For the first time in its 70-year history, a woman was chosen as manager for a team in Motocross Des Nations, which will be held in Maggiorra, Italy in September.
Pro-team motocross manager Kourtney Lloyd, who owns Cycle North in Prince George with her brothers, has been appointed by the Canadian Motorcycle Association to be Team Canada manager.
"It's quite an honour and I'm pretty proud of it," said Lloyd, 31. "And I hope I can make all the girls proud."
Along with a pro team that Lloyd has taken to victory with five Canadian Arenacross titles, she also has 32 amateur riders who ride under Cycle North, she said.
To be considered for manager of the Canadian team that includes three riders and an alternate, Lloyd had to go through an application process where 25 people were considered.
"There was an interview process that we had to go through so we were asked how we'd handle different situations, how we would deal with things, what riders we'd pick - mechanics, how the logistics would work, how we'd ship the bikes over to Italy - just basically give them a game plan on how we would run the team," said Lloyd.
For the Motocross Des Nations (MXON), equated to be an Olympic-calibre event, every country submits three riders to compete and their combined score after two days of racing determines how each country places.
To choose members of Team Canada Lloyd had to consider how the pro competitors are doing in the National series where the west coast competition has just been completed.
"Obviously, who had the best results but also who would be the best representative for Canada as far as looking for their on and off track attitude, how they act, how they interact with the fans and with the media and there was just a few certain things I was looking for like who would be a team player."
The three chosen to compete are Kaven Benoit, from Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, Que., Tyler Medaglia, from Brookfield, N.S., and Shawn Maffenbeier, from Swift Current, Sask. Cole Thompson, from Brigden, Ont., will be listed as the alternate rider for 2016.
To offset the cost of taking the team over to compete in Italy, Lloyd is selling raffle tickets for $100 each with a grand prize of $5,000 cash, a trip for two to Las Vegas to go to a motocross race all expenses paid and there's also paid sponsorships available from $1,000 to $3,000.
