Scottish orienteers were successful at the IOFs World Masters Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships in Targovistje Bulgaria with a record haul of medals for Team GB. Over thirty nations competed and AYROC’s Bob Cherry clinched a fantastic three Golds and a Silver and clinched a Gold overall in the World Masters Series in M65. Karena Hanley of ESOC clinched a World Series win with four 4th places adding to her earlier run of victories in the Series. Arnis Saltums of STAG, representing Latvia, also won Gold in the World Masters Series.
Scottish orienteers in action and clinching medals on the world stage
The VHI races this year will take place in Wales on the weekend of 1st and 2nd of October. We are excited to announce those selected to represent Scotland at the event. Thank you to the team selectors, congratulations to those selected and good luck in October!
We are delighted to announce the Scottish teams for the Junior Inter Regional Competition (JIRCs) and the Junior Home Internationals (JHIs). The teams have been selected taking into account availability and to provide as many juniors as possible with the opportunity to race whilst also sending strong teams to both events.
The Junior Inter Regionals (JIRCs) will see Scotland compete against teams from all 12 British Orienteering Regions. They will be held in Northern Ireland on the weekend on 24/25 September.
The SOUL series restarts after its summer hiatus, with the next events in Perth and Elgin later in September. Entries are open for both.
The headline news is that we’re now back to thirteen events in the series. Having lost one event early one due to ‘permissions’, a replacement for it has been recently added. Accordingly, the series will revert to being being the best seven scores for all senior classes. although the junior classes will remain best six scores.
The weekend saw the return of the Junior Inter-Area competition. Juniors from East, North and West gathered in Pitlochry for a weekend stay which allowed juniors from 12 clubs to compete as teams for their region in relay and individual races. The overnight stay allowed them all to mix and meet other juniors outwith their club/ region.
All juniors gathered at Black Spout on the edge of Pitlochry to start the weekend with the relay races. North won the relay by 28 points claiming 1st and 2nd in the open category and 1st and 3rd place in the junior girl category. West claimed the other podium places but East can claim credit for fielding juniors from each of their member clubs!
Another great weekend was had by all of those who travelled to Perthshire for the 2022 Scottish Middle Distance Championship at Kinnoull Hill hosted by TAY and the third SOL of 2022 at Loch Ordies hosted by ESOC.
A SOA development initiative in Lochaber, linked to last summer’s 6-day event, has recently led to the formation of a new orienteering hub with an objective to facilitate wider opportunities for participation in orienteering in the Lochaber area. An enthusiastic group of interested locals met in Glencoe in January and agreed to work together under the umbrella of nearby club EckO to move plans forward. With strong support from EckO CDO, Jan Kersel, the hub is set to host its first event at Glencoe Lochan on Sunday 10th April.
Congratulations to all those who were successful in winning a medal at the Scottish Night Championships in February. Please come find us at Scottish Championships or our AGM on 28th May when we will have your medals with us and ready for collection! For anyone unable to attend Scottish Championships, we will give your medal to a club representative, where appropriate, or we will post it to you following the weekend of the 28th/29th May.
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.
Results have been compiled and we can publish the trophy and medal winners from the Scottish Night Championships. Congratulations to all the medal winners and to those taking home the coveted titles of Scottish Night Champions!
