In light of Scottish Government’s announcement that the Scottish mainland will move to level 4 on 26th December for a period of 3 weeks. The SOA guidance published on the 7th December remains in place however the SOA have today published a clarification on the orienteering events and activities permitted in level 4.
We ask all members and clubs to comply with Scottish Government guidelines at all times, ensure they know the travel restrictions in place and follow SOA guidance set out to allow orienteering to continue. We are fortunate that orienteering in many forms is permitted in level 4, please stay local, stay active and stay safe this festive season. We must protect the reputation of the sport and also respect everyone enjoying the outdoor spaces available.
While we recognise that orienteering does not stop over the festive season, the Scottish Orienteering ‘office’ will be shut between 22nd December and 5th January with most of the staff using annual leave to extend their holiday after a busy year.
A note to all clubs and members to say that the SOA guidance published on 7th December will remain in place until 5th January.
As we come to the final few weeks of 2020 and we begin to reflect on all that has been achieved we again extend our sincere thanks to the countless hours of volunteers up and down the country who have made orienteering possible during the most challenging of years.
One of our core volunteers has been our President, Richard Oxlade. Due to other commitments, including his role to stage a successful Lochaber 2021 with the Scottish 6Day Company Richard has tendered his resignation for the position of President. We need some volunteers to step forward to allow us to continue to progress towards our ambitions as a SGB. We seek individuals with enthusiasm to see the sport succeed to please consider coming to work directly with the SOA to deliver on our ambitions in 2021 and beyond as we look ahead to WOC2024.
The Scottish Orienteering 6-Day Event Company are pleased to announce that the new website www.scottish6days.com is now live! Plus, there is more good news afoot! Lochaber 2021 to be hosted 1st-7th August will be the 23rd staging of the hugely popular Scottish 6 Days. Bring in the New Year by getting your entries into this fantastic event. Entries open on 1st January 2021!!!
We are delighted to announce the successful appointment of a new Independent Director to the SOA Board as we warmly welcome Peter Heffernan. Peter is an actuary within PWC based in Edinburgh and brings previous orienteering experience into the role, although he admits it has been a few years since his last event!
Due to changes in the travel legislation there has been some amendments to our SOA guidance on orienteering activities and events. This guidance will be issued to Club Covid Officers and we advise any questions be directed to Fiona@Scottish-orienteering.org We have outlined below all changes that have been made to highlight those areas which have changed.
Many of us know TEAM can stand for Together Everyone Achieves More. How can we use this so that an event team (planner, organiser, controller) work together as a team to make the event even better – and remove some stress and strain from actually taking on an event team role?
We are delighted to share the December issue of Score magazine.
Our new issue is packed with orienteering content for you to devour this December. We talk to first time planners and orienteers and see how they are faring in Covid times. There is a celebration of some of our very cool orienteering women and girls at Aberdeen University and Moray. You will also find the latest on squad updates; news of an event partnership with a Lossiemouth brewery that will be of interest to clubs with an eye to something different; and of course what is the thing called Turf we have been hearing about ? We get the Edinburgh perspective. Finally some well-kent faces from around the country and Scottish orienteering bravely make their predictions for 2021! And we even give you a festive puzzle to get your teeth into.
And we thank SOA photo competition winner Colin Brash for the sensational cover image of Arria glimpsed in a snowy Cumbernauld Community Park during a STAG Score event. You can download the PDF version of Score here – along with all the back copies – to enjoy at your leisure.
Many thanks to all our contributors for this edition! If you have a story to share or pictures we would love to see them! We are particularly looking for news of local events and how clubs are rising to the challenge for the April issue – tips, tricks, pitfalls, wins – let us know and send us photos to score@scottish-orienteering.org,
