|
|
|
|
Orienteering Australia welcomes its new General Manager, Árpád Kocsik. After a prolonged recruitment drive, Árpád replaces Matthew Dunstan who continues his career elsewhere.
Árpád comes from Hungary with strong ties to orienteering as an active competitor, event organiser, club secretary and has worked closely with the Hungarian federation until three years ago as Marketing and Communications officer promoting our sport in all of its variations. You might have noticed him in action as commentator at several major events in NSW such as last year’s State Championships. He has been a Level 0 coach with ONSW teaching the basics and tricks of orienteering to students throughout Sydney for the past two years and is eager to jump into the GM’s seat.
Árpád joins us with fresh enthusiasm and a rare combination of skills that derive from a legal background and a lifelong attachment to orienteering.
“In these hard and trying times in so many aspects of our lives and around the globe, I join the team with excitement, hoping to provide the necessary know-how and help take orienteering “Down Under” to new horizons and making it stronger. Thank you all for the warm welcome. It is great to be here,” says Árpád about his appointment.
Árpád has hit the ground running and is keen to expand and strengthen orienteering in Australia. He can be contacted at gm@orienteering.asn.au
|
|
 
David Hogg has been appointed as National Awards and Trophies Manager. David is no stranger to orienteering. He
- was 5th in the first orienteering event held in Victoria on 23 August 1969, which kicked off orienteering in Australia as we know it now.
- has been involved in organising so many events that OA named their Medal for Services to Event Management after him.
- was editor of the Australian Orienteer for 11 years
- is currently writing a history of Australian orienteering and major event organising procedures for OA.
We warmly welcome David to the OA team as he manages the nominations, presentations and logistics associated with the organization’s many awards and trophies.
Andrew Shipton and Stephen Goggs have been appointed to the newly formed National Integrity Unit, with Andrew acting as Manager of the Unit. The aim of the National Integrity Unit to implement the National Integrity Framework.
Andrew is currently a recreational orienteer in the ACT and is a Logistics Officer at the rank of Major in the Australian Army. Stephen is Secretary of Orienteering ACT, the Organiser of the 2019 Oceania Championships and a keen coach and master’s orienteer. He was previously the Deputy Director-General in the ACT Government’s Justice and Community Safety Directorate.
We welcome Andrew and Stephen to the OA team and thank them for contributing to the organization in this role. Andrew and Stephen can be contacted at integrity@orienteering.asn.au.
|
|
 
If you are planning on attending the ONSW Junior Training Camp in April and you have not yet entered, then it is time to enter.
The camp will suit all juniors keen to further develop their orienteering skills (including those with their eyes on high performance in granite terrain – think Easter 2022, JWOC 2022, Easter 2023!). The camp organisers are also looking for coaches/helpers, including older juniors who could participate as both coach/mentor and attendee.
Part A: https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/17134
Part B: https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/17135
There is a lot of accommodation pressure in Armidale, and many additional orienteers wish to stay at NEGS.
If you are THINKING about entering, please drop Helen an email to let me know.
PLUS
Do you need transport?
We have rented a minibus to provide transport from Sydney to Armidale, Armidale to Kingaroy, Kingaroy to the GoldCoast/Sydney.
However, if we don't book it out, then we will cancel the bus as it is too expensive. There are a few available seats in orienteers cars (some taken by those already booked) but I really need an indication so I know whether to keep the minibus booking. Please email me which legs of transport you need help with.
If this doesn't all make sense, please read the information Bulletin on Eventor at April 9th.
More information from Helen at woolfordfamilyhome@gmail.com
*** Last Minute Notice: We have a few spare rooms available at NEGS school for the Armidale State League weekend (Apr 9-10) right before Easter. All the motels and cabins in town are booked out due to a rugby carnival, so this is the only option unless you stay in Tamworth or camp.
Eventor is being updated with a cut-off date of 11.59pm tonight (Thurs Mar 24) to book at NEGS. $120 gets you two nights accomm (Fri-Sat), two breakfasts and two dinners. You can request a room for 1, 2 or 3 people.
|
|
  
Well the carnival has been run and the wrap up has started with results posted, the venues thanked, and all the gear being distributed back to the clubs. All in all this year’s carnival incorporated 11 races, including the NOL relay and the Knock-Out sprint rounds. We hope you enjoyed it.
Some of our memories
Bib number 101
Ross Barr must be MSW’s number one fan.
This year Ross maintained his record of being the first to enter and scoring the 101 bib. He is getting quite a collection of them now.
Corridors and locker spaces
How many people became challenged with these, finding themselves on the wrong side of a locked door?
  
Fences and Gates
How many have forgiven Bruce yet for his fantastic use of all the fences and gates at Manor Lakes.
Results Screens
It’s been awhile, like 2 years. Oh so good to see them back.
Knock-Out Sprint competition
The finals were not quite as tight as in 2020, but were just as good to watch, with Aston again taking out the competition in the mens race, and Nea Shingler the womens. There were some very close finishes in the heats.
  
Arenas and playgrounds
The arenas for both La Trobe University and Manor Lakes College included playgrounds. We will not forget in a hurry the enjoyment that these provided for both little & big kids alike.
So how did people go?
MSW 2022 incorporated a WRE, NOL round 1, the MSW carnival races, and a Knock-Out day.
The WRE men’s race was won by Aston Key and the women’s by Nea Shingler. Aston and Nea also took out top points in their classes for the NOL round 1. In the senior league the VIC Vikings are out front for the men and the CBR Cockatoos for the women. In the junior league, NSW Stingers are leading the men’s competition and QLD Cyclones the women. The WRE results and updated world rankings can be viewed on IOF Eventor, and the NOL standings on the OA website.
  
In the carnival competition we again had the prize bags of goodies for the winners. Some families like the Shinglers and Dents had a car load of these to keep them happy on the drive home. There were also a good number of locals who took out first place. Patrick Jaffe, M21E, who didn’t seem to quite believe he had won this competition; Gavin Bennette, M40; Denise Pike, W70; and Victoria Greenhan, WOpen. Plus we cannot forget to mention that this year Ross Barr also took home the prize for M70. Full results are HERE.
As with all carnivals there were a few hiccups leading up to the weekend. A week before the event we finally received the permit for Race 4 at Gellibrand Hill but it specifically banned us from using the arena that courses had been planned around. Planners Kerrin and Daniel had to quickly rearrange the courses using a new arena location. The day before the carnival began Chris Norwood found a new uncrossable fence being built near the start triangle at Manor Lakes College. Planner Bruce then spent Friday night manually adding it onto all the double sided maps only to find on race day that half of it hadn’t actually been finished.
MSW 2020 took place about two weeks before the country went into the first Covid-19 lockdown. Now we have successfully completed MSW 2022 when life is hopefully returning to normal. We were happy to see most MSW 2020 participants returning for MSW 2022 and contributing to making it a successful carnival. You all made it worth the organisation.
Courses have been put on LiveLox for those who would like to load their route.
  
One of the highlights of MSW was Race 3 on a new map of Manor Lakes College. Bruce Arthur's courses made excellent use of this incredibly complex campus (filled with countless fences and gates) and he's put together detailed analysis of the route choices for Course 1 and Course 2.
Thanks to Margie Freemantle for writing this article, which she managed even after all the work she did on all the carnival organization.
|
|
 
Hobart’s 2022 Autumn Twilight Series is coming to an end. Each year we take full advantage of Daylight Savings and our long hours of twilight to hold twelve events on Wednesday evenings – six in Autumn and six in Spring. The events are aimed at beginners, although participants on the longer courses do get a good challenge.
This year we continued our steady upward trend in numbers, with at least 220 people attending each event. After five weeks of the current series over 340 people have attended at least one event. Two thirds of these people are school children and the large numbers are no accident. Over many years we have built up contacts in schools through our Sporting Schools and Outreach programs. Having good contacts within schools is essential, our best-represented schools are those where there is a teacher who has experienced orienteering and pushes kids to have a go. Before each series we contact all schools in Southern Tasmania with details of the events in the series. At the end of each series, individual certificates and trophies for the champion Primary, Boys Secondary and Girls Secondary schools are awarded.
We’ve got a great group of youngsters at our club. For most of them the Twilight Series was their first experience of orienteering, hence it is the most important item on our calendar. Only a small percentage make the transition to our weekend club events, but it does happen. To facilitate this we pick six promising young orienteers each year and award them an Encouragement Grant. This entails membership of Australopers and free entry to all local events for the year, in return for showing a commitment to the sport. This is perhaps the most successful scheme we run, as nearly all recipients over the years have become keen and regular orienteers. Many of them populate our state teams.
|
|
  
‘Out of Bounds’. ‘Shall Not be Entered’, ‘Uncrossable’ – What Do These Words Mean?
A tirade from a cranky controller!
We’ve just had the Melbourne Sprint Weekend. 6 sprint events on great areas – most of them on private property. And now we’re planning sprints for the Aus Champs Carnival.
What assurances can we give to land managers that their gardens won’t be trashed? What assurances can we give to your fellow competitors that walls/fences that are marked as ‘uncrossable’ will remain barriers to all to ensure a fair competition?
We have mapping conventions. All those who enter these events should be familiar with the common symbols: olive green (Mapping symbol 520) defined as “An area that shall not be entered”; very dark green (symbol 411) defined as “Uncrossable vegetation”; Solid thick line (symbols 515 and 518) – the fence might not have tags - defined as “Uncrossable wall”, or “Uncrossable fence or railing”.
Now you might be very tall or agile and can easily jump the feature; Or small and hardy and can easily force your way through that hedge; Or sight-disabled and not easily seeing the prominent olive green on the map.
We know that sometimes gardens are not very wide, and the mapping conventions and paper size don’t allow for a very wide stripe of olive green on the map. We know that the thickness of planting might offer some very tempting gaps through which the control can be seen. But you managed to navigate your way this far – before you plough through that garden, just check the map …
Some instances from MSW:
- A solid black line fence on the map. Everyone else is running around to get to the control behind it. But one orienteer sees that there is a closed gate: it’s only secured by a movable pull-up ground latch. Hey! That’s not ‘uncrossable’ !!!
- An olive green colour on the map covers the hedge-like vegetation which is wide enough for an internal pathway and additional width. The control is on that internal pathway. But rather than run an extra 10m or so, one orienteer shoulders forcefully through the hedge.
- We realise that a slightly-sparse garden should have been marked with out-of-bounds tape. By this time we only had enough tape to extend halfway along – but the map clearly shows olive green the full length. Does our reminder-tape deter those determined to ignore the rules? Oh no. some were even seen to lift the tape to run through. If it doesn’t go the full length of the garden, the organisers can’t have been too worried about this bit!
Do you really expect the organisers to put out-of-bounds tape around every olive green feature? And along every wall/fence marked as ‘uncrossable’?
(If so, I hope you will forego your run and volunteer to spend hours assisting with this next time your club is organising a similar event.)
Sometimes ‘uncrossable’ features are manufactured to enhance the route choice options. Why are you here if not to accept the navigational challenge presented by the map and course setter and to perform at your best against your peers in the given circumstances?
We can’t guard every garden and every closed gate in the fence that is mapped as uncrossable. We rely on competitors’ integrity and good will.
What will you do in your next sprint event?
Special thanks to Kathy Liley, Yarra Valley OC, for this article.
|
|
 
This month Brodie sat down with Sam Woolford, up and coming junior talent from NSW. Sam placed 4th in the 2021 NOL season, helping the NSW stingers to a 2nd place in the junior men competition. Sam has had a strong start to the 2022 season, with 8th and 5th in the individual races and a convincing win in the forest relay.
Hey Sam, first up tell us about your races at Melbourne Sprint Weekend, how did they go?
Great. Overall, I am happy with how I orienteered. The first race I used as a warmup for the NOL, so I only took it at about 90%. I was a bit sloppy on the first afternoon, and made lots of little <20s mistakes, which added up to a less than ideal =8th placing. I had a better run on Sunday morning, although I was a bit annoyed to miss a gap in a wall just as I sighted the previous starter ahead of me, and I ended up trailing him by 10 seconds or so at the finish. I was quite happy with 5th though, and within 1 minute of the winner's time. In the forest relay I actually started trailing the NSW B team by 1:43. I had a relatively clean first loop, with only a small mistake on the control immediately before the spectator. I caught the B team runner at the map flip control, then in trying to shake him off made a couple of little errors, but the terrain was mostly very fast and I got ahead on the split control. I still managed to make mistakes on 3 or 4 of the remaining controls, which was annoying, but held on to 1st into the finish. On Monday, in the Qualification race, I was in heat 2, which turned out to be the fastest heat, so when I finished my result actually looked better than it was, but it was still easily enough to second-seed me into quarterfinal 3. I knew that this was going to be my last race of the weekend, because the timing of flights home meant that I wasn't going to be able to get to the afternoon's semis and finals. Before the start, I made the unusual decision to not bother checking any control numbers, so as to minimise time spent unfolding my map. This paid off, and I was very happy to finish my weekend with a win in the quarterfinal, and also recording the second fastest time on course, only 5 seconds behind Aston Key.
Congratulations on a great weekend of racing, it would have been interested to see how you went in the semi-finals of the knockout! So whereabouts are you at the moment? What are you doing outside of orienteering?
I am doing my year 12 at school, and I also play piano and compose music, with aspirations to become a professional pianist, so schoolwork and piano practice takes up a lot of my time.
Sounds very busy! But still managing to balance training well. How did you first get into orienteering? What has been the most important thing in helping you get to where you are now?
My first orienteering event was an ONSW promotional series around Coffs Harbour, and I went to all 6 score events with my mum. My parents had orienteered prior to living in Coffs Harbour, but stopped when they moved, and I was only 3 at the time and too young to remember. Following the ONSW series, my parents became some of the founding members of Bush n Beach orienteering club, and so I have that to thank for getting me into orienteering. Probably the most important thing that has got me to where I am now is my mum's willingness to travel a lot for orienteering, as we don't have a lot of events in Coffs Harbour.
To read the answers to Sam’s answers to some of Brodie’s quickfire questions, please click here.
 
|
|
 
State League 1 report
Our 2022 State League began under leaden skies on Saturday afternoon with the NSW Sprint Champs at Ourimbah, our first visit there for a decade.
This satellite campus of Newcastle uni offers a fairly straightforward northern half but a southern section with an intricate path network and lots of garden beds that are out of bounds.
Several competitors lost time in this part where the key was to navigate by the buildings rather than try to pick the optimal path.
The event also heralded our first look at the new multi-level running symbol - used for two creek crossings mid-map.
Wins that stood out were by Justine de Remy (W12A), Nick Stanley (M16A), Marguerite O'Rourke (W45A), and Barbara Hill (W55A) who won by just two seconds over Paula Shingler.
Meanwhile, Matt Bell (Hastings) earned our newest club's first NSW champs placing with a third in M40A.
Well done too to two rookies from our hosts Central Coast - Linda Salway (2nd in W65AS) and Deborah Dickson (3rd in W60A)
A big thank you to setter Nick Dent, controller Hilary Wood, organiser Colin Price, all the helpers from Central Coast, and the landowners.
A second thanks to Nick for providing immediate post-race analysis on some of the key legs.
Photo by Sandra Stewart: The Shedden family from SHOO with their spoils from the Sprints. Lightweight drink pouches you can carry on course.
State League 2 report
State League 2 proved to be a tough introduction to bush orienteering for 2022 with Stephen Craig's courses at Richmond Vale steep and technical.
This is a new map on multiple private properties, the main one owned by Newcastle orienteer Lynda Hewson. Significant climb on most courses - and the shock of being immersed in the forest after hardly any bush o for nine months - meant longer than expected winning times.
(The map was named “Honeyeater Hideout” due to last year's release of 50 of these critically endangered birds into the area by BirdLife Australia. You can read more about this release here. All takings from on-site camping and the “Honeyeater op-shop” have been donated to BirdLife Australia to assist with these types of programs.)
W20A produced some close racing, with just 1m23s between the winner Mikayla Cooper (Tasmania) and third-placed Nea Shingler. There were similar margins in M16A where Nick Stanley (Garingal) continued his rapid improvement.
A big thank you to Stephen, controller Scott Simson, organiser Geoff Peel, Lynda and the landowners, and all the Newcastle helpers.
Photo by Tony Hill: Baxter Peel (NC) in action at Honeyeater Hideout.
|
|
 
This year champion orienteer and mountain runner Louise Fairfax became the third woman and 20th person to climb all of Tasmania's Abels, which are a group of 158 mountains more than 1,100 metres high with a 150-metre drop on all sides.
When Louise started "bagging" Abels, she had her late husband Bruce by her side.
She gradually gave up orienteering and returned to her love of bushwalking when Bruce became ill with Parkinson's disease and could no longer problem solve.
The achievement was a journey that started with Bruce, was on hold as she dealt with the grief of losing him, and ended with unexpected companionship.
"I spent a lot of my life orienteering and I adored the sport, and I still do," said Louise.
"We could no longer do it by 2012 because Bruce's Parkinson's had taken over and he couldn't read a map and run at the same time."
The pair began climbing Abels together, with Dr Fairfax as the navigator and leader.
"Bruce could follow in my wake, he still had motor skills. He'd just lost the ability to plan and to navigate," she said.
"I led us up mountains and thus began our Abel-ing together."
To continue reading this article, titled “How Louise Fairfax overcame grief to become third woman to climb all Tasmania's Abels” please click here. It was written by Georgie Burgess from ABC Radio Hobart. The interview was conducted by Mel Bush of ABC Radio Hobart.
 
|
|
Checking control placement with Avenza Maps (or similar apps that support the features described below)
Avenza Maps is a mobile app that shows your position on a geo-referenced map with your GNSS-enabled device (GPS, GLONASS etc). It can be useful when checking control placement, although it is not a substitute for accurate navigation and common sense!
Some history – many orienteering maps were made prior to the availability of Lidar base maps, so a little history lesson might give you an insight into the limitations of using GNSS devices with older maps that have been georeferenced after the original field work and map drawing (which could well have been a transcription of the original hand-drawn map into OCAD).
Prior to the availability of Lidar, base maps were made by photogrammetrists who interpreted aerial photographs to extract contours, plus whatever else was visible in the aerial photographs (roads, buildings, water features, anything else that the photogrammetrist thought could be useful to the orienteering field worker – e.g. prominent fallen trees on the ground). The accuracy/usefulness of this photogrammetry depended on:
- the accuracy and resolution of the aerial photographs
- the age of the aerial photographs
- the flying height of the aircraft taking the photos
- the skill of the photogrammetrist
Despite the inherent problems, the base maps used in Australia (produced mostly by Chris Wilmott specifically with orienteering maps in mind) were generally very accurate as regards contours, but features not available from the aerial photographs had to be placed by the mapper, another potential source of error.
So, what does this mean for the course setter when using Avenza Maps to check control placement?
- The position of a feature might be relatively accurate, but not absolutely accurate (e.g. correct in relation to features around it, but not in the exact location that a GNSS device declares it to be), so moving the feature on the map is not valid if this upsets relativities with nearby features.
- The temptation to add features should be resisted unless those features have been obviously missed, or are new (e.g. recently exposed tree-roots; new fences and tracks). Orienteering Tasmania’s policy is that updates to maps are carried out by the original mapper where possible. Just because the course planner thinks a feature should be added, it doesn’t mean that an experienced mapper will consider the feature to be mappable according to the mapping standards.
- Where the geo-referencing is inaccurate (for example, where multiple maps have been joined to make a composite map the join area might show some distortion), use common sense to select control features that are reasonably accurate from different attack points, or choose a different control site.
So, with these caveats in mind, how do you set up Avenza Maps?
You can continue reading this article by OTas Mapping Officer Greg Hawthorne, by clicking here.
Thank you so much to Greg for allowing the article's republication.
Anyone wishing to try Avenza Maps, but without access to OCAD or Condes, can contact Greg Hawthorne for assistance.
Note: Greg would be interested in finding out what software people actually use so his mapping team could offer useful options generally rather than just to those clubs/associations that pay for the more expensive software options. Please let Greg know here.
|
|
The IOF has opened up ways to support Ukrainian orienteering.
Based on communication with the Ukrainian Orienteering Federation, the IOF has decided to support Ukrainian orienteering in several ways.
The message from the Ukranian federation was, among other things, that it wants to continue participating in international competitions and championships but need financial support for this.
Therefore, the IOF has decided to focus its support on:
1. Raising money to make it possible for Ukrainian athletes and coaches to participate in international competitions and trainings. It’s possible for both federations and individuals to donate through Paypal.
2. Administrative support from IOF Office related to planning and participation in international competitions and trainings. This will be done in close collaboration with the member federations.
3. Utilization of the IOF Volunteers Platform to list safe locations for refugees. IOF Global Development Commission will act as intermediary when refugees are seeking safe locations.
In a letter to all IOF’s member federations sent today, IOF President Leno Haldna urged the federations to contribute as generously as possible and spread the information about both the possibility to donate money to Team Ukraine and the use of the volunteer platform.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 bush races over the Easter weekend (15-18 April) in the South Burnett region.
