General Team Policies

An important goal for Athletic Mentors is to provide opportunities for team members to
realize their potential as athletes. The management team will do its best to provide
athletes with guidance and support necessary to excel as individuals
and as a team. It is each athlete’s responsibility to represent our
program and sponsors in the manner prescribed by Athletic Mentors.

It is a privilege to be a member of  TEAM ATHLETIC MENTORS. Failure or refusal to comply with our policies would be inconsistent with the best interests of the team, its sponsors, your fellow team members and any involved party.

These  policies are meant to set forth guiding principles for the
conduct of those representing ATHLETIC MENTORS and its sponsors in any public setting. If you have questions that are not specifically addressed in this handbook, please contact team management for further clarification. 

General Athlete Guidelines

1. Be on time for team meetings, scheduled departures, volunteer activities or
   media appearances.
2. Treat all support staff with respect and courtesy: they are part of your team.
3. Conduct yourself professionally at all times. Remember, you are an
   ambassador for your team, its sponsors, and the sport in general.
4. You are responsible for knowing what goes into your body. Please make
   yourself familiar with all lists of banned or prohibited substances by UCI, USAT,
   USAC, USADA, WADA.  Use of banned substances is grounds for dismissal from the Team. 
5. Take care of yourself. Eat well, sleep well, train smart. You are responsible
   for taking your position on the team seriously and representing a healthy and active lifestyle.
6. All team winnings for road racing (cycling) will be split evenly in each category among those riders who participate and finish the race.

Dress Code & Team Uniform

1. Team members are required to wear sponsor current, appropriate team clothing at all competitive, promotional, media and volunteer events.
2. Wear your helmet any time you are on your bike. This means while riding
   to and from event starts, registration, training, touring, racing and riding to the podium.
3. All riders must use team equipment (if issued to them) and wear the current year team uniform head to toe for competition.
4. Any clothing you wear at a race or event that is not part of your team uniform
   must be black, (i.e. leg warmers, knee warmers, shoe covers, etc.)
5. Do not cut or alter the team uniform in any way.
6. Place race numbers so as not to cover sponsor’s logos, but also keep in
   mind race official requests for number placement on your uniform.
7. Be prepared at events. Pack for all weather conditions. Your race day
   bag should have essentials and fresh clothes as needed for podium presentation.
8. Check the Sponsor Events and Signup page for details regarding what to wear for Sponsor events.

Race and Podium Conduct

We want our sponsors to be proud of our conduct all the time, but especially
when wearing the team uniform. We are ambassadors for the businesses whose
names appear on our team uniform.

When participating in events:

1. Always, always, always wear your helmet when riding your bicycle.
2. Race as a team (for road cyclists), even if that means sacrificing personal goals.
3. Pick up after yourself.
4. While racing, no profanity. Conduct yourself as you would want to be dealt with while interacting with other racers. Never express anything but respect to officials.
5. No public urination.
6. No visiting bars in race kit.
7. When on the podium, always wear clean team apparel to represent sponsors in any photos taken. A race jersey, wind vest or wind/corsa jacket is best for sponsor visibility.
8. You are responsible for getting a picture of any podium placing you obtain. Do NOT wear Team Athletic Mentors t-shirts on the podium. Kit ONLY.

Prize Money Splits for Team Events 

For a one day road race or criterium: Prize money is split equally amongst all riders who race and finish in that field. The only exception is if someone chooses to not finish and the DNF was not the result of a mechanical issue. A flat tire in a race with a wheel car does not qualify as a mechanical.

For a stage race: All prize money is split by all riders participating in that field for each day’s prize money and the overall prize money. This includes a time trial stage.

For an Omnium: Riders are not required to race all stages. This differs from a stage race, where they are. For this reason, each day prize money is split between all riders racing that day. For the overall, splits are done by percentage of participation. For example, in a 2 day omnium, a rider racing all days gets a full split, but a rider racing one day gets half a split.

For primes in Crits: Cash is split between everyone racing in that field. Non-cash prizes go to the person who won the prime and it is encouraged that they be shared if at all possible.