In order to achieve his motocross goals, Brock Leitner and his family are have built a motocross track in the Meadow Valley area.
Leitner, 18, has been involved in motocross since he was four years old and over the years, has won numerous awards and trophies at the amateur and professional levels.
As an amateur, he has won numerous championships in various classes in the Peace Motocross Association and the Canadian Motorsport Racing Corporation.
He was the winner of the Western Canadian Amateur National Champion and Silver Sprocket winner in the 250 and 450 junior class.
In the professional category, his career best finished was 10th place in the MX1 450cc Canadian Pro Nationals.
“I’d like to be a Canadian champion,” Leitner said. “I’m getting better and better.”
While he continues to compete in his sport, training is difficult.
“The local motocross track in Kelowna, being the closest track, is closed during the months I need to be training on for the series coming up,” he said. “It is currently not possible for me to do practice runs anywhere near my home town without my own track.”
As a result, he has had to train in Kamloops, making the trip from Summerland three times a week.
Leitner also competes in Supercross events, but says there is no Supercross track anywhere in Western Canada.
His track in Summerland is15 minutes from where he lives and would allow him to train for motocross and Supercross competitions.
At present, the family wants to construct a building on the property. The track will be used after the building is in place.
It will be a private facility and would not be open to the public or to other riders, he said.
Since the land is outside of Summerland’s boundaries, he and his family are working with the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen to get approval.
Once he is able to use the track, he plans to train three times a week.
He hopes to train for Supercross competitions from late October to mid December. After this training, he will travel to Supercross competitions for the next two months.
From March 1 to June 1, he plans to train for outdoor events. The competitions will follow for two and a half months.