OWA Needs First Aiders
Several of our supporting authorities require that we have qualified first aiders at our events. Although most injuries received at events are minor, WA orienteers as a group are ageing, which means we are more likely to need first aid away from home. We have only a few members with current qualifications and would really like to have some younger ones.
OWA will pay the cost of a HLTAID003 (formerly Senior First Aid) course or equivalent. If you send in the qualification certificate and agree to help out at events, then you may be called upon to use your acquired skills. OWA will also pay for renewals, including annual CPR.
Courses are fun and the skills learned can be useful in many other situations, especially CPR which might save someone’s life. Qualification from popular suppliers such as St Johns (http://www.stjohnwa.com.au) and Royal Life Saving WA (http://www.royallifesaving.wa.com.au) is valid for three years.
Please let Jan Fletcher (janet.fletcher@uwa.edu.au) know if you are able and willing to help.
Image courtesy of https://www.gettyimages.com.au/
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Upcoming Event 1:
NavDash 3, Swan Valley Adventure Centre
Sunday 28th March
58 Yule Ave, Middle Swan
Swan Valley Adventure Centre (SVAC) is a 35 ha site on the banks of the Swan River. It is traversed by Jane Brook (currently dry). SVAC is a venue for various recreational and training facilities for children and adults. Orienteering WA has used it for several junior camps as well as many events over several years. The terrain consists of a residential village surrounded by paddocks with various adventure game structures and equipment, plus some rather unusual features such as an aircraft cockpit.
NavDash events have courses to suit all abilities and it's a great way to continue orienteering after the Metro Series. There is more information on NavDash events on the OWA website.
Courses: Hard Long (~3.5km run distance), Hard Short (~2.3km), Easy (~1.3km).
Pre-entry via Eventor will be available and is preferred. Entries close at 23:59pm on Friday 26th March. If you do not have an Eventor account, click on ‘Create Account’ and follow the prompts.
Bring: your SI card if you have one, or borrow one at the event. Also bring sunscreen, hat, water bottle and compass
Registration on the day at the event is available 9-10.30am. Even groups can enter through Eventor. If registering on the day, be sure you arrive in plenty of time.
On the day registration: 9:00 - 10:30am.
Instruction available: 9:00 - 10:00am.
Start times: 9:30 - 11.00am.
Courses close: 12 midday.
Facilities at the site: water bubbler and toilets at the Activity Hub assembly area.
There is more information, including directions to the event, in Eventor. Be sure to check the Pictorial Map of the venue: parking is at #28 and the assembly area (Activity Hub) is at #16.
Photo taken by Rob West
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Upcoming Event 2: MTBO 1, Bike At Bibra
Saturday 10th April
Progress Drive, Bibra Lake
Return to this popular area, this time with your bike. It's the first MTBO event for the year, so get the tyres pumped up and the chain lubricated.
Bike at Bibra is a two hour long bike orienteering event suitable for all ages and abilities. Start at 2pm and spend up to two hours riding your bike through the suburbs of Bibra Lake, South Lake and North Lake looking for controls. You can ride by yourself or with your family or friends. The event ends at 4pm.
Courses: This is a score event - you have two hours to visit as many controls as you like.
Pre-entry via Eventor is available and is preferred. Entries close at 23:59pm on Thursday 8th April. If you do not have an Eventor account, click on ‘Create Account’ and follow the prompts.
Bring: your SI card and mapboard if you have them, or borrow them at the event. Also bring your bike, helmet, water bottle, compass and sunscreen.
Registration on the day at the event is available from 1pm. Arrive in plenty of time so you are registered before the beginner briefing at 1.30pm.
Start time: 2pm.
Courses close: 4pm. Please return to the assembly area by this time.
Note the date: the original calendar linked from the Events page had an incorrect date.
Directions to the event are in Eventor.
There is more information on MTBO events on the OWA website.
Photo: Karen, Tristan and Blake, taken by Sue Dowling
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Welcome To Our New Numbats!
The Numbats are the OWA Junior Development squad. Criteria for joining this squad are: complete an age-appropriate course unassisted, working to improve their skills, and enthusiasm for the sport.
The newest members are Rohan Braid, Ruth Toomey and Ruben Claessens. Congratulations! They will receive a certificate and a Numbat top.
Photo: Amy in her Numbat top, taken by Rob West
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Report: Summer Training Series
Summer training for 2021 has come to an end with the onset of autumn. Although the temperature still feels like summer, with sunset now arriving at around 6.30pm we have run out of time to hold post-work training sessions in reasonable light.
Although we had a rather short series this year, a total of 23 different people participated, with numbers for each session varying between 7 and 15. Numbers were higher for the Friday rather than Thursday sessions suggesting that this might be the better day when looking ahead to next summer. It would also be a good idea to start earlier in the year to take advantage of longer daylight, providing the temperature isn’t too hot.
Those who attended enjoyed sessions covering warm-up routines, traffic lights, map simplification, route choice and map memory, concluding with mini-courses designed to help participants put it all together. Many thanks to the coaches who ran the series: Sarah Richards, Jan Fletcher, Andries Swart, Carol Brownlie and Rachel West.
Photo: Rachel conducting a training session, taken by Rob West
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Did You Know?
Saving your emergency contact details
If you've logged into Eventor to enter an event, you would have noticed that Eventor now requires an emergency contact phone number to be entered before accepting your entry.
There is a way to stop Eventor asking for this detail every time you enter. Here is the solution.
- Login to Eventor.
- Click on 'My Pages' at the top of the screen.
- Open the 'Contact details' tab.
- Enter your emergency contact details in the 'Emergency contact' box.
- Click on 'Save'.
From now on, when you enter an event, the Emergency contact field will be automatically populated. Note that you can still override with a different number when entering if necessary.
The image above will, hopefully, help to explain the procedure! Thank you to Michael Dufty for raising this issue.
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Orienteering for Beginners
Whiteman Park
Saturday 17th April
If you haven't been orienteering before, or you have friends who are put off from coming to an event because they don't know what orienteering is all about, then you and/or your friends can sign up for the upcoming Orienteering for Beginners Session on Saturday 17th April starting at 2pm. It will be based at Whiteman Park and will make use of the Anytime Orienteering Course there.
Children are most welcome if accompanied by an adult.
Please book your place through Facebook/Eventbrite.
More information can be found on Eventor.
If you can't make it to a Beginner session, then just turn up at an event and say you are new. At each event there are instructors available to help you get started.
Photo: Beginners' Session at Whiteman Park on 27 February, taken by Rob West
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