The next few years will be an exciting time for Scottish Orienteering as we build towards the World Sprint Orienteering Championships in Edinburgh in 2024 and beyond.
There are a number of SOA Board Director roles coming up in the next few months, to be filled at the AGM in May. They give the opportunity to put back into the sport and have a strategic impact. The Board Team work to help develop and grow our great sport alongside our Clubs and Development Staff, funded by sportscotland. Board Directors are also Trustees of the charity.
Happy New Year to all our members from Scottish Orienteering. New years bring new opportunities and we have a number of courses happening soon for coaches, planners and juniors that still have places. Sign up now to secure your place!
SOA have operated a Development Fund for a number of years. These sports development grants are funded by SportScotland to enable clubs to make a tangible difference in their area. We have recently made some changes which are intended to simplify the application, awarding and report back processes.
Are you a junior who loves the idea of planning but are not sure where to start? An INVOC junior planner from the last series of SOA planning workshops contributed to planning the schools event below.
A 2023 series of beginner workshops is being run for juniors, 12 years or older, who have little or no planning experience. The dates are as follows:
2022 has been a challenging year for the development team. We have been understaffed for most of the year and this has put a great deal of pressure on the remaining staff. We were very sorry to lose Sarah Dunn in the spring, but delighted that Fran Loots agreed to bring all her experience to the Development Manager position. Attempts to recruit two part-time Development Officers to fill the void were unsuccessful, and we concluded that the best way forward was to go for one full-time post – and we were very pleased to welcome Heidi Ross to the team in August. Suzanne Robins-Bird has brought a great deal of energy to the Coaching and Volunteering position and it feels now that we have a strong team going into 2023.
The SOA annual plan for 2022 listed these as our development aims for the year:
to encourage a coaching, mentoring and learning culture
to support youth development
to develop partnerships with demonstrable benefits
In order to make the competition more inclusive to all forms of orienteering, the format of the Scottish Inter Club Championships (SICC) was changed for 2022 to include results for all five individual championships, the Compass Point Scottish Orienteering League, the Scottish Urban Orienteering League and regional events. This empowered members who don’t compete at championship level, or simply prefer urban or sprint orienteering, to contribute towards the overall result throughout the year.
The SOA’s Chief Operating Officer, Fiona Keir, has announced that she will be leaving us at the end of January. Fiona has been with us since 2018, and has been a key figure in steering the organisation as we have transitioned to a full Scottish Government Body. We will be recruiting a replacement for Fiona. To find out more about the COO vacancy, and details of how you can apply, please click here
We are delighted that Edinburgh University Orienteering Club (EUOC) has offered to trial competitive pairs at the Big Weekend in Edinburgh at the end of January.
Why Competitive Pairs?
Have you ever competed in a Mountain Marathon? If you have, you will know that this is often done in competitive pairs. This event style has a strong following, proving popular with young adults and runners who are new to navigation. It often ends up with a strong navigator running alongside someone who is a strong runner but less confident in their navigational skills. Running in a pair is great fun and has the potential to widen access to orienteering. Could we retain and engage more people in orienteering by introducing a pairs category at orienteering events?
Pair running at the Grampian Mountain Challenge Picture Credit: GRAMP Read More…
Should our club be a registered charity? What does CASC mean? Is SCIO the same as charity status? What implications are there if we are an unincoporated organisation as a club?
These may be questions which have arisen in your club. We are delighted to be partnering with Club Development Scotland to bring you an online information session to better understand and take forward discussions within your club committees about which legal structure may be best for you. This session will take place on line on Tuesday 17th January starting at 6.30pm. You can sign up here for free
