Sophia Foresta Joins Team Mongoose And USA BMX Foundation To Empower Kids To Learn Through Bikes

Regardless of discipline, the sport of cycling has long been dominated by white men. In the last decade, however, accelerated by the slated addition of freestyle BMX in the Tokyo Olympics next summer, countries around the world have been developing riders across a diverse scale of gender and ethnicity.

In the spirit of that progression, the USA BMX Foundation announced BMX racer Sophia Foresta as its new marketing coordinator, where she will champion the USA BMX educational programming at schools across the United States. In tandem, Mongoose also announced Foresta has joined its pro BMX team.

The first woman to hold this position at the USA BMX Foundation, Foresta will be drawing on her own experience as a BMX pro and coach, fueled by her longtime goal of getting as many kids on bikes as possible.

“I’m so stoked for the opportunity. I’m over the moon,” Foresta said by phone. “USA BMX approached me about the opportunity to work with the foundation, and it comes hand-in-hand with working with Mongoose. Mongoose being the awesome brand it is, it’s a dream come true.”

Like cycling, STEM is also a male-dominated field, and representation in both areas is crucial, Foresta says. “USA BMX sees how important it is for women to see other women succeeding to reach their goals,” she said. “In STEM, if you don’t see other women, it makes it hard to see yourself in that position. The more women get into it and break that glass ceiling, the more little girls will look at that and become more confident in their ability to achieve those goals.”

Foresta rode for GT Bicycles for 12 years, racking up accomplishments along the way. She was named 2016 Sports Illustrated High School Athlete of the Month, she’s a two-time National No. 1 Amateur Girl, and she is the 2017 USA BMX Grand National Pro Women Winner. She was also a member of the 2019 Team USA Elite World Champion and 2019 Team USA Pan American Games teams.

Cycling talent runs in the family. Foresta got her start in BMX at six years old when her four-year-old brother, Joey, saw a flyer for Rad Canyon BMX. “I watched him for a little bit and I was like, ‘Oh, that looks fun; I want to do that.” Joey Foresta is now a professional downhill mountain bike racer. Foresta dabbled in other sports—gymnastics, track, dance, competitive cheerleading—but became serious about racing with an aim toward going pro around age 11.

Though BMX and mountain bike racing aren’t for the faint of heart, Foresta’s parents, Ashli and Steve, have always supported the siblings’ dream 100 percent as long as they put in the effort. “They always joke sometimes they wish we’d take up golf because it’s a little safer,” Foresta says, laughing. “I don’t blame them.”

“So many opportunities I’ve had up to this point are because of the awesome people at GT, and I’ll forever be grateful for that,” Foresta said. “They really supported me through the transition.”

Her new role is a natural marriage of her pro cycling career and her studies; she’s working on a business management degree with a minor in deaf studies at Utah Valley University. (That’s right; on top of being a pro BMX racer and her new role with the USA BMX Foundation, Foresta also attends school full-time). It’s rare for professional athletes to find opportunities to work within their field while actively competing; Foresta knows how fortunate she is.

“This is a really unique opportunity for me to combine my passion for BMX and education and getting kids on bikes,” Foresta says. “I know the USA BMX Foundation trusts the athletes have a perspective we can bring to the kids, and we bring a different angle than someone who hasn’t raced professionally.” In 2019, Mongoose and the USA BMX Foundation brought nine-time USA BMX Amateur National Champion Justin Posey into the same role.

The American Bicycle Association (ABA), the world’s largest sanctioning body for BMX, formed the USA BMX Foundation in 2005. The overarching mission is to foster a lifelong love of cycling, specifically among youth.

USA BMX Foundation goals include ​promoting an active and healthy lifestyle through physical fitness and nutritional education; reinforcing the importance of STEM fields in day-to-day life; introducing new youth participants to BMX in a safe, positive and fun environment; increasing awareness of the sport of cycling; providing a clear transition path from educational programs to a BMX member track and assisting students and educators in their pursuit of educational opportunities.

Though the pandemic has made in-person school visits more difficult, eventually Foresta will be focusing on helping bring bikes to kids through local programs; teaching kids about STEM subjects through the lens of a BMX bike; connecting kids and their parents to local BMX member tracks, where they can do their first race for free; and overall just showing kids who are interested in riding BMX bikes how many resources exist they may not know about.

Her deaf studies degree and knowledge of American Sign Language will allow Foresta to teach and coach even more kids who are historically left behind in sports. Near South Jordan, Utah, where Foresta is from, a parent spearheaded a program that brought a group of kids from the local deaf school to the track to try BMX. A sophomore in high school at the time, Foresta and her mentor coached the class. An interpreter helped facilitate communication, but Foresta knew how much more hands-on and impactful her teaching could be if she could communicate with the kids directly. “Just because of that language barrier doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t be able to get on a bike and ride,” she says.

In 2019, more than 200,000 kids took part in bike-centric school activities through USA BMX Foundation programming, with a curriculum including track modeling, a BMX STEM bike program and the incentive-based Read to Ride program to keep kids engaged. In partnership with Mongoose, the plan is to extend these opportunities to even more children. 

To better understand how children can learn STEM skills during the pandemic, Mongoose commissioned a study of 2,000 American parents. The results revealed that more than 70 percent of parents fear their child falling behind in those subjects, with a contributing factor being the lack of hands-on learning. The USA BMX Foundation curriculum will ensure kids get valuable exposure to those skills in innovative ways. Through the program, USA BMX members and track volunteers also have the opportunity to earn college scholarships.

Foresta will compete on her shiny new Mongoose bike for the first time this weekend at USA BMX Grand Nationals at the River Spirit Expo in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “It’s quite the platform to put on a new jersey,” Foresta laughs.

As if she doesn’t already have enough on her plate, Foresta is also hoping to qualify to represent Team USA in BMX racing at the Olympics. Qualification for the postponed 2021 Tokyo Games was interrupted in the spring by Covid-19; currently, Foresta sits outside a qualifying ranking, but World Championships will prove crucial to making an Olympic team. And if 2021 isn’t in the cards, Foresta is happy to wait until 2024.

“It would mean the world to be to be able to do that,” Foresta says of qualifying for the Olympics. “I’ve had the opportunity to go to world cups and world championships representing the U.S. Every win and every opportunity is relative; I feel just as much pride in winning a race as I do seeing a smile on a kid’s face when they do something new and they’re excited about it. A spot on the Olympic team would be unfathomable.”

“The goal is to get kids on bikes,” Foresta continued. “If that’s something that I can do for years and years down the road, I will take it any day of the week. It’s a dream come true in every aspect; as long as I can do this and help kids and bring people into the sport, I’ll do it.”