ScotJOS and Talent Scotland had their 1^st training camp of 2023 last weekend. The camp was based in Livingston with its multitude of underpasses, alleyways and complex housing estates providing the ideal location for a Sprint orienteering camp. 

Going Forward into 2023

Hello and a warm welcome to 2023. The Development Team had an exciting yet challenging 2022. At the start of the year we were understaffed then lost Sarah Dunn as Development Manager. However in the autumn Heidi Ross joined the team enabling us to be a full staff team again. We have supported projects including: Dundee Active Schools with Tay and Earlston High School with the Roxburgh Reivers along with summer camps and work to find out more from young people about what keeps them in the sport. We are excited for 2023 to take on new development projects and continue our work from 2022. 

Following consultation on the 2022 Scottish Inter-Club Championship, it was found that members were in favour of the new format which allowed clubs to gather points through the year rather than previous focus which required attendance at one event.  The Scottish Inter-Club Championship format had been revamped because it was felt that members increasingly saw it as an irrelevance having been held in the last few years alongside the Scottish Individual Championships.  

This new format of the Scottish Inter-Club Championships is aimed to help clubs foster club spirit and enthusiasm.  It aims to be more inclusive as it allows all members to add points to the club total, even those who are unable to travel outwith club areas.  The number of events has also been decreased so that clubs can be clear which events will count towards the Scottish Inter-Club championship.

After 5 years in the role Sally Lindsay has decided to stand down as the SOA Trophy Coordinator. The Board and in particular Richard Oxlade, the Operations Director, would like to thank Sally for all her hard work getting trophies for our Scottish championships and leagues distributed to the right place at the right time, and the equally hard work of retrieving them for the next year. In addition, we would also like to thank her for her diligent efforts to rationalise the Scottish Championship rules and guidelines.

Inevitably this means that we need a new volunteer to coordinate the trophies. Sally aims to handover after the presentation of last year’s SOL trophies at SOL1 in March and we urgently need a replacement before the start of April. This is a great opportunity to put something back into our sport and without our SOA volunteers we would not be able to operate the sport at a national level.

If you value the are prepared to take on this role please could you contact Richard Oxlade (operations@scottish-orienteering.org) or Nikki Howard (nikki@scottish-orienteering.org).

The events which form part of the 2023 Scottish Orienteering League (SOUL) series have been finalised and details including links to all of the events can be found on the SOUL events page on the website or via this link here.

Eleven events will form the 2023 SOUL series. The best six scores will be used to determine an individual’s league positions for all classes other than the Young Junior, Junior and Hyper Veteran classes where the best four scores will count for an individual’s league position.

The roll of honour for the 2022 SOUL series, with details of those first, second and third in each class, is available here. The trophy presentation will take part after the Edinburgh University Orienteering Club’s (EUOC) Edinburgh City Race (SOUL 1) on January 28th 2023. Certificates for the first three in each class have already been distributed to clubs.

The SOA office reopened on the 9th January. With a busy festive season for most we have decided to extend the closing date for the Chief Operating Officer position until the 17th January giving everyone an extra week to apply.

The role outline is available here

If you have already applied, your application will be considered for short listing after the 17th January.

The next few years will be an exciting time for Scottish Orienteering as we build towards the World Sprint Orienteering Championships in Edinburgh in 2024 and beyond.

There are a number of SOA Board Director roles coming up in the next few months, to be filled at the AGM in May. They give the opportunity to put back into the sport and have a strategic impact. The Board Team work to help develop and grow our great sport alongside our Clubs and Development Staff, funded by sportscotland. Board Directors are also Trustees of the charity.

Happy New Year to all our members from Scottish Orienteering. New years bring new opportunities and we have a number of courses happening soon for coaches, planners and juniors that still have places. Sign up now to secure your place!

SOA have operated a Development Fund for a number of years. These sports development grants are funded by SportScotland to enable clubs to make a tangible difference in their area. We have recently made some changes which are intended to simplify the application, awarding and report back processes.

Are you a junior who loves the idea of planning but are not sure where to start? An INVOC junior planner from the last series of SOA planning workshops contributed to planning the schools event below.

A 2023 series of beginner workshops is being run for juniors, 12 years or older, who have little or no planning experience. The dates are as follows: