The British Team selection races for the European Orienteering Championships (Estonia) and Word Cup Round 3 (Switzerland) will take place on the 9-10 July in Scotland. It is a good opportunity for Scottish performance and aspiring performance athletes to race on high quality maps and courses. Some great racing on offer in Culbin and Glendye

On her appointment as Performance Director Fanni Gyurko has raised the topic of selection criteria and team selection for all teams representing Scotland at Home Internationals, with support from the SOA Board of Director we are publishing here the selection policy for the VHI due to take place in October. Please read below and any questions can be sent to Veteran Team Manager Janice Nisbet.

After missing a couple of years due to covid, it was great to see lots of smiling faces on Moncreiffe Hill yesterday for the 2022 Jamie Stevenson Trophy.

Twelve clubs from across Scotland brought teams along to enjoy this junior inter club competition.  The sun shone and there were smiles all round for the club parade started off the event.

The President’s Medal was introduced by Donald Grassie in 2001 to be awarded by President primarily for services to Scottish Orienteering. Since 2001 there have been many worthy recipients but never before have we had such consensus as to an individual winner on a given year. Richard Oxlade, President of Scottish Orienteering, announced that Judy Bell (ESOC) was the winner of the President’s Medal for 2021. Judy received several nominations and is a very worthy recipient of the award.

The winner of Young Orienteer of the Year 2021, sponsored by Tulloch Homes, was presented to Daisy McNamara. Daisy lives on Arran and is a member of Ayrshire Orienteering Club as well as a member of the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJos).  She has initiated orienteering sessions on Arran, offering more young people an opportunity to enjoy and progress in the sport. She also successfully received grant funding from the Orienteering Foundation to buy orienteering equipment for use by the school and community. 

Looking for a holiday in Scotland this summer? Enjoy good quality orienteering? Then there is still space on the Coast and Islands Orienteering Week – 6 days of orienteering on Kintyre and Arran at the end of July.

A warm welcome to our new Chair of Scottish Orienteering, Keith Dawson (INT). Keith was voted in at the AGM on 28th May and we look forward to working with him to realise the vision of our Mapping the Way Forward Strategy 2020-2024. Keith brings to the role over 48years experience in the sport of orienteering as well as coveted experience from the business and charity sectors. Keith is a well known face within the Edinburgh orienteering scene as well as a representative for mountain bike orienteering on the IOF. Welcome Keith to the SOA!

The SOA AGM took place at Crathes Hall on Saturday 28th May. We would like to thank all those who attended the meeting and contributed to the discussions. We have published the minutes of the AGM and the finalised Accounts for 2021 below.

Before announcing the new incoming Directors we would like to say a sincere thank you to those that have participated in guiding the organisation forward this year and played an important role as Directors on the SOA Board, namely: Bridget Khursheed (RR), Neil Rankin and Peter Heffernan. Also to Anne Hickling who remains our Development Director and has been highly committed and done a tremendous job as our Chair for the past 3 years. Thank you to you all.

Some of you may be aware of an inspiring group of women including Fran Loots, our Development Officer and former staff member, Sarah Dunn as well as a number of orienteering club members are undertaking an amazing feat. The challenge to continuous self-propel round the munros in Scotland. You can follow the challenge on Facebook and read more about the project below.

Lynne Walker

Lynne has been a mainstay of Scottish Orienteering for many years now.  As well as volunteering in BASOC both on the committee and as a coach, she has fulfilled many roles for the wider orienteering community in Scotland as well.