Category: COVID-19

We welcome the First Minister’s statement on 20th August with significant steps forward and dates provided for the wider sport sector. We stand in solidarity with the indoor sports who have yet to return but at least now have a date to plan towards the reopening of facilities.

There will be some changes to be made to the SOA Guidelines. We had a positive discussion with sportscotland today around the relaxing of some event restrictions and will seek approval for amendments to be published early next week.

Following the First Minister’s announcement on 30th July the SOA has made some amendments to Phase 3 Guidelines on the Reactivation of Orienteering Activities. The changes relate to those who have been shielding and also further advice on coaching.

We would like to thank you all for your patience as we sought to gain approval for our Phase 3 guidelines for orienteering activities and for the SOA event guidance documents to support the reactivation of events in Scotland.

We are delighted to share with you our guidelines and guidance notes to allow clubs to plan for club activities, coaching and also club only (local) events (with some restrictions in place).

Having given due consideration to the changes outlined in the First Minister’s speech on the 24th June which outlines several amendments to the Scottish Government’s Route map we have updated our Route map to reflect what may be possible in the coming weeks.

Following the First Minister’s statement yesterday we will take time to re-consider what activities may be permitted in July as we move through Phase 2 and into Phase 3. We await further clarity on some of the details and subsequent approval of our guidelines as restrictions are gradually reduced.

We welcome the First Minister’s announcement yesterday in terms of a move through the route map process. We recognise and take seriously our collective responsibility to do what we can to continue to supress the spread of the virus.  We understand that public health and wellbeing remains the most pressing priority as a nation. With travel restrictions for leisure still roughly at 5miles this has meant there is little in the way of change in terms of permitted orienteering activities in Scotland.  It was again emphasised that we are not yet in a ‘return to sport’ phase but instead a further extension of exercise guidelines.

Scottish Orienteering as the Governing Body for Orienteering in Scotland has a mandate to ensure the sport is run in a safe and inclusive way. During this worldwide pandemic, Scottish Orienteering are required to submit phase by phase plans on their ‘permitted activities’ to sportscotland for approval prior to publication by the Scottish Government to ensure that all sports are compliant with the restrictions outlined in the Scottish Government COVID-19 Routemap and with guidelines published on a regular basis. It is for this reason that activities permitted in Scotland may vary to those in other home nations. We will do our best to ensure members and clubs are updated as soon as we are given permission to our permitted activities on a phase by phase basis. 

During lockdown the SOA has been working closely with sportscotland and the Scottish Governing Bodies of the other outdoor sports to create a plan for how our activities can resume once lockdown starts to ease. Following the First Minister’s announcement yesterday we are pleased to be in a position to share Phase 1 of our Route Map for Orienteering reactivation.

Initial steps towards lifting some lockdown requirements recently announced in England and Scotland show some divergence in approaches. The Scottish Orienteering Association is aligned with the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland approach.  Hence the only change to date for Scotland is that exercising more than once per day is permitted.

SOA workshop Tues 19th May, 7pm

We are all hopeful that full Lockdown restriction may shortly be eased to give some greater flexibility for people to take part in outdoor recreation, albeit initially on an individual or small group basis. I am sure everyone will be excited at the prospect of getting outdoors to take part in some real orienteering again in some format or other. The sport has lots to offer for this situation as we are naturally on our own for much of the time and social distancing can be integrated without great difficulty. The recent communication from BOF sets out how this might pan out as restrictions are gradually lifted. In preparation for this, it is worth planning for what resources can be made available for everyone to enjoy. On Tues 19th May, at 7pm, the SOA will host a Zoom workshop to discuss how clubs can use MapRunF to help play a part in this. Please sign up for the workshop here.