Home turf advantage helps triumphant Scottish Juniors
Last weekend saw Juniors from the Home Nations teams of England, Ireland, Wales and of course Scotland travel to the edge of the Trossachs for the Junior Home Internationals (JHIs). The event used the 5th event of the 2026 Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) calendar at Edinchip (Lochearnhead) for the individuals and a relay event at Lochan Spling near Aberfoyle for the relays. Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) were hosting both the SOL and provided an opportunity to test themselves against the finest juniors by running the first leg of the relays with a mass start.
Saturday saw FVO deliver the individual portion of the JHIs and the 5th SOL of 2026. Edinchip is a mixture of mature woodland and often complex open terrain which provides some marshland to traverse and all agreed was a challenge which many will not have enjoyed since Perthshire 6 Days 2019.
The Scottish Juniors dominated the other home nations on Saturday winning 5 out of 6 of the age categories (M/W14, M/W16 and M/W18) and ended the day taking home the Individual trophy thanks to a great team effort. The SOL results can be found via this link SOL & JHI Individual, Edinchip Event – Forth Valley Orienteers.
The Saturday evening junior social saw plenty of junior socialising with what else but a Scottish Ceilidh and not just one but four Birthdays – so cake galore! Saturday evening also saw the second presentation to Judith Bell who is retiring as ScotJOS manager with this being her final event – read more in another post to follow.
There is no rest however and early next morning the juniors hot footed it to Lochan Spling for the relays. Lochan Spling, part of the larger Loch Ard area, is an area of tough running and varied deciduous and coniferous forest. A tough challenge for the juniors, with FVO offering seniors the chance to compete after the junior in a mass start relay so individuals could test themselves against the best of the Home Nations Juniors.
The juniors gathered with, as ever, the face paint application being taken very seriously!
The relays see first the women set off and then the men. Each team consists off a M/W14, M/W16 and M/W18 with the 14s being sent out to hand over to the 16s who hand over to the 18s who then bring the team home. Another great team effort saw the junior men and women for Scotland claiming 1st, 3rd and 4th place in each competition. This comprehensively meant that Scotland claimed the Relay trophy and then the overall 2026 JHI Trophy. Well done team and indeed well done to all the juniors taking part from all the home nations! Full results can be found here – Final JHI results
Thank you to FVO for hosting the events and all their fabulous volunteers with particular mention for the planners – Vicky Thornton and Heather Fellbaum for the individual and Andy Llewellyn for the relays, the organiser Rob Truswell and Dave Robertson of CLYDE who acted as controller for the event. Our thanks also go to the owners of Edinchip Estate for their help and support in enabling the event to take place.