It wasn’t only the fantastic organising team and volunteers doing Scotland proud at the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) this year, we had several home athletes for the crowds to cheer on as well.
Grace Molloy (Forth Valley Orienteers) was the star of the show, demonstrating that 2 winters out in the US on a track scholarship have moved her on to the next level physically. As audiences in Edinburgh and watching at home on TV could see, she was able to mix it with the best in the world, and came away with a fantastic 6th place in the individual Sprint race. She also ran a great first leg in the GB Sprint Relay team, changing over in 2nd place (the team went on to finish 7th), and made it to the Quarterfinals of the Knock Out Sprint. She had this to say about the experience – “It was special having a home WOC, especially one as close to home as Edinburgh. I was delighted to finish 6th in the Sprint after a fantastic course through the old town. The results in the other races were a bit disappointing but I was happy with my races and the whole week was an incredible experience. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!”
The Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) took place in Czechia in early July, and 5 of the 12 athletes in the Great Britain team were Scots or members of Scottish clubs.
Scottish Orienteering is holding a Club Networking Day (rebranded Club Conference) on Saturday 14th September at the North Inch Community Campus, 10am – 4 pm.
2023 conference – Animated discussion was the outstanding feature of the dayRead More…
Collectively everyone involved created something really special in terms of WOC 2024 and WOC Tour. Many competitors in WOC Tour and the teams from all over the world taking part in WOC 2024 have given us really positive feedback, “Best Ever” being a common theme. Even those who didn’t visit but watched from afar commented on how brilliant the TV coverage was.
The work put in by everyone was outstanding and we can be really proud of what we achieved together. This was not just the work that took place during the two events but the immense amount of hard work for years beforehand. And it could not have gone ahead without funding from EventScotland, The City of Edinburgh Council, British Orienteering Federation and of course SOA and Scottish 6 Days on behalf of Scottish Orienteering Members. All that hard work turned a creative vision into a beautiful reality.
Thanks to you all on behalf of the Boards of the Scottish Orienteering Association and the Scottish Orienteering 6 Day Event Company
After the June 2024 AGM, we thought now was a pertinent time to give you a bit of background about your current board and a quick summary of what their jobs involve. You will have seen from the 2024 AGM Booklet that some of the board ( Chair, President, interim Operations Director and Finance Director) have indicated they will step down from their posts in September when an EGM is being held as part of the Club Networking Day in Perth on 14th September (more to follow on this later).
Chair – Keith Dawson
The role of SOA Chair is an interesting and varied one, including Charing the Board to ensure it provides a clear strategic direction to SOA, through ensuring the Board meets it’s financial duties to maintain the health of SOA, to an ambassadorial role with stakeholders. This leads onto ensuring good governance practices are maintained. All this, working with a committed group of like minded individuals working to make sure the sport is a thriving one.
The last two years have been particularly challenging and interesting. Highlights were ensuring that WOC24 eventually took place amidst major financing challenges, successfully applying for the World Masters MTBO Champs in 2026 and helping shape SOA strategy for the next four years with our major funder Sport Scotland. Sadly my increased responsibilities to Ukraine and recovering from a major injury preclude me continuing. I know my successor will find it an interesting role and much less challenging with WOC24 behind us.
Scottish runners enjoyed some success in Poland at the weekend, with James Hammond (Forth Valley Orienteers) taking a silver medal in the M18 long distance – apparently GB’s first ever forest medal in EYOC history! He was only 6 seconds from the gold.
James Hammond with his silver medal Photo Credit: Judith BellRead More…
The 2026 World Master Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships (MTBO) are being held in Moray between 3-7 June.
The embargoes areas for the event have been announced and are shown on the following map.
If competitors run in Foot Orienteering events within the embargo areas they can still enter the 2026 event but will be classed as non competitive for the 2026 event.
The SOA accounts for the year to 31st December 2023 have now been finalised and approved. They are available to view before the online AGM on Monday 24th June at 7pm.
After long deliberations it was decided that the Young Orienteer of the Year award sponsored by Tulloch Homes for 2023 should be awarded jointly to Ruari Cottier of Loch Eck Orienteers (ECKO) and Peter Owen of Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO).
Both individuals have made huge efforts to promote the sport and both their efforts to support their clubs and promote orienteering within their schools should be celebrated. Therefore they were both presented with the prize at the Jamie Stevenson Trophy event. Well done to both Ruari and Peter!
Well there hasn’t been a damp Jamie Stevenson Trophy for a few years but a bit of rain did not diminish the chatter, shouts of encouragement and enthusiasm for the event.
The Jamie Stevenson Trophy is an annual inter-club competition for junior classes only, and traditionally held in central Scotland to encourage participation from all Scottish clubs. It was initiated as a fund-raising event for the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) by Bill and Anne Stevenson in honour of their son, Jamie, who is a multiple World Championships medal winner ( winning gold at the World Orienteering Championships in the Sprint in 2003) and also one of our Patrons. It’s a chance for all juniors in a club to take part in a competitive event with a parade of athletes, commentary and prize-giving.
This year 11 clubs ventured to the Hermitage, just outside Dunkeld, to join to let their juniors enjoy a taste of a competition focussed on juniors with a celebratory atmosphere. Club tents line the run in, faces are adored with face paints and club mascots on are display. No club has yet challenged the Blue Peter skills of Inverness Orienteering Club who have created a cardboard eagle costume in the last few years. Will we get a Wallace Monument costume from Forth Valley Orienteers, a capercaillie from Mar Orienteering Club or a Burghead Bull from Moravian Orienteers to name but a few next year?
As is tradition the day started with a parade of all the juniors led by last year’s winning club Forth Valley Orienteers. It also helped this year to ensure the run in was suitably trampled to make their final run in easier!
