March 31 deadline approaching for clubs to express interest in development funds

Published: March 26, 2019

Clubs wanting to gain the latest development funds from the SOA have until Sunday 31 March to express interest, and are encouraged to contact their Regional Development Officer as soon as possible.

The SOA development team would like to work with clubs to deliver up to 5 projects based around developing strong links between a club and school or school network.

Lots of schools are keen to deliver orienteering experiences which can bring new people into the sport but clubs often don’t have the capacity to support this, meaning wider benefits for development of the sport are not always delivered.

The 2018 Alford schools festival was co-organised by Maroc and Active Schools on World Orienteering Day
The 2018 Alford schools festival was co-organised by Maroc and Active Schools on World Orienteering Day

Helping teachers acquire the capacity to deliver basic playground experiences has proven to be one way to develop pathways into clubs but the cost of delivering teacher training has been a barrier.

As a solution, the SOA have allocated a budget for 2019 to deliver up to 5 projects to develop strong links between a club and school or school network. The funding would enable delivery of an “Introducing Orienteering” course for teaching staff and / or interested parents. The club would be required to develop a plan for how they would capitalise on this in-school activity to build a pathway into the sport. Some of the different models which have proven successful include:

  1. Arranging schools orienteering competitions linked to existing club events
  2. Widespread promotion of family-friendly “Come and Try it” activities through the school network
  3. Running after-school club sessions with a direct link to the club

The outline timetable for projects is as follows:

  • 31st Mar 2019 – Deadline for clubs to express interest with an outline plan
  • 30th Apr 2019 – Identify 5 target areas (minimum of 1 each from N, E and W regions)
  • 30th Jun 2019 – Firm up plans for training and implementation of activities for each area
  • 31st Oct 2019 – Complete training
  • 30th Jun 2020 – Implement school activities and promote involvement of local club

Any clubs who are interested in this opportunity should contact their Regional Development Officer to discuss and further develop their ideas:
Judy Bell (RDO east) judy@scottish-orienteering.org
Fran Loots (RDO west) fran.loots@scottish-orienteering.org
Sarah Dunn (RDO north) sarah@scottish-orienteering.org

The deadline for expressions of interest is 31st Mar 2019