Junior Orienteering
Whatever your level of ability, as a junior orienteer there are groups you can join to enjoy orienteering and push yourself further to explore new places, make great friends and have fun!
Scottish regional area squads
Scotland has three area squads you can join: North, West and East. These are open to anyone, whatever your ability and whether you want to be an elite in future or you just want to enjoy orienteering and improve your skills and fitness!
The aim of the squads is to give juniors in Scotland more opportunities to enjoy orienteering. Training days are held throughout the year and you have the opportunity to meet others from nearby clubs and access additional coaching from coaches outside your own club. You’ll also be able to orienteer in new areas away from your local ones.
Each year there’s a competition called the Junior Inter Area (JIA) in which the area squads compete against each other in a fun weekend of orienteering. There’s a relay and an individual competition, usually held alongside a Scottish Orienteering League event or similar. The location of the JIA rotates around the North, West and East in turn.
The squads provide a link between club coaching and the elite Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS).
How do I join a regional area squad?
For more information on any squad, please contact your area lead:
North (BASOC, INVOC, MAROC, MOR, GRAMP):
Vacant – contact Fran Loots – fran.loots@scottish-orienteering.org in the interim
West (AYROC, CLYDE, ECKO, FVO, SOLWAY, STAG, TINTO):
Roger Goddard – rogergoddard74@gmail.com or Fran Loots – fran.loots@scottish-orienteering.org
East (ELO, ESOC, INT, KFO, RR, TAY):
Katherine Ivory – katherine@tusks.org.uk
Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS)
The Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) provides a coaching and development programme for young Scottish orienteers from M/W14 – 18, who show talent in the sport and commitment to improve their performance.
The squad is selective, to focus resources on those who show potential to be top performers at national level in the future. The annual programme, co-ordinated by the Lead Coach, includes a number of coaching weekends taking advantage of the wealth of orienteering areas we have across Scotland. The selection policy is published each Autumn with the squad calendar running from October through to the following September.
ScotJOS produces world-class orienteers and – if you’re good enough – you could go on to represent Scotland or Great Britain at world level – as Inverness Orienteering Club’s Megan Keith & Forth Valley Orienteers’ Grace Molloy did when they formed two-thirds of the Team GB relay team who won gold in the Junior World Orienteering Championships in 2019.
For more information contact Judy Bell (team manager) – scotjos@scottish-orienteering.org
How do I become part of ScotJOS?
To see how to be selected for ScotJOS, or any of the Scottish junior team competitions, download the document detailing selection policy for the squad and opportunities for this year: