Scottish Orienteering, and all the members of the Senior Home International and Veteran Home International teams would like to say a big thank you to Ben Hartmann, and Janice Nisbet (through Fergusson Law) for sponsoring the team kit for the 2023 events. Their contributions meant that all members of both teams were provided with Scotland orienteering tops free of charge. The intention is that future team members will also get given a shirt as recognition for representing Scotland.

If you or your organisation is interested in sponsoring the Scottish team in future (kit or activities) then please get in touch.

The subject of last week’s Community Conversation was ‘Coaching Culture’.   Many thanks to all those who came along and shared their ideas.  The first question that was raised was, ‘How do we get more people to come along to coaching/training sessions?’

Over the past weekend, the Scottish Student Championships took place in Deeside, hosted by Aberdeen University Orienteering Club. The weekend of inter-university competition started with relays at Potarch followed by individuals on the Sunday at Glen Dye. MAROC supported Aberdeen University with the Relays and GRAMP supported with the Individuals. Read on to find out how the weekend went and which University is crowned Scottish Student Champions 2023!. 

The Junior Inter Areas brings together the juniors of all ages to compete for their regions, East, North and West, over a weekend. The weekend begins with a relay competition, where juniors of all ages work together to grab the trophy, followed by an overnight stay for everyone who wishes and then each member of the team works to help their region get the individual event trophy for their region before the points from both events are tallied to see which region takes the overall prize.

This year the event was organised by East Region. The relay event took place at Tulliallan with the help of Forth Valley Orienteers, followed by an overnight stay at Stirling Youth Hostel, and then the individual event took place as part of the last Scottish Orienteering League event of the 2023 hosted by Kingdom of Fife Orienteers at Devilla.

The relay involved some exciting courses and there was lots of team spirit on show . The M14s and W14s went out as first leg runners in the relay followed by the M/W12 age group on second leg and then the M/W 16 and18 age group bringing in the final leg. The top places were shared amongst the regions but West Area came out on top to take the Inter Area Relay Trophy.

The SOA held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 30th November 2023.

The EGM proposed that following the creation of new membership categories for Young Adult and Families and part year membership fees by the British Orienteering Federation at their AGM, that the SOA should adopt membership categories for Young Adults, Families and part year membership for new Seniors memberships for 2024.

At the meeting those present and those who had submitted proxy votes all unanimously voted to approve the adoption of two new membership categories – Young Adults, Families – and part year membership for new senior members for 2024. Theses changes have been implemented in terms of BOF membership and due to complications with the SOA membership platform the SOA will be working with clubs to ensure these changes can be implemented for SOA only members as soon as practicable.

Autumn is a busy time for the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) as we bid farewell to those heading off to University, welcome in the new squad and compete at the Junior Home Internationals (JHIs) and Junior Inter Regional Championships (JIRCs). With the JIRCs in Wales and 2 weeks later the JHIs in Birmingham –  the Scots were on tour.  Read on to catch up with all the ScotJOS news …

Junior Inter Regional Championships

The Junior Inter-Regional Championships were held in South Wales at the end of September. This sees teams of juniors from all 12 British Orienteering regions compete against each other with individual races on the Saturday and relays on the Sunday – and lots of time for fun and games in between.

To make the loooong journey more bearable for the juniors (and accompanying adults!), they set off by coach on the Friday afternoon with an overnight stop in Birmingham planned. In the spirit of the event we even allowed a few North West, Yorkshire and Irish juniors to join us on the coach as they were now based in Scotland.  With lots of quizzes and singing (and food!) to keep us going we arrived in Wales in good spirits to some lovely sunshine.

The Individuals were held at Kenfig Burrows – a complex area of sand dunes on the South coast. After the application of the necessary war paint (and the adults attempts to build a  better flag pole than the Welsh team’s)  there was time to meet up with friends, play some football – oh and do some orienteering! 

The team all performed fantastically with Scotland securing a strong lead (27 points) over the other teams. There were medals for Douglas MacDonald (INVOC) who was 1^st in M14, Laurence Ward (INT) 3^rd in M16, James Hammond (FVO) 1^st in M18, Ruth Gooch (MAROC) 1^st in W16, Emily Atkinson (ELO) 3^rd in W16, Isobel Howard (MOR) 2^nd in W18 and Daisy McNamara (AYROC) 3^rd in W18. Ruth Gooch also won the award for Best Individual Performance thanks to an impressive four and half minute lead on the W16 course. 

The teams all retired to Rougemont School in Newport for the evening for food, football, prize giving, more quizzes, a quick moonlit Strip the Willow and then bed on the gym hall and dining room floors. 

The weather changed for the Sunday and we set off in the rain for Llantrisant forest for the relays.  This was a steep wooded hillside crossed by forestry tracks, and mountain bike trails. The arena was towards the top of the area and there was lots of climb in all the courses. The woodland was also very “green” in places.

The boys relay set off, followed by the girls to lots of noise. The teams run with a 16, then a 14 and finally an 18 on the last leg. A run through mid-course gave us a chance to cheer on further before we waited expectantly for them to appear back out the forest and run up the track to the handover area. The Scottish teams set off strongly with our juniors leading the packs but then the dreaded miss punches of relays started to appear. With the two hotly tipped men’s teams (Scotland 1 and South Central 1) disqualified, the race was open. The Scotland 2 team of Finn Duguid, Calum Robertson and Adam Barrie successfully brought the win home for Scotland.  In the girls race Daisy McNamara had an excellent 3^rd leg  overtaking several teams to return first only to discover their team was disqualified due to an earlier miss punch. However Scotland 1 returned next picking up Gold for Ruth Gooch, Esme Kelly and Isobel Howard.

Overall Yorkshire and Humberside took the win the relays with 261 points with Scotland 2^nd on 258 points. However with the strong win on the individuals, Scotland retained the Junior Inter-Regional Championship trophy. As well as the trophy’s for the men’s overall and women’s overall.

A tired but victorious group of juniors boarded the coach for the loooooong trip back North.

Huge thanks to Swansea Bay Orienteering Club for organising the event. For a small club to put on both the individual and relay events was very impressive. The juniors were delighted to see Megan Carter-Davies and Ben Mitchell running the computing – it’s not often you turn up at an event to have a current World Champion running the download! 

Full results for both races and the points are available at https://www.sboc.org.uk/results

Two weeks later the juniors hit the road again to head to Birmingham for the Junior Home Internationals. Armed with more quizzes for the journey and plenty of food we headed south by coach again, picking up some of the English team from the Lakes on the way.  We did draw the line at them trying to display the St George’s Cross on our bus though!

Both days of the competition were held at Sutton Park in Birmingham, with the juniors staying overnight at Beaudesert Scout Camp. Whilst Scotland was battered by rain, we headed to Sutton Park in glorious sunshine ready to take on the other nations.  With face paint applied the juniors headed to the start whilst the adults waited for them to appear at the spectator control and bemoaned the fact they had forgotten the binoculars again as they tried to identify who was approaching! There was a lot of fast running on paths but lots of vegetation to catch out the unsuspecting. Although the running was fast, mistakes were costly with relocation difficult.

Junior Home Internationals

The team all performed fantastically with Scotland scoring 72 points – only 5 points behind England. There were medals for Douglas MacDonald (INVOC) who was 1^st in M14, Finn Duguid (TAY) 2^nd on M16, James Hammond (FVO) 1^st on M18, Adam Barrie (MAR) 2^nd on M18, Lucy Ward (INT) 3^rd on W14,   Isobel Howard (MOR) 2^nd in W18 and Iris Macmillan (ECKO) 3^rd in W18.

It was then time to head back to Beaudesert, with an ice-cream stop on the way, for more fun and games in the sunshine. The weather was so pleasant that the evening’s ceilidh was held outdoors in part of the walled garden illuminated with floodlights. Although not traditional Scottish dancing, we were treated to a hilarious mix of fun dances which everyone managed to find the energy to join in with.

On Sunday – after a slightly belated start due to mechanical problems with the coach door we headed to the southern part of Sutton Park for the relays. The girls headed off first with the boys start 10 minutes later. From the start they disappeared straight into the undergrowth and we were left with an anxious wait for the 1^st runners to appear at the spectator control.

Finn Duguid had a great 1^st leg for the boys returning in 1^st position, and handing over to Douglas. Rory Black then appeared chasing the England’s Tommy Rollins. The English however overtook on the 2^nd leg and James Hammond fought hard on the final leg to take the silver for the Scotland 1 team. The Scotland 2 team of Finlay McLuckie, Calum Robertson and Adam Barrie finished in 5^th place.

Finn Duguid had a great 1^st leg for the boys returning in 1^st position, and handing over to Douglas. Rory Black then appeared chasing the England’s Tommy Rollins. The English however overtook on the 2^nd leg and James Hammond fought hard on the final leg to take the silver for the Scotland 1 team. The Scotland 2 team of Finlay McLuckie, Calum Robertson and Adam Barrie finished in 5^th place.

In the girls relay Ruth Gooch had a strong 1^st leg handing over to Esme Kelly in 2^nd place. Isobel Howard then set off on third leg with a mission to catch the English runners, but was thwarted by some badly behaved dogs who made access to one control difficult. However, the Scots 1^st team still finished in 4^th place, with the team of Ellie Darlow, Eilidh Connor and Daisy McNamara in 5^th.

The final scores for the relays were England 58 points and Scotland 46 points, meaning that England took the victory in the Junior Home Internationals. Congratulations to England.

A special mention to Ruari Cottier who brought his bagpipes and piped back all the final leg Scottish runners, helping to give them the energy for the final sprint to the finish.  We may not have won the JHIs but Scotland certainly won on team spirit and determination. Well done to a great team. Full results for both races and the points are available at https://wmoa.org.uk/wp/junior-home-internationals-6th-8th-october-2023/

Selections for ScotJOS 2023/24

With the 2^nd year 18’s heading off to University, the new squad for 2023/24 has been selected. Congratulations to everyone selected – we hope that you will make the most of the opportunity to improve your orienteering whilst having lots of fun on the way. There are 6 camps planned throughout the year, as well as a summer tour to Scandinavia to look forward to.

Congratulations to the following juniors:-

Selection for Talent Scotland

In addition to the Scottish Junior Squad there is also the British Orienteering Talent Scotland Squad, which in conjunction with Talent North and Talent South from the tier 3 of the British Orienteering Performance Pathway.  ScotJOS aims to provide a friendly supportive team in which to develop as an orienteer, with the Talent Squad helping the juniors to develop towards being an elite athlete. With a stronger focus on athlete development, it works with a subset of the ScotJOS juniors, providing additional Sports Science and Race Preparation camps as well as a series of online workshops.

Congratulations to the following juniors who were selected to be part of Talent Scotland for 2023/24

Thank You

Finally a huge thank you to everyone who helps support the Scottish Juniors – parents, clubs, coaches, cake buyers! –  we couldn’t do it without all your support.

In particular a huge thank you to Marjorie Mason from MAROC who has been the ScotJOS treasurer for the past 10 years, and does the most amazingly efficient job to support the ScotJOS team. She has however decided that it is time for her to move on and we are seeking a new treasurer. Marjorie had kindly offered to shadow them for the 1^st year to help settle into the role. If you feel this role could be for you, please get in touch. 

If anyone is interested in helping ScotJOS but feel that accounting isn’t for them, there are lots of ways to be involved – planning exercises, coaching in the forest, hanging controls, shadowing, cooking, driving, herding, ordering kit, organising fundraising. If you would like to volunteer or find out more please get in touch with Judy at scotjos@scottish-orienteering.org.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Louise Adams as the new Lead Development Officer for SOA. From a field of high quality applicants for the post, Louise’s excitement and enthusiasm for the World Orienteering Championships coming to Edinburgh in 2024 made her the obvious choice to work with our existing development officer, Heidi Ross.

A graduate from Edinburgh University, Louise is a qualified orienteering coach who has coached both on Junior Regional Orienteering Squads (JROS) Tours and here in Scotland. She is originally from South Yorkshire, is now a member of Interlopers, and based in Edinburgh.

Heidi and Louise will work together to meet the needs of the clubs, regions and development pathway projects under the SOA remit. Having moved away from having an identified development officer for each region, Heidi and Louise will will in the first instance be working together to ensure that the proposals by Baroudeur to Make the Most out of WOC and the current development projects are taken forward. For any club requiring support please contact Louise louise@scottish-orienteering.org or Heidi heidi@scottish-orienteering.org

Monday 6th November 7.30 – 8.30

This online discussion chaired by Suzanne, our Coaching and Volunteer Officer,  aims to allow clubs who feel they have a strong coaching culture to share their experiences and the secrets of their success with others  and encourage conversations around the topics of how we foster a good coaching culture.  We are looking to listen to everyone’s ideas and needs and share good practice.

If you wish to be a part of this conversation, please register using the form. We are also looking for clubs who feel they have a success story to share, to give a short presentation summarising the key contributory factors in their achievements. Please contact suzanne@scottish-orienteering.org if you are able to help.

Please register by Sunday evening as a zoom link will be sent out on Monday to all those registered.

Preparations for WOC 2024 in Edinburgh took a massive step forward this weekend, as Euromeeting
came to Stirling, and a series of races over the world championship distances  Euromeeting
traditionally is an opportunity for the host federation to test out its preparedness for the main event,
and the mappers, planners and key organisers were keen to make their mark on what should be a
fantastic experience in Edinburgh next summer.

Proceedings opened on Friday with a Mixed Sprint Relay round the campus of Queen Victoria
School, Dunblane. The establishment was once a key venue on the local orienteering scene, but
access issues have prevented its use for several years until now, so it was great to get back out again
on what’s a fantastic Sprint area. Planner Graeme Ackland eschewed the use of half of his reserved
area, and opted instead for a tight set of courses in the grounds of the school itself, with route
choices galore and many changes of direction.

Last week’s European Championships in Italy served as the end of the season for many of the top
athletes, but there was still a star-studded cast on display, with European champions Sweden in
particular flexing their muscles with three of the top 12 athletes in the world in their team, two of
whom were omitted last week. The race was close through the first three legs. until Hanne
Lundberg produced a run for the ages on the last lap, turning an eight second gap at the change-over
into a two minute winning margin (52.43) by the end for the Swedes. There was a dramatic
conclusion to the race, as Norway was second over the line, only to initially be disqualified for a
last leg mispunch. An appeal was quickly submitted, into the proximity of two controls, and they
were reinstated before the trophy presentation, leaving France in 3rd place.

On Saturday it was the turn of the Knockout Sprint, at Stirling University, and there was more close
action to follow. An initial qualification round in the morning established the 36 runners who would
go out in the knockout phase, and there was significant British interest, as eight of the men and no
fewer than nine of the women in the GB team, many of whom have a Scottish connection, made it
into the afternoon field. The quarter-final action took athletes from the back of the university
library, across the loch and round the accommodation, before returning to the start in frantic seven
minute races. Many of the Brits were drawn into the same heat, but five emerged, including “Scots”
Freddie Carcas (Interlopers) and Eddie Narbett (AROS), as well as World champion in the
individual sprint Megan Carter-Davies (SBOC).

The action grew hotter and hotter, with only two from each semi-final progressing to the main race. 
Three more Brits fell at this stage, but Eddie and Megan both made it to the final.  Eddie was first in
action, and was prominent through the early stages of the race, which was led out by Switzerland’s
Fabian Aebersold. Sitting 2nd with 150 metres and two controls to go, Eddie was agonisingly run
out of the medals by five seconds, as Swedish duo August Mollen and Jonatan Gustafsson came
through onto the podium. Aebersold led the race from start to finish, and Stirling University is
clearly a happy hunting ground for his family, as he joins younger sister Simona, who won the JEC
Sprint here in 2017 in the Stirling champions book.

The last action of the day was the womens final, with British interest in the form of Megan Carter-
Davies. Unlike the men’s final, which splintered on the first control, the women stayed together
throughout the race, and as Tilda Ostberg (SWE) ran off the front from the midway point, the battle
was on for the silver medal. Megan was 3rd coming back into the arena to Henna Lundberg, but
injected a deal of late pace to move ahead of the Swedish athlete with 80 metres left, and she came
in with the silver medal by 2.1 seconds.

The weekend closed with the Individual Sprint in Stirling Old Town. Tilda Ostberg made it a
double for the weekend, as she won the womens race in 14.43, while top seed Yannick Michiels
headed the mens class in 14.23, with GB’s Jonny Crickmore 2nd, just seven seconds behind. Flat-track sprinters were left gasping for breath by Ross McLennan’s courses, which intriguingly were of
standard length for the class, but featured a meaty level of climb.

As well as the World Ranking races, there was a large undercard of racing for local competitors,
with a series of mass-start sprints on Friday, which proved to the the first experience of head-to-
head sprinting for many of the competitors, two more individual sprints on Saturday, and the 10th
round of the Scottish Urban Orienteering League on the final day.

The event provided a testing ground for the WOC 2024 computing team as well as the planning and controlling teams. Given the excitement of the weekend, we are all looking forward to WOC 2024. Well done to the planners Jon Cross, Graeme Ackland and Ross McLennan, the controller Tony Thornley, Andy Llewelyn, Colin Matheson and the rest of the FVO team for all their efforts.

Following adoption by British Orienteering Federation at their AGM of new two membership categories (Family and Young Adults) and part year membership fees for new Senior Members, the SOA Board proposes that additional categories of membership are added to the SOA membership categories and to create a part year membership fee for new Senior members.  

We are therefore notifying all members of an Extraordinary General Meeting being held on Monday 30th October 2023 at 7pm online.  The EGM Booklet detailing the proposed membership changes is attached and includes a printable proxy voting form together with a link to an electronic proxy voting form.

For the zoom link contact nikki@scottish-orienteering.org