Do you know of someone who has gone above and beyond for the benefit of orienteering? The President’s Medal is handed out annually at the AGM to recognise significant contribution to the sport. We truly welcome all nominations.
Anyone or any club/ organisation, other than previous winners, can be nominated even those who has been nominated previously. Nominations should be submitted by Friday 2nd June.
We are notifying all members of our intended Annual General Meeting date of Monday 5th June 2023 to be held online. There will be a proxy vote option for those unable to attend. We are in the process of putting together the AGM handbook to outline proposals and matters of business however we welcome any proposals from clubs/members that you wish raised at the AGM please contact our chief operating officer Nikki Howard at nikki@scottish-orienteering.org to outline any proposals or matters of business for consideration.
We are seeking election of some SOA Board members and request anyone interested in any of the positions to contact nikki@scottish-orienteering.org or speak to a member of the current Board. All role descriptions can be provided on request.
The 2023 SOA Club Conference held last Saturday in Perth provided an opportunity for representatives from 13 clubs to voice their opinions on the direction of our sport and exchange ideas on how to recruit and retain new members.
Sunday saw the Scottish Sprint Orienteering Championships hosted by Clydeside Orienteering Club (CLYDE) in Kirkintilloch. It was also the fourth event in the 2023 Inter-Club Championships.
For the 200 competitors who converged on Kirkintilloch, it was an event for the speedy with some quick courses and quick times!
There were lots of smiling faces among the day’s worthy winners and Easter even came early for some of the competitors with chocolate rewards!
As the fourth round of the Scottish Inter-Club Championships, all the efforts of those involved gaining points for their club. Despite a valiant effort on behalf of Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club (ESOC) members, Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) remain in the lead in the Large Clubs. Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR) and Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC) lie behind those two clubs but with three events located in the north region later this year there are still plenty of opportunities to gain points.
In the Small Clubs, Edinburgh University Orienteering Club used their younger legs (?) to hold the lead with CLYDE, perhaps having a reduced number of competitors as they were hosting the event, remaining in second place.
For the Junior Large Clubs, FVO retained the lead but are not scoring at the same rate as last year and with four clubs scoring a better average run rate there is still potential for the FVO juniors to be overtaken. In the Juniors Small Clubs, it is still all to play for the and with the next event of the series being the Scottish Championships who can get the most runners to turn out for the event may have a big impact.
An updated Scottish Inter-Club Championship table can be found here
Thank you to the organiser Rachel Wilson, the planner Ian Davidson and the controller Steve Scott (FVO) and everyone in CLYDE for all your efforts hosting the event.
Well some may say that the best things come in small packages and perhaps the same could be said about this weekend as it certainly packed a big punch, with the Scottish Middle Distance Championships counting towards the Scottish Inter-Club Championships on Saturday swiftly followed by the 2nd Compass Point Scottish Orienteering League event of 2023 on Sunday. Add to that the convergence of lots of students from as far afield as Cambridge for the 2023 BUCS individuals and relay orienteering event meant lots of excitement!
Some tense relay action near the finish Photo Credit Alison O’Neil
Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) held off the weather on Saturday to take us to Beecraigs Country Park near Linlithgow for the Scottish Middle Distance Championships. Full results can be found here with a full list of the Scottish Middle Distance Champions
The start may have been muddy but there was plenty of variety and the abundance of students made for a great atmosphere. The selection of cakes being sold certainly seemed to go down well with all in attendance!
The Scottish Middle Distance Championship was the third of the monthly events which form the Scottish Inter-Club Championship. This month’s results can be found on the Scottish Orienteering Championship’s page and using this link here
In Errochty on Sunday the final 2023 Scottish Night Championship Trophies found their recipients. Thank you to MAR Orienteering Club (MAROC), Balmoral Castle & Estate and Royal Lochnagar Distillery for hosting the 2023 Scottish Orienteering Night Championship in the challenging Balmoral terrain. The various headtorches made for a spectacular sight amongst the beautiful forest for those that lifted their heads from concentrating on the contour and rock details but for those out later or who strayed off course there were some very quiet bits of forest out there.
What a way to start the 2023 Compass Point Scottish Orienteering League (SOL)! There was snow, some great terrain (albeit the snow hid some of the marshes a little too well) and the sun even deigned to show its face after a cold start at Errochty.
Errochty Forest in the snow later in the day Photo Credit: STAGRead More…
The Compass Sport Cup heat at Faskally – hosted successfully by St Andrew’s Orienteering Club (Glasgow) (STAG) – provided an excellent opportunity for clubs to gain some momentum in the 2023 Scottish Inter-Club Championship.
Faskally Photo Credit: Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg
This year’s new format sees one counting event per month with events spread geographically throughout the country. The best 20 club runners count towards a club’s score in the Senior Large Clubs and in the Senior Small Clubs it is the best 10 runners. In the Junior Large Clubs it is the best 6 runners and best 3 runs for the Junior Small Clubs. With one event per month there is ample opportunity for every member to help count towards their club’s total! Current standings can be found here.
In the Senior Large Clubs, Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club (ESOC), after last year coming a close second to Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO), have taken an early lead with East Lothian Orienteers (ELO) lying in third and Moravian Orienteers (MOR) and Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC) close behind.
In the Senior Small Clubs, Clydeside Orienteers (CLYDE) have the lead on Edinburgh University Orienteering Club (EUOC) with STAG and Badenoch and Strathspey Orienteering Club (BASOC) having only 29 points between them for third and fourth place. The current shock is that Roxburgh Reivers (RR), last year’s Senior Small Club winners find themselves in fifth place.
It will come as little surprise to most juniors that FVO are currently leading the Junior Large Clubs, but it is a close run things between MOR, ESOC and ELO for second, third and fourth place. Ayrshire Orienteering Club (AYROC) are currently leading the charge in the Junior Small Clubs from RR and BASOC.
The March event for the Scottish Inter-Club Championships is the Scottish Middle Championships being hosted by FVO in Beecraigs near Linlithgow. Entries close on 12th March so get your Scottish Middle Championships Entry in now!!
The 2023 Veteran Home Internationals (VHIs) are taking place in Mallards Pike, Forest of Dean on 30th Sept. – 1st Oct. The selection panel of Will Hensman, Fanni Gyurko and Janice Nesbit have identified six events in the orienteering calendar which will be used inform their selections for the VHIs this year.
2022 Scottish VHI Team Photo Credit: Fran Loots
For more information on the events being used for selections, courses which should be run and who to contact if there are extenuating circumstances or you are unable to travel to events can be found in the 2023 VHI Selection Policy
A sheltered hall at the top of Morningside was an ideal location for the presentation of the 2022 Scottish Inter-Club Championship trophies by Peter Hodkinson and Richard Oxlade. Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO)were presented with the Senior and Junior Large Club Trophies (the juniors have to make sure the adults hand over the chocolates!), Roxburgh Reivers (RR) took home the Senior Small Club Trophy and East Lothian Orienteers (ELO) juniors very generously shared their Junior Small Club Trophy spoils with the other juniors in the room.
After the sheltered surroundings of Saturday’s trophy celebrations, the first event of the 2023 Scottish Inter-Club Championship took place in Holyrood Park at Edinburgh University Orienteering Clubs’s (EUOC) Seat Classic Race. The climb to the starts then saw competitors racing up and down and up and down Arthur’s Seat in gusty conditions.
