Many a great journey starts with a letter! ....

In the case of the Rockhampton Cycling Club's latest 'Talent ID' program, it was a letter in 2007 inviting hundreds of school children to be 'strength and fitness tested' by Central Queensland University's Human Movement Science students in conjunction with an Australian Sports Commission initiative.

Dominic Toole ... keen to keep the club's success on track with CQU help

That letter has since led to further rounds of sports-lab evaluations and many a journey of sporting success, including one which exemplifies the potential of the program.

For Yeppoon's Dominic Toole, the idea of cycling was not on the radar, let alone on the horizon.

Even when the letter arrived inviting his 13-year-old son Jackson to attend a sports testing process at CQU, there was no mention of cycling.

But when Jackson was among the 17 children (aged 13-19) identified as prospects for cycling success and introduced to the club and its excellent coaching, the Toole family's outlook was changed forever.

Not only is Jackson among a fresh crop of cyclists who are already winning medals at State level, his dad Dominic has signed on as president of Rockhampton Cycling Club and his 11-year-old sister has also taken up the sport.

Now Dominic, who is also competing in club races, is looking forward to an expansion of partnership links with CQU, which has previously sponsored Rocky Cup on Wheels events and whose students have provided ongoing testing and training support for the club. 

He believes there are great opportunities for CQU to use the cycling club as a "live laboratory" for Human Movement Science students and students from other disciplines, which could be as diverse as sports management, sports tourism or even technology (in terms of bike and venue improvements).

"There's a wealth of talent that comes out of this club and if we could further enhance that it would be great," he said.

Dominic is also a fan of the Talent ID program, since it has created race-winners out of kids who had no links to the sport 12 months before competing and who had not ridden on a track 6 months before.

In individual finals at the Queensland Junior Track Championships in February, talent-spotted teen Taylah Jennings gained gold, silver and bronze medals, another fledgling rider Rebecca Stevenson gained gold and silver medals and other medals went to program finds Zac Deller, Tim Hindmarsh and Brock Solis. The newly discovered riders - including Jackson Toole, Trent Huff and Matthew Ruckett - also contributed to gold and silver team-event medals. Taylah Jennings has since gone on to win silver at national level.

CQU Associate Professor Peter Reaburn said that Human Movement Science staff, postgraduate and undergraduate students have had a long and mutually beneficial association with the Rockhampton Cycling Club since 2000.

"Two of Australia's most successful talent identification programs have been conducted as a result of this partnership with a number of Australian and numerous Queensland champions the result," Dr Reaburn said.

"The relationship between the cycling club and CQU is a great example of CQU linking with local industry."