a Youth and Amateur Motocross Development Programme for some years now since Roy Barton and Mark Hucklebridge ran a programme under the ACU some years ago but sadly lost the budget back in 2007/08.
With Roy Barton taking on NORA92 in late 2018 and the development of the organisation over the years, and an introduction with Coach Robb Beams, the plan to put a new development programme in the UK came to life.
READ MORE: BRITISH MOTOCROSS NEWS
We took 5 minutes out of Roy’s busy day to discuss what made him invest back into a youth development programme and looking ahead into the 2026 season as the programme enters its fourth year.
What made you want to put a vast amount of money each year into the development of youth and amateur riders in the UK?
“I worked with Mark Hucklebridge on a youth academy back in 2007/8 until we lost the budget and have been keen to put something new together ever since. It was only with the development of NORA 92 as a business, and an introduction to Coach Robb Beams coming at the right time, that a plan came together. Both Coach Robb and I share a vision of development within the sport and what we feel it needs to give riders that final edge over their competitors. Robb has been doing this kind of thing very successfully for many years in the states, under his business of Complete Racing Solutions, and we formulated a plan on how to bring it to fruition in the UK.”
What is your vision and goal of the NORA CRS Development Team?
“We started out by offering places on the squad to the winners from the MX Master Kids with a plan to work with them and develop them into adult racing, hopefully then progressing into a professional team. What we offer through access to Coach Robb is an intense programme based around Fitness, Health, Mental State and Wellbeing. Package and used in the right way this can be the way to finding that final 10% required to reach the top, obviously there must be some raw talent as a base to work on to start with.”
What is the aim of the NORA CRS Development Team?
“The aim of the development team is to give back to the sport in such a way that we aid in producing top UK riders for the future, working with riders throughout their career, even when they have reached the top. Since starting the team three years ago we have faced some unexpected challenges that I believe has held it back from reaching its full potential and we have had a fairly high turn over in team riders, according to Coach Robb this is unusual in the early years of such a project. We currently have some good talent on the squad that we will hope will stick with us and go on to achieve their own goals within the sport.”
Can you give a brief overview of anything potentially new or changes that may be coming to the team in 2026 onwards?
“We are now at a crossroads in the program whereby we need to evaluate our progress and work out the right pathway to moving forward in a positive light, I believe that one goal that we have not managed to achieve is getting the word out about what we are doing and what we have to offer to riders and potentially teams, something that we will be planning for over the coming weeks. We have come to learn that the program is intensive and needs 100% dedication from the riders, and parents come to that, in order to get the most out of the training and information that comes from Coach Robb, including weekly training plans and nutritional plans based around the individuals own physicality and race schedule, weekly hour long calls with Coach Robb directly in Florida. One on one access to Robb and his team to discuss specific issues and items such as injury recovery, It is a massive program that is not readily available here in the UK.”
“As I have said, we see that we need to be making some changes to how we manage the program heading into the 2026 season, we have a great management team working on the program and we will be looking over the coming weeks and months at a pathway to pushing the program forward and making a true difference.”
If you would like to know more about the NORA CRS Development make sure you head over to the team website – noracrs.co.uk or if you would like to discuss directly with a member of the management team please click here to find their contact details
Words and Images by NORA CRS Development
