Talent Scotland

Congratulations to all the juniors who have been selected to be part of the new Talent Scotland squad and thanks to all the coaches who have volunteered to support them.

So what is Talent Scotland?

As a result of the recent review of the Performance Pathway, British Orienteering has changed the set-up of the junior talent squads, replacing the national squad with 3 super-regional squads – North, South and Scotland. This allows more juniors to get the opportunity to be part of the Performance Pathway. This new set-up for Level 3 athletes (ages 16-18) will provide more specialised support than that offered by the existing regional squads. The Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) will still continue in its current role but many of the older juniors will also get additional support through Talent Scotland. This will include sports science workshops and presentations, strength and conditioning practical sessions, some advanced technical training sessions and personal coach support.

Who will run Talent Scotland?

Jon Musgrave (MAROC) and Judy Bell (ESOC) have been running ScotJOS for the past couple of years. Since Scottish juniors who are aiming for selection and the performance pathway are likely to be members of ScotJOS anyway, they felt it was a natural progression for them to volunteer to also manage the Talent Scotland squad. This essentially allows Talent Scotland to provide the additional support required over and above that already supplied by ScotJOS.

Judy and Jon would like to acknowledge the huge team of volunteers who help make ScotJOS happen and provide so much support and enjoyment for Scottish junior orienteers – coaches, drivers and cooks who all give up their time to help. To provide additional support for the Talent Scotland squad, they are aiming for all the juniors to have personal coaches who will help and assist them in developing their training plans and reflecting on their performances, as well as coaches who will come and stand in the cold coaching or run round hills with (after) them! A fantastic group has already volunteered to assist with this and the knowledge and experience of these coaches is invaluable to the success of this project. If anyone else would like to volunteer to help in any way – please, please get in touch!

Who has been selected?

Congratulations to the following juniors who have all been selected to join the squad for 2021-22. We hope that they will enjoy being part of the squad and will gain from the experience:

Adam Barrie (MAROC)
Alice Kemsley (BASOC)
Angus Ivory (INT)
Angus Laird (INVOC)
Catriona Chapman (MAROC)
Daisy McNamara (AYROC)
Ewan Musgrave (MAROC)
Finlay Raynor (INVOC)
Fiona Eades (INT)
Iris MacMillan (ECKO)
Isobel Howard (MOR)
Jamie Goddard (FVO)
James Hammond (FVO)
Joel Gooch (MAROC)
Jonas Newey (MAROC)
Oscar Shepherd (INVOC)
Sam Griffin (GRAMP)
Sam Hunt (FVO)