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It’s that time of year where we all head out into the forest for the pinnacle of the orienteering season in Australia. Unfortunately, this year things have not gone our way and most of us won’t be making it down to Tasmania. But not to fear, the OA and ONZL high-performance teams have put their heads together to come up with a challenge that does not let all your hard work go to waste!
Open to all ages and abilities, this is one not to be missed!
What’s the deal?
3 days, 3 different challenges, teams of 3 competing for ultimate glory. You will score points for each Stage you compete in, with team members results being combined to a total score for the 3 events.
Teams:
Individuals can make their own teams in whichever way they like – however they should think tactically on how they can achieve the most points with a mixture of ages and genders!
You can register your team here: https://forms.gle/E4r1pWa6YBJQEVcD9
If you can’t find a full team, try asking on the Facebook event or email headcoach@orienteering.asn.au
The Stages: see pictures above. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.
Facebook event: Get involved on your socials – click attending on the Facebook event (https://fb.me/e/2z6uBgcfd) or use the hashtag #virtualauschamps
More information about specific stage details, scoring and how to record your results can be found here.
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Orienteering NSW invite you to the Xmas 5 Day 2021. This event had to be cancelled in 2020 due to lockdowns so was rescheduled for this year (2021). While Covid regulations again prove to be very fluid we are working hard to bring you 5 days of great orienteering (which seems close to the total number of events I have attended this year).
Clubs have courses set and are ready to challenge your orienteering skills which may have gotten rusty due to the lack of practice! You will find information about the events and locations in the Information Flyer and on Eventor.
The main things you need to know now are:
- We will let you know when entries will open. We are holding off and watching things unfold so it may be in October.
- There will be no Enter on the Day.
- Everyone will be required to register with the NSW government QR code at each event.
- Please “Get in”, “Run” then “Go home” (or for coffee).
- Please observe the Social distancing rules and any other regulations of the day.
- The Belanglo Hut remains closed, but there are many other accommodation options in the area.
- You can now put this event in your diary. We will be in touch! h) And do have fun!
If you have any questions, please contact the Event Director, Colin Price. Looking forward to seeing you all (from a distance) in the Southern Highlands.
- Colin Price colinp53@yahoo.com.au
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Are you looking forward to the next big national carnival?
Queensland is! And preparations for the sensational Easter 2022 Carnival in Queensland are well underway.
Like our Facebook page for all the updates https://www.facebook.com/easter2022
We've got some great orienteering planned: granite maps near Kingaroy over Easter, some sand dune fun during the week, and then a NOL Sprint weekend on the Gold Coast.
Visit our web page at https://www.easter2022.com.au/
Want to spend some time exploring the regions while you're here?
You can't go past the Gold Coast beaches, Carrara open-air markets, wineries, Pottique Lavendar Farm and the iconic Peanut Van ... just to mention a few!
Put the dates in your diary, get vaccinated and book your travel and accommodation needs!
Plan now for your Easter 2022 getaway!
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The Silva Medal has been won by Marina Iskhakova RR A. Congratulations Marina.
The Silva Medal competition for 2021 is based on points for participating and placing in the Australian 3-Days Championships (each day considered as a separate event) .
In 2021, this award would have been based on the Australian 3-Days, plus the cancelled Sprint, Middle & Long Australian Championships and the Tasmanian Middle Distance Championships. As it is not possible to win the Silva Medal without attending the Australian 3-Days, the OA Board has decided to make an award for 2021 based on the Australian 3-Days.
Points are scored for completing a course as follows: 1st – 4; 2nd – 3; 3rd – 2 and 1 for finishing, 1 point if there are less than 4 starters.
Six orienteers won all 3 days at the Australian 3-Days Championships scoring a maximum of 12 points. To determine the winner of the Silva Medal a countback based on average winning margins was used.
Orienteers who scored the maximum 12 points were Greg Barbour, Warren Key, Jenny Hawkins, Grant Bluett and Chris Brown.
Thanks to Darryl Erbacher (OA Statistician). Photo by Tom de Jongh
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This article was written by AOC 2021 Tasmania Carnival Organizer, Warwick Moore. It has been reprinted here as it expresses so many of the sentiments we are all feeling. The whole Australian orienteering community, joins with Warwick in thanking the AOC carnival organizers and the many volunteers who gave up so much of their time, only to be denied a chance to run what was shaping up to be a fabulous carnival.
While the Australian Championships are now consigned to the short list of events that never happened, I would like to provide this final update and say thank you to Tasmanian orienteers.
Prior to cancellation, due to Covid, I believe we were very well-placed to deliver an excellent Championships. Our key personnel had spent many long hours over the past three years preparing for their roles in the championships and had recruited teams of volunteers to help them deliver on the tasks they had taken on.
At my last count, I had 93 people listed in my spreadsheet of volunteers, each of whom had volunteered for specific roles (some more than one!) and a few people who had still to be assigned to roles. These volunteers included control “wakers”, start team and finish team officials, Covid safety people, parking officials, commentators, marketing and media, schools’ championship organisers, competitor services personnel, course planners and controllers, the IT team, awards ceremony personnel, logistics team members, control collectors, search and rescue team members, and more. This represented fantastic support for the Championships and reflected our willingness to make sure we delivered the best possible carnival.
I would like to thank each one of you for volunteering and for your commitment. Your support has made the tasks of both the team leaders and of myself much easier. (I appreciate that many of you are still working to make the “replacement” CTNWB carnival a success and I thank you for that.)
Tidying up after the cancellation of AOC is continuing. I have yet to write Exit Reports for our government sponsors, Events Tasmania and Sport and Recreation. They have given us strong indications that we will retain all our grant money, subject to receiving the official reports from me.
Ian Rathbone has had the daunting task of working through all 566 entries (at the time of cancellation) to calculate the refunds due and to provide this information to Dirk Nankervis so he can carry out the reimbursement. This process is still ongoing.
It is also pleasing to report that an initiative, suggested by OA by way of support for us, that we offer people the opportunity to make donations to OT, given our likely losses on the event, has been well supported. Over 100 people entering themselves and/or other family members into AOC have made donations through the Australian Sports Foundation. Some have donated all their entry fees! A number of Tasmanian orienteers, who have had roles in the AOC organisation, have made donations, in addition to working as volunteers. These donations will contribute significantly to reducing to a minimum the losses that the carnival will make.
I received many emails, from individuals and O clubs, showing support for us, as organisers. This has been much appreciated by Warwick and the Tasmanian orienteering community.
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2021 has been a tough year for Tasmanian orienteers. Not only did we lose one of our best areas - Pittwater - we also lost our Australian Championships carnival (for the second time). But a quick glance through Eventor shows just how lucky we are in many ways. In addition to a year of uninterrupted local events, many of us attended an exceptional national carnival in NSW at Easter. And while other states have been contemplating the heavy lines drawn through their state championships, we were able to compete in another great weekend of orienteering on our beautiful East Coast.
Saturday brought blue skies and blustery conditions for the Tasmanian long distance championship at Kelvedon, where over 120 entrants battled it out over the rocky hillsides. Some challenging controls and tricky route choices saw the lead change many times in some courses. In the open age classes, Mikayla Cooper edged out Ainsley Scott by just over three minutes on a tough W21 course, while Joe Dickinson ran a strong race to beat Jon McComb by just over five minutes in M21. Other stand-out performers were Euan Best in M16, just ahead of Jett McComb who also ran strongly; and Sue Hancock in W55, with a blistering race that saw her take out her age class by almost 20 minutes. Full results can be found here.
By Sunday the wind had died down and skies were still blue. Courses were shorter and faster than Saturday, which made for fun racing. A novel forewarning system of a cowbell-in-a-tree provided light relief as team members struggled up the final hill. Later finishes were also treated to a brief hail storm, but the day otherwise went off without a hitch. Winners on the long course were Jon McComb, Kirstin Fairfax and Lachlan Cherry; the Medium was won by Allison Stubbs, Julia Powell-Davies and Eloise Fisher, and the Short course was taken out by the happy trio of Liam Wolfe, Callum Degenaar and Jo Mitchell.
Thanks to organising/planning teams Paul Enkelaar & Lindsay Pender for the Tas Long Champs, and Sally Wayte & Jeff Dunn for the Tas Relay Champs.
Article and photos sourced from OTas eBulletin. Thank you!
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Although Australia was unable to send a team to JWOC 2021 in Turkey, there were three athletes with Australian heritage. Kylian Wymer (France) is the son of Eddie Wymer who grew up in Melbourne running for Bayside Orienteers and represented Australia at four WOCs. Pia Young Vik and Lars Young Vik (both Norway) are the children of Alix Young who competed in three WOCs, is originally from West Australia and is daughter of Don Young of Bibbulmun Orienteers.
Pia finished 19th in Sprint, 6th in Middle Distance Final and 5th in Long Distance. In the Middle Distance she was in 3rd place at the second last control, but fell and lost three places, finishing just 17sec off Bronze. In the Long Distance she was just 33sec off Bronze and in the Relay, she took Norway up from 13th to 7th on the last leg.
Lars finished 30th in Sprint and 20th in Middle Distance B Final. Kylian finished 42nd in Sprint, 15th in Middle Distance Final and 15th in Long Distance.
Thanks to Michael Hubbert of the "The Australian Orienteer"
Photos: Top Left Pia; Top Right Lars; Bottom Kylian
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Welcome to the first interview of a new series the OA High Performance Management Team is running to get to know our junior and senior elite runners. This month, Brodie sat down with Emily Sorensen. For those who don't know her, Emily is one of our developing junior elites running for the Southern Arrows. She was named in the 2021 JWOC honour team and narrowly edged out of the overall Junior Women NOL win earlier this year, finishing a strong season in 2nd place.
Emily, thanks for joining me today, can I start just by asking where you are at the moment and what you are up to?
Hi Brodie, at the moment I’m in the Flinders Ranges recovering after my first 24 hour rogaine yesterday. I’ve been in Adelaide for the past couple of months so I’ve just been doing uni online, working, and training, and of course doing a bit of orienteering.
Now although you didn't get to go to JWOC this year, you were there in 2019, tell us a little bit about that:
JWOC was such an incredible and valuable experience. On the whole, I disappointed with my performance but I’m so glad I got to have it. I definitely wasn’t the best version of myself going into the races, being both injured and sick. Mostly, it was really nerve wracking being the most serious event I’d ever been to. I was so nervous I couldn’t eat breakfast which wasn’t a great start to the long haha. I wasn’t used to the idea of being GPS tracked with everyone being able to see my mistakes and that pressure got to me. I really didn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially my grandfather who always asks about how my orienteering and training is going, and I knew he had managed to work out how to watch the tracking.
It was also amazing though. My team was great and I had so much fun. I loved how different yet similar the terrain was. While it was spur gully, it was steeper shorter climbs with very different thick vegetation underfoot, so things didn’t appear as I expected. I also learned a lot about how the mental side of things influence my performance. It’s been slow going but I’ve definitely improved when it comes to performing under pressure and most importantly I can get a proper breakfast down before big races J
So despite it being disappointing from a performance point of view it really inspired me to better myself for next time.
What’s next on the horizon for you? Where do you see your orienteering going in the next few years?
Well, in the near future, I’m moving up to senior women next year, so I’m hoping for a smooth transition into racing in that category. It’s hard to make plans at the moment, so as a rule, I don’t. I would be nice to go to Oceania in New Zealand as the orienteering looks amazing and I’ve always wanted to visit NZ. In the more distant future I think running for Australia at WOC one day would be pretty amazing.
What is the hardest thing you find about training for orienteering? What are the biggest barriers for you?
I think the biggest challenge for me is time. With uni I often have to prioritise assessments over attending events which is always frustrating considering the best training for orienteering is orienteering. It’s definitely possible to organise your own orienteering training but it can be time consuming and often repetitive as your limited to the maps you have.
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Sport Australia has a couple of grant opportunities available. The grant opportunities aimed to support sport across a number of different areas including attending State and National Events, participating in sport and community level programs and a future program to support Female leaders.
Local Sporting Champions
The Local Sporting Champions program provides financial assistance for coaches, officials and competitors aged 12-18 participating in state, national or international championships.
To apply or for more information, please click here.
Participation Grant Program
The Sport Australia Participation Grant Program (the Program) will invest in innovative new programs that bring communities together and help more Australians enjoy the social, personal and health benefits participating in community sport and physical activity can deliver.
Grants range from $50,000 to $450,000 to support eligible organisations.
While this grant is not open specifically to club and State Associations, interested clubs and associations are encouraged to discuss their interest with Orienteering Australia.
More Information, please click here.
Coming Soon: 2022 Women Leaders in Sport Grant
This grant will be open to all State Sporting Organisations. The grants will assist sports to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces and attract, retain, and develop even more talented female leaders across the sector. Organisations are able to apply for grants of up to $20,000 and the funded project needs to be delivered in 2022.
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South Australian orienteers have been fortunate to have a largely uninterrupted local program of events in 2021. Our championship events have been spread over the calendar, with the Sprint Championships in March, Long Championships as part of the Renmark NOL Round, and concluding with the Middle Distance Championships at Paradise north of Burra at the end of August (https://www.sa.orienteering.asn.au/157-double-header-weekend-of-orienteering-near-burra).
Almost all event courses are loaded to a Route Gadget site here - http://ospot.xyz/gadget/rg2/.
Varying numbers of orienteers upload GPS routes with some more recent events at Paradise, Keynes Gap and Narrinyeri Hills examples. A few locals are planning to travel to Tasmania for their “Carnival That Never Will Be” events. For those who do not, some replacement training events targeting the schools team members are planned over this period.
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It’s been a busy month for the OA High Performance Management Group (HPMG), aiming to keep athletes and their coaches interested whilst we are limited in terms of competitions and group training, and planning for 2022.
Webinar Series
The OA HPMG has collaborated with ONZ to create a draft webinar series for the rest of 2022:
| Date |
Topic |
Presenter |
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| 10/10/21 |
World Cup Final Reflections |
TBC |
| 31/10/21 |
Everything you need to know about Knockout Sprint |
Malcolm Ingham (ONZ) |
| 14/11/21 |
Orienteering Nutrition/hydration |
TBC |
| 28/11/21 |
Injury Prevention and Management in Orienteering |
Physiotherapist Paula
Shingler (NSW) |
| 10/12/21 |
Oceania Championships Preview #1 |
TBC |
| 17/12/21 |
Oceania Championships Preview #2 |
TBC |
Zoom invites/links will be emailed to state/territory coaching/HP representatives one week prior to each webinar. If you do not receive these emails and would like to, please reach out to your state/territory representative or coaching@orienteering.asn.au
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