Last weekend marked the first East Area coaching day of the year, held at Whinny Hill in Edinburgh. Led by Judy (ESOC), the day offered six coaching groups: TD1 juniors and parents, TD2 juniors, TD3 juniors, TD4/5 juniors, TD3 adults, and TD4/5 adults. Running from 10–2, the session gave everyone plenty of time to really focus on developing their orienteering skills.
Read More…We hope that most of you already know that SOA is hosting the JK Festival of orienteering this Easter – and we hope that most of you will be coming along to experience it, and to help us put on a great show!
The dates are Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April, with all days taking us back to high quality orienteering areas that have not been used for a decade or more.
With the busy January and February calendar with British Orienteering Development Conference, it has been decided to focus the SOA Community Conversations between March and December in 2026.
The idea of Community Conversation sessions is to create a space to bring members together to share experiences, successes, challenges and ideas around particular themes. They are open discussions and everyone is very welcome to come along, and contribute thoughts, practice and learning from your experience.
Read More…Do you have a passion for coaching and developing a volunteer workforce?
Our current Coaching and Volunteer Officer, Suzanne Robins Bird, is retiring in March and we are seeking a new Coaching and Volunteer Officer to take over the planning and delivery of our annual volunteer development programme for coaches, event officials, volunteers and club officials.
Read More…As you all look forward to 2026 and consider what new skills you would like to develop over the year ahead, we have drawn together a list of the current coaching and volunteer training opportunities for the year ahead. To avoid disappointment, get them in your diary now!
It has been a strong year for our regional squads, with regular East and West junior training sessions and re-establishing North area training. The regional squads offer valuable coaching opportunities for juniors at TD3 level and above. These sessions allow juniors to develop their skills while connecting with other juniors. Discover more about what our squads have been up to this year.
The fixtures calendar for 2026 has been finalised and we are very grateful for all those clubs who have volunteered to host the key dates in the Scottish Orienteering calendar in 2026. We want to make sure you avoid disappointment so we have pulled them all together with the other important orienteering dates of the year ahead – get them in your diary now!
Having run the Scottish Inter Club Championship in its revised format for a few years, we listened to your feedback and acknowledge that in a busy calendar it was lost as an event. The remit of the Scottish Inter Club Championship is to help clubs foster a feeling of club comradery and contribution towards the success of a club within its membership. Having listened to your feedback, we have decided that it should take place alongside the CompassSport Cup/ Trophy qualification event in February each year and will act as an encouragement for clubs to get their members to participate even if they consider the CompassSport Final too far to travel or do not believe they have an opportunity to qualify.
Read More…Club coaching is a great way to introduce new participants to the sport we love or support existing members to be the best they can. Clubs are always seeking new coaches so if you have time to spare and expertise to share then come on a coaching course and find out how to get involved – it’s easier that you think!
As a means of sharing the progress of our sport we have prepared our first Annual Impact Report. The impact report links the strategy set for the next four years by the board (2025-2029) to the reality of the work of our staff and clubs across Scotland.
It has been a very busy year. There are lots of great examples included here, and the case studies really help to bring it to life. Finally, we hope you enjoy the many photos that show the breadth of our sport – orienteering truly spans the generations.
