Category: Fixtures/Events

Entries for the 28 June JOK Chasing Sprint at Callendar Park – which will be broadcast live on BBC TV – close on Thursday 13 June – so orienteers are encouraged to enter online now!

In response to membership input and as part of the evolution of the SOA, the board is commissioning an SOA Competitions Calendar Review. This will be undertaken as a fixed period, paid, contracted work package.

Orienteering will enjoy live television coverage this summer as the JOK Chasing Sprint – which takes place at Callendar Park, Falkirk, on Friday 28 June – will be shown on TV and online, via the new BBC Scotland TV channel.

This year’s World Schools Championships in Orienteering (WSCO) is being held from 29 April – 5 May in Estonia. Scotland will be represented by a team of 15 athletes from throughout the country, and three coaches.

Everyone at the SOA would like to wish good luck to all the Scottish orienteers making the long trip south to this weekend’s Jan Kjellström International Festival of Orienteering 2019, as well as those staying north for Tayside Orienteers’ “Not the JK”, near Perth.

Anyone looking to take part in this year’s Scottish Orienteering Championships can now enter via SiEntries, as entries for the 2019 Individual and Relay Championships are now open.

The Veteran Home International was held in conjunction with Basoc’s Highland WOLF weekend. Back on home turf with the strongest team for a few years, the Scots were hoping to have a stronger challenge for the title than in the last few years. Read More…

Preparations are well under way for the SOLWAY round in the challenging mixed woodlands and policies of Drumlanrig Castle. For those of you travelling to JK2017 please make time to visit SiEntries to enter SOL3 before you go.  If you have a special start time preference please use the Special Request area to advise the organiser of your preferred Early, Middle or Late start times.

For more information on the event, visit SOLWAY's website or SiEntries.

In 2017 the Scotland  team for the Veteran Home Internationals will be selected using the results of the following races:

Scottish Night Champs Darnaway, Sat 18th Feb

Scottish Sprint Champs Lossiemouth, Sunday 19th Feb

Northern Champs, Sunday 26th Feb, LOC Bigland. Cumbria

JK Middle, Saturday 15th April, SEOA Ambersham

JK Long, Sunday 16th April, SEOA St Leonards and Holmbush

The four Spring Scottish O League events. Mugdock, Trossachs, Drumlanrig and Glen Nant.

British Long Champs.; Sat 5th May.  Newby Bridge. Cumbria

Scottish Champs, Saturday 20th May Gullane

Orienteers need to compete in at least two of these races to be considered. Greater weight will be given to the results of the JK and in National Championships.

If competitors run up then their results will be taken into account on a minutes/km basis. 

On occasions a competitor may be recovering from injury or illness, and know beforehand that he/she may not perform well in a selection race. In such circumstance, the competitor should let a selector know in advance together with their wishes regarding the inclusion of their result for selection purposes.

In general a ‘retired’ or ‘disqualified’ will be taken to be the equivalent of a very poor run: those wishing to be selected should take every precaution to avoid mispunching in a selection race.

Team Manager: Janice Nisbet (ESOC)

Other key objectives include: elite development and selection, encourage national level competition, act as a flagship and publicity vehicle, to create continuity of quality, and coordinate with other high-quality BOF events.

Rules

1. Except where noted below, events shall be run under the
   British Orienteering Rules of Orienteering. Organisers should familiarise themselves with these rules.
2. Elite classes will normally be staged on Black (M-E) and Brown (W-E), however in negotiation between event organisers and SEDS other courses may be chosen.
3. Course/Colour/Age combinations are shown in the table below.
4. SOL points may be awarded to people “running up” in the one of the age classes associated with the colour they run.  By default the oldest such age class is used for seniors.
5. SOL points will be awarded by the system detailed in a separate article (SOL Scoring system by Trevor Hoey).
6. A competitor’s total SOL score from the season will be the sum from the best 4 events.  All entrants who are members of SOA are eligible.  Non-SOA orienteers are welcome at all events, but may only compete in the league provided they notify the SOL coordinator and finish at least 4 events.

Guidelines

1. Maps for courses 11 & 12 shall be collected at the car park/assembly. It is the competitor’s responsibility to collect his or her own map before proceeding to the start.
2. Junior competitors must state both their age class and course when entering an event.
3. When entering an event, competitors select a course to enter rather than an age class. If an online entry system is used this must be set up in such a way that this is accommodated.
4. If the event is combined with a UK-level competition (National event, Future champions cup, British elite championships etc.) some variation in course length and/or course combinations may be permitted.
5. Pre-entries may to be required by a maximum of 15 days prior to the event but clubs may set shorter deadlines if they so wish. In addition, clubs should adopt a flexible approach to late entries and EOD, possible at higher rates.
6. All pre-entered competitors shall receive pre-marked maps.
7. Only one map scale shall be used per course. Normally 1:10,000 shall be used for junior and over-45 courses and either 1:10,000 or 1:15:000 for courses 1 & 2. Course planning must not be compromised for printing convenience.
8. The map shall be accurate and recently-surveyed.  Map corrections should be included on the competitor’s map either by overprinting or updating the electronic map file.
9. Results shall be displayed by course (not class) but shall show age class in an additional column.
10. Every effort must be made to issue published results within 7 days.
11. Only IOF pictorial descriptions shall be available for all courses. Where possible these should be available with the online or posted final information;  otherwise they shall be available for collection on the day at assembly or before the prestart.
12. Final event information should be published at least 7 days prior to the event.
13. Final information for events shall state “Competitors take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety.”
14. The organising club shall make arrangements for first aid cover and be prepared to assist any competitors who get into difficulty or who become overdue for whatever reason.
15. Competitors from the same club on the same course (not just the same class), shall start at least four minutes apart.
16. Electronic timing shall be used. Split times from this may be used to determine the final result (e.g. excluding legs around a misplaced control), at the discretion of the controller.
17. A start list shall be provided and competitors should start at the assigned time: punching starts shall be possible but should only be available to some competitors (e.g.  event helpers, split start parents, those missing their start through no fault of their own) at the discretion of the organisers.
18. SOL events must be registered with the SOA Fixtures Secretary by 31st March of the year of competition.
19. An embargo shall be observed by those wishing to score points in the SOL.  The embargo period is one year, or from the date on which the venue is announced if this is less than a year
20. It the SOL is part of a multiday event, the embargo does not affect those other events (e.g. a Night race may be held the night before the SOL).
21. The award of SOL status to a club will be made by the SOA Fixtures Secretary in consultation with the Competitions Convenor at least one year prior to the competition season.
22. Entry fees for all non TD5 courses should be charged at the student/junior rate (entrants are likely to be juniors, newcomers or injured).
23.  A string course or similar activity for very young children should be provided.

Shadowing

Parents are reminded they should declare if they are actually helping a Junior competitor as opposed to following.  Assisted juniors are competitive in their colour course (e.g. White) but not in age class (e.g. W10B)

If you are the ‘shadower’ then you must have completed your own race before undertaking any shadowing.