JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers ON COURSE—Skyler Seino, 8, at right, hits the track to practice with her uncle, David Seino, at Simi's Sycamore BMX track last month. The pair is part of Team Inseino, a successful local BMX racing club. When David Seino was 6 his parents took him out to their local BMX track in Simi Valley.

"We thought we'd just go out there for fun and let him ride for a little bit," Lisa Seino said. "Oh, no. He got on the bike in July 1999 and became an expert in less than a year."

After David started meeting friends at Simi's Sycamore BMX track, the Seinos decided to form a team.

Now Team Inseino is experiencing extreme success with eight riders of all ages, from an 8yearold emerging star to a 69-year-old stunner affectionately known as "Grandpa Bill."

Team Inseino finished its season over Thanksgiving weekend, placing third overall at Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. The scoring is based on points from a team's top six national race scores and a doubled nationals score.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TRAIL BLAZER—Skyler Seino has quickly proven she can hang with the boys on a BMX track. At age 8, she is Team Inseino's youngest member. Despite the group's successes, trophies aren't the focus of the team.

"We didn't pick our riders just because they were the best," Lisa Seino said. "We looked at the whole picture, how dedicated they were. And they knew that bad attitudes were unacceptable. We love the fact that they love to ride and they practice hard."

All in the family

Family is also very important to Team Inseino and the sport.

"The people are amazing," Lisa Seino said. "It's a very family oriented sport. Parents don't just drop their kids off and drive away. And even off the track, families do things together outside of racing, like camping. We've made our best friends from BMX racing."

All the Seino children have experience riding. Jeremy, 23, raced until he was 18. Steve, 27, has an 8-year-old daughter already dominating the field—Skyler Seino is the youngest rider on the team.

Skyler, who splits her time between her dad's house in Simi Valley and her mom's house in Camarillo, is a third-grader at Tierra Linda Elementary School in Camarillo.

"She's a really good little rider," Lisa Seino said of her granddaughter. "Because she's only with her dad sometimes, a lot of these riders get to practice way more than her, but she's beating top U.S. riders. She's 100 percent dedicated."

Skyler hits the track every other weekend and on Wednesdays when she's with her dad. She said being able to spend time with some of her family makes practicing even more fun.

"I've been doing a lot of practice," said Skyler. "Sometimes I ride alone, and sometime I ride with my Uncle David. I really like it. I like mostly everything about it. It's a really fun thing to do."

Because BMX racing is a maledominated sport, Skyler started out racing against boys. While there are three classes of male riders— novice, intermediate and expert— there is only one women's category.

"She really likes beating the boys," said her father, Steve Seino. "I have dads come up to me and say, 'Wow, your daughter is fast. She beat my son bad.' She loves that."

Skyler has been riding for nearly two years and said she doesn't see an end in sight when it comes to her biking days. She'd like to be an Olympic rider one day.

"When I started I just tried to do half the track, and then I started to get used to it," Skyler said. "Now I do it all. It's really fun."

High hopes

A couple of Skyler's teammates are also focused on the next Olympics.

"They will be really training and trying to make that 2012 Olympics," Lisa Seino said. "David will be old enough and really trying for London."

Lisa's daughter Lindsay used to race too. The 17-year-old is planning a racing fundraiser at the Simi track to raise money for ALS, a disease that claimed Lindsey's uncle's life.

The race, which is Lindsay's senior project at Santa Susana High School, is Dec. 14. Team Inseino is helping her with the project (See sidebar).

The rest of the team is diverse in their ages, but all perform well for the team.

Blake Carney lives in Camarillo. The 17-year-old has been riding since he was 5 and this year finished fourth in the country for the second year in a row.

He's been with Team Inseino for about five years after racing with other teams and on his own.

"It's been good," Carney said. "We've traveled a lot and been across the country. We've rented a lot of cars together and shared a lot of hotel rooms. It's really fun, and I'm really glad to be on their team."

"Grandpa" Bill Bryant got into the sport because of his grandkids, Alex Anthony, 17, and Carly Dyar, 14, who are also on the team.

Rider Bill Shaw is 41, and Elly Wenzel-Wright, a German citizen who won the World Championship for Germany in 2007, is 43.

The Seino's have kept the team small, and they pay for all the entry fees, jerseys and racing trips.

"There are a lot of teams with 20 to 30 riders," Lisa Seino said. "With a small group of eight riders, we race a lot of national races and do very well."

Well-traveled

Team Inseino travels all over the country for national races, including those in Nebraska, South Carolina, Nevada and Florida.

"Sometimes I say BMX is an excuse for traveling," Lisa Seino said with a laugh. "We've seen so much—Gettysburg; New York; Washington, D.C.; the Liberty Bell; Niagara Falls. Where we go, we always try to see something educational or at least something—even if it's going to the Hershey (chocolate factory) when we went to Pennsylvania."

Many recent Olympians come from the local area and practice at the Simi track.

Riders like Jill Kintner and Mike Day have brought popularity to BMX racing in recent years.

"Our riders are very good," Lisa Seino said. "They could very easily be on a factory team, but there is so much pressure, sometimes that can take the fun out of racing. We have really good families, and the team is very family oriented."

Carney agreed.

"They really want to make sure you have fun," Carney said about the Seinos. "It's not really the type of team where the main focus is how you do. They don't get mad at you if you didn't place well. It's more about getting out there and having fun. They support you and are glad you are on their team."

For more information, visit www.teaminseino.com.