Month: February 2022

The Scottish Inter-Club Championship moved into its seventh week, as ECKO hosted a Scottish Orienteering League fixture at Coille Nathais, near Taynuilt.

Individual results for the SOL can be found here

BASOC are offering a summer job opportunity in the Aviemore area. The club is looking for an enthusiastic development officer to work with the club on a part-time basis over the summer months. The CDO will support a programme of volunteer-led activities, including running introductory sessions in the local community. Through this programme, the club aims to attract and retain more new members, increase participation in the sport and develop our volunteer base.

Further details and a role description can be found here

Closing date for applications is 18th March 2022

We would like to invite Expressions of Interest to undertake some work to plan and deliver introductory orienteering sessions in the Earlston Primary school cluster in the Borders. The work is part of a wider development project being initiated by Roxburgh Reivers to improve recruitment to the club and increase awareness of orienteering across Borders communities.

The East Area clubs (KFO, TAY, ESOC, INT, EUOC, ELO and RR) are working together to develop a programme of training opportunities open to all junior orienteers that have reached TD3 (orange) standard or above. The plans are a first step towards re-establishing an East Area junior squad, similar to the successful SWAT squad that has been running in the west of Scotland for several years now.

Following our Community Conversation last year on Gender Equality in orienteering, we have been notified that IOF are seeking the voice of the orienteering community on equal winning times for men and women. An online survery is available (link below), we look forward to hearing the outcomes of the consultation in due course.

One of the autumn’s newly qualified Level 1 coaches has already played his part in getting the ball rolling for coaching at KFO. Matthew Clark has been helping the club’s new members get their bearings in local woods.

 In partnership with existing club coach, Ian Doig, the duo has also developed a set of training mornings for club members. The first had fourteen KFO members come along to polish their compass skills.  

Our SOA tutors are a valuable part of our workforce. If you are interested in becoming a tutor qualified to deliver IntrO courses or Coaching Foundation (qualified L1 coaches) then the first step is a Sport Education Professional Development Award (PDA SET). The course dates for this year are now available with more information on the sportscotland website Please email suzanne@scottish-orienteering.org if you are interested

The Scottish Inter-Clubs Championship table is taking shape following the Dark ‘n’ Dunes Weekend, which saw the first championship event of the season, the Scottish Nights Championship at Braid Hills, followed by the opening round of the Scotish Orienteering League at a windswept Gullane Dunes.

ESOC continues to lead the way in the Large Clubs division, and has now extended its lead to nearly 20,000 points. FVO and INT are locked in battle for second place, with INT moving ahead after the Night event, only for FVO to peg them back in daylight.

ELO tops RR in the Small Clubs division, with STAG in third place, but KFO has established itself in 4th position, remarkable in that they only have seven counters in play at present.

Club and individual league tables after six rounds can be found here

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Nikki Howard to the SOA staff team as Events & Operations Manager. Nikki brings with her extensive experience in organising events for her club Moravian and also from being assistant day organiser on day 3 (Arisaig) of Scottish 6 Days last year. She will be taking on much of the work previously done by Colin Matheson who retired in 2021, including assisting clubs with access for events and working to evolve our partnerships with Forestry & Land Scotland and other organsations. As part of the operations component of the role, Nikki will work to support the ongoing development of our network of event planners, controllers and will work with clubs to coordinate the event calendar in future years.

The Scottish Schools Festival will take place Wednesday 1st June at Scone Palace, by Perth . A treat in store for all who make it along.