Pasadena Youth Prepares For World BMX Championships In Azerbaijan

Instead of spending his final weeks of first grade with his Jacobsville Elementary School classmates, 7-year-old Trey Boudreaux will be 6,000 miles away in Baku, Azerbaijan, riding his BMX bikes as a member of the USA BMX team at the world championship competition.

Celebrating a meteoric rise in the racing sport, Trey will board a 15-hour flight with his father, Ricky Boudreaux, as they head to the Caspian Sea country for the biggest race of Trey’s young life from June 1 to June 8.

“He’s one of the few very good riders at such a young age,” said Tom Sinchak, Chesapeake BMX track manager. “Trey excelled very fast in this sport. Between gate or track practice and race days, he’s riding every day of the week.”

Two years ago, Trey’s parents, Ricky and Tiffany, took the training wheels off Trey’s bicycle and unknowingly launched their son’s racing career.

“Right away, he started standing up on his bike!” said Tiffany. “He would do things on his bike that we never thought a 5-year-old could do.”

Trey liked to watch motorbike racing on television, so his parents took him to Chesapeake BMX, where he immediately excelled. He entered races and began racking up points with every win or top finish, which USA BMX records. The organization tallies points to assign riders to levels, either novice, intermediate or expert. Riders reaching expert level in each age group qualify for national championships or the world qualifiers, which were held in Florida in March.

Trey’s penchant for winning was noted by USA BMX and he will represent the United States at the 2018 BMX World Championships in Azerbaijan.

Racing has taken Trey all over the United States and Canada in just two years. “As a parent, you want to be supportive of anything your child wants to do,” said Tiffany. “But sometimes we just think, ‘Oh wow, this is crazy!’ But it’s what he likes to do, and he’s good at it.”

Even though Trey will be out of school for an entire week, he knows his classmates, teachers and principal will be cheering for him from Pasadena.

“My friends think it’s pretty cool that I get to do this,” said Trey. “My principal and teachers are very supportive as long as I do well in school.”

Trey said racing can oftentimes be nerve-wracking, so he concentrates on staying calm and steady, which will help mitigate falls.

He plans to keep racing BMX for the foreseeable future and then perhaps transition to motorbikes or even take a run at making the X Games BMX team.

Sinchak said there are 425 BMX tracks throughout the U.S.A. Racers are governed by one league, USA BMX, which holds 33 national competitions per year. Chesapeake BMX, located in Severn, is the top-rated track in the eastern region.

“The thrill of going over jumps or chasing someone down never gets old,” said Sinchak. “At Chesapeake BMX, our youngest riders push pedal-less bikes. Our senior riders are in their 60s. Age doesn’t matter with BMX. It’s something entire families can do together.”

Azerbaijan borders Russia and Georgia to the north, Armenia to the west, Iran to the south, and shares a short border with Turkey on the Caspian Sea. Approximately 9 million people live in Azerbaijan.