There is some change afoot within the SOA staff team. Sarah Dunn will be leaving her role as Development Manager and North Regional Development Officer at the end of April. Sarah has been a fantastic asset to the SOA team during her time in post and we wish her well with her next adventure. Fran Loots will become our interim Development Manager as we seek to recruit for vacant positions within our Development Team.
Watch this space for some exciting opportunities to work in orienteering which will go live soon!
The SOA, under the guidance of Safety Director Tim O’Donoghue, are working towards compliance with new anti-doping assurance framework which was brought in by UK Anti-Doping (here forward referred to as UKAD). We wanted to be transparent in some changes which have come into effect and outlined these below.
On Friday we shared the updated SOA covid guidance to Club Chairs, Secretaries and Club Covid Officers to reflect the changes in Scottish Government Strategic Framework for Covid-19 which took effect on 21st March. Today we can publish the guidance available here. Our Safety Director, Tim O’Donoghue has also made changes to the risk assessment protocols required for club events and activities, we are pleased to inform you that covid measures are now embedded in the British Orienteering risk assessment template and available here for download.
The 2022 Scottish Sprint Championships were held in Dundee on Sunday, as part of the Sprint Scotland orienteering festival. The races acted as the first international trial for the GB senior national team, and newly-appointed BOF Performance Director Bernie Dietzeig was in town to watch a star-studded field of athletes race on a hilly course at Balgray.
A competitor in the Scottish Sprint Championships runs past Dundee’s Mills Observatory
There was a good division of the spoils at the end of the day, with no fewer than 11 clubs having an athlete on the champions podium. Results from all three races at Sprint Scotland can be found here (Scottish Sprint Champs is race 3), and a full list of champions is here
The races also counted for points in the 2022 Scottish Inter-Clubs Championship, and league tables after 13 events are here. There’s no change at the top of the Large Clubs division, although FVO made ground on ESOC’s lead. The Small Clubs division continues to be intriguing, as ELO retook the lead from RR after day 1, only for RR to snatch it back following the championship event.
The next SICC event will be a regional race organised by INVOC on Sunday at Creag Leach and Craig Dunain, although this clashes with the British Championships in England, so many of the top athletes may be occupied elsewhere.
We are notifying all members of our intended Annual General Meeting date of Saturday 28th May 2022 to be held after the Scottish Championship (individual) event in Deeside, we intend on hosting our first ‘in-person’ AGM for 3years and hope members will engage with us on the 28th May. There will be a proxy vote option for those unable to attend. We will confirm location of the AGM in due course. We are in the process of putting together the AGM handbook to outline proposals and matter of business however we welcome any proposals from clubs/members that you wish raised at the AGM please contact Fiona@scottish-orienteering.org to outline any proposals or matters of business for consideration.
We are seeking election of some SOA Board members and request anyone interested in any of the positions to contact Fiona@scottish-orienteering.org or speak to a member of the current Board. All role descriptions can be provided on request. We have received a number of nominations which will be outlined in full in the handbook.
Chair – currently one nomination
Operations Director
Performance Director – currently one nomination
Communications Director – currently one nomination
The Scottish qualification round of the 2022 Compass Sport Cup and Trophy brought more than 400 competitors to Callander Crags for a memorable race in tough underfoot conditions.
Callander Crags (image (c) Solway Orienteers)
FVO brought out a new map of the area, but heavy rain in the hours leading up to the race meant that the steep slopes below the crags, which demarcate the Scottish Midlands from the Highlands, were quite slippery in places.
FVO won the Compass Sport Cup round by 76 points from ESOC, although as FVO is also hosting the final, and has a reserved place, both clubs progress. The Compass Sport Trophy round was the most competitive of any of the eight national qualifiers, with no fewer than 15 clubs chasing one of the three final berths. Three-time winners Interlopers booked their final place by winning the competition, including overall victories on both Open courses, and they are joined in the final by MAROC and Moravian, who were separated by only four points at the end of the day.
Results including WinSplits and Routegadget can be found on the FVO website
The event also counted for points in the 2022 Scottish Inter-Club Championship, and ESOC continues to lead the way in the Large Clubs division from FVO, who closed up slightly on their lead. INT now has more than 100,,000 points logged and remains 3rd.
The overall lead in the Small Clubs division has changed hands once again, as RR got in front of ELO to establish a narrow 400 point advantage. The Junior competition for small clubs is still led by ELO, with TAY moving into second position. Almost all of the clubs are now in play in the Junior Inter-Clubs, with only the student teams and TINTO yet to get off the mark.
Interlopers hosted a successful East Area Junior Training session, on a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon at Craigmillar Castle Park in Edinburgh. The training was the first of a planned series of opportunities for juniors in the east of Scotland to get together to learn and practice new skills, and have an opportunity to meet and socialise with youngsters from different clubs.
