Meet the Krankin’ Team!
We have an awesome team of very skilled riders coaching the Krankin' Kids each term. Our coaches all have one thing in common - they’re extremely passionate about mountain biking! A varied bunch, they have many different skills and experiences between them. Have a read and get to know more about them here…
Emma Bawtree
Krankin’ Kids Manager and Senior Coach
Emma is passionate about riding her bike, and has been riding mountain bikes for over 20 years! Emma has a strong background of racing, six of those years racing on the National Mountain Bike Circuit. Emma started Krankin’ Kids 3 years ago after recognising a demand for junior mountain bike coaching. Emma loves the fact that the programme has been met with such enthusiasm from so many junior riders, and is looking forward to many more terms of fun and good times on two wheels!
Qualifications:
NZOIA MTB Level 1 & 2 and an NZOIA Assessor
PMBIA Level 1
PHEC
Syd Fry
Operations Manager
Syd is hugely passionate about helping our rangatahi grow and learn in the outdoors. Coming from an outdoor instructional background Syd is the first one to put her hand up for an adventure. She says there is nothing better than seeing a kids confidence and self belief grow through learning how to mountain Bike.
Qualifications:
Bachelors degree in Outdoor and Environmental Education.
Co-Medical response First aid
NELSON TASMAN COACHES
Alice Baker
Senior Coach
Alice is motivated by seeing the incredible progression of riders in the course. Alice loves to ride all over Nelson, and tries to challenge herself on a regular basis. The overall growth of mountain biking in Nelson is something Alice feels passionate about, and wants to encourage as much as possible, but especially for female and younger riders. Alice usually coaches on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in Nelson and Monday in Kaiteriteri.
Qualifications:
PMBIA Level 1
PHEC
Marty Clark
Senior Coach
Marty is a big hit with all of the Krankin’ Kids! One of our most inspirational coaches, we are stoked to have Marty on the team - he's awesome! Marty coaches our Richmond riders and often part of our Krankin' Kamp coaches.
Brenda Clapp
Senior Coach
Brenda (AKA Bob!) started cross country racing 20+ years ago racing nationally and internationally. Nowadays, any racing is done on her Juliana trail bike or Santa Cruz single speed. Bob is also addicted to bike packing – mostly because of the exploring and being able to eat as much food as she wants! Bob is found coaching the Richmond riders and loves it when she sees the riders find their flow on the Omega trail in Silvan Forest.
Janek Manderson
Senior Coach
Janek is a fantastic rider who loves all things outdoors and active! He has made waves in the adventure racing word, inspiring the Krankin’ Kids through his motivation and drive!
Yaz Harry
Senior Coach
Yaz is an all-rounder with an impressive list of trails she has ticked off! Yaz is a passionate outdoors woman who excels in everything she puts her mind to; from adventure racing to rock Yaz is out there giving it a go! The kids love Yas’s adventurous sprit and the energy she brings to a session!
Sarnim Dean
Senior Coach - Nelson
Sarnim is an experienced rider who first fell in love with bikes in the road cycling scene. With two young boys in tow Sarnim started mountain biking and enjoyed watching his two sons excel at Mountain biking. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to train up as a mountain bike coach! Sarnim is a passionate and caring coach who empowers young riders to reach every riding goal!
Rebecca Hufflet
Senior Coach - Nelson
Rebecca or better know as Bex is an incredible rider and a very knowledgeable and patient coach. Bex knows how to get 100% out of every rider in her group. Bex loves taking all girl groups and is amazing at helping young female riders feel confident on the trails. Bex’s favourite place to ride is Fringe Hill in Nelson!
Harry Browne
Junior Coach
Harry has been a Krankin' Kid, Krankin' Trainee and now a Krankin' COACH! Harry is energetic and uses that energy to motivate the kids on that up hill grind ready to smash that down hill!! He is fantastic at breaking down skills and nailing those demo's.
We were so excited to see Harry graduate as a coach and know he will continue do epic things in the MTB world!
Lisa Hill
Senior Coach
Lisa has a heart of gold and a huge passion for Mountain Biking. Lisa has been coaching for us for around a year now and always puts 100% into her sessions. Her passion is contagious and her riders always come back with huge smiles, feeling proud of everything they have achieved. We are very lucky to have Lisa on our team, you are awesome Lisa!
Kate Bryant
Junior Coach
Kate was recommended to us from her Outdoor Education teacher and WOW - Kate is awesome!
She started her training to become a coach through our trainee programme. Kate is an excellent rider, role model and is fantastic at helping each and every kid feel great about mountain biking.
Thanks for being you Kate and welcome to the Krankin' Kids Coaching team!
Suz Clark
Senior Coach
Suz is a brilliant coach who puts 100% into helping riders smash their goals. Suz is always smiling and brings the positive vibes to every ride. Send a nervous beginner with Suz and they always come back full of confidence and frothing for more Mountain Biking!! Thanks for being part of the Krankin' Kids team Suz, you are awesome!!!
Vinnie Thompson
Junior Coach
Vinnie has been a Krankin’ Kid, Trainee and now graduated as a Krankin’ Coach!! We were super proud to watch Vinnie learn and grow into the awesome coach he is today. Vinnie knows what it’s like to be in the Krankin’ Kids programme so he knows how to support the riders to achieve all their riding goals! The kids are always a massive fan of Vinnie and love to look up to him as their riding role model!
Rio Innes
Junior Coach
Rio is a fantastic rider and has been working hard in our trainee programme to become a coach. Rio is patient, engaging and can give a mean demo! Rio is starting on Monday out at Kaiteriteri. Welcome to the Krankin’ Whanāu Rio, your riding talent is fantastic and we can’t wait to see what you can achieve.
Annie Swainn
Junior Coach
Annie has been training up as a coach through our Wāhine MTB coach starter kit and has excelled in the programme! Annie builds a great rapport with the kids and really enjoys seeing riders challenge themselves and achieve more than they first though possible! Annie is great at demonstrating skills and talking riders through every step of the skill till they nail it!
Blenheim Coaches
Fred de Zwart
Senior Coach - Blenheim
Fred has been riding mountain bikes since before they existed!! He started mountain biking at high school and raced through university. He landed a job as a bike mechanic before spending 6 months cycle touring around Europe. Scotland was also blessed with this bike mechanic before he returned to NZ.
Now, with a family full of keen riders, he loves exploring all the amazing trails we’ve got in this part of the world.
Lachlan McNabb
Junior Coach - Blenheim
Lachlan loves to ride and race on the trails in Blenheim and beyond. After initially attending Krankin’ Kids, Lachlan soon realized he would like to teach others so is currently training to become a coach. When coaching Lachlan loves seeing kids getting excited over their progression and his favourite part of coaching is seeing kids love the sport as much as he does.
Jack Wilkes
Junior Coach - Blenheim
Jack has been riding bikes his whole life and has enjoyed every minute of it! From hanging out with his mates and having a laugh, to racing at National Level. He loves it all. After doing a few Krankin’ Kids courses, Jack also now gets a buzz from teaching others and passing on his skills to the younger generation so is training to become a coach. Good for you Jack!