Scottish Inter-Club Championships – Exciting Changes to the Format for 2023
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.
Twelve events, one for each month, with a geographical spread have been selected to count towards the Scottish Inter-Club Championships. This should allow clarity in respect of focussing membership attendance in a full calendar and we have tried to select events where clubs/ members would normally try to attend in busy months.
The first event of the new series is the EUOC Big Weekend Classic Race on 29th January and entries close this Friday on 21st January. The events for 2023 Scottish Inter-Club Championships are as follows
| Month | Date | Event |
| January | 29th January | EUOC Big Weekend Classic race |
| February | 12th February | Compass Sport Cup Heat – STAG Faskally |
| March | 18th March | Scottish Middle Championships – FVO – Beecraigs |
| April | 2nd April | Scottish Sprint Championships- CLYDE Kirkintilloch |
| May | 27th May | Scottish Individual Championships – West Area – Creag Mhic Chailean |
| June | 11th June | Race the Abbeys – RR – Jedburgh |
| July | 30th July | Scottish 6 Days – Day 1- Lossie Forest |
| August | 26th August | SoSOL – TAY – Culcheuter and Dron |
| September | 10th September | Scottish Score Championships- INVOC – |
| October | 29th October | SOL 5 – KFO – Devilla |
| November | 5th November | INVOC Regional event – Creag Leach |
| December | 2nd December | SOUL 11 – INT – Livingston |
The inclusion of a junior Inter-Club format will be retained together with the large and small club split. For 2023 the clubs have been divided into Large and Small Clubs as follows:-
| Large Clubs | Small Clubs |
| East Lothian Orienteering Club (ELO) | Aberdeen University Orienteering Club (AUOC) |
| Edinburgh South Orienteering Club (ESOC) | Auld Reekie Orienteering Club (AROC) |
| Forth Valley Orienteering Club (FVO) | Ayrshire Orienteering Club (AYROC) |
| Grampian Orienteering Club (GRAMP) | Badenoch and Strathspey Orienteering Club (BASOC) |
| Interlopers Orienteering Club (INT) | Clydeside Orienteering Club (CLYDE) |
| Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC) | Kingdom of Fife Orienteering Club (KFO) |
| Mar Orienteering Club (MAROC) | Loch Eck Orienteering Club (ECKO) |
| Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR) | Edinburgh University Orienteering Club (EUOC) |
| Glasgow University Orienteering Club (GUOC) | |
| Roxburgh Reivers Orienteering Club (RR) | |
| St Andrew’s Orienteering Club (STAG) | |
| Solway Orienteering Club (SOLWAY) | |
| Stirling University Orienteering Club (STUOC) | |
| Tayside Orienteering Club (TAY) | |
| Tinto Orienteering Club (TINTO) |
In the senior competition, for large clubs the best 20 scorers over 7 events and for small clubs the best 10 scorers over 7 events will be used to determine overall position.
In the junior competition, for large clubs the best 6 scorers over 7 events (with multiple teams if required) and for small clubs the best 3 scorers over 7 events (with multiple teams if required) will determine overall position.
Ongoing results will be published every month after each event. We are grateful for the efforts of the SOA fixtures coordinator, Steve Scott of FVO, for collating the results this year and for agreeing to continue to do so for 2023.