After a brief hiatus, the Scottish Elite and Development Squad (SEDS) is returning. The group has an important role in delivering TD5 training for elite and performance athletes. However, we have sourced funding from sportscotland to deliver TD3-4 training to provide an opportunity for all Scotland based 18-39 year-olds to stay in the sport after graduating from junior and adult newcomer pathways.

Having not managed to recruit someone to deliver the administration for SEDS, an agreement was made with Edinburgh University Orienteering Club who have now taken on the SEDS weekend administration. In exchange they have received a grant which allows them to continue to deliver their performance coaching support programme and open it out to performance athletes at other settings of further education. Some of the grant funding will also be used to support students from other settings of further education in attending SEDS weekends. This is an exciting approach to developing student orienteering in Scotland as there is now representation at nine universities across the country.

EUOC will determine dates and types of training involved in the programme through discussions with a newly established SEDS Athlete Panel made up of Mairi Eades, Andy Kitchen, Niamh Hunter, and James Ackland. 

The calendar includes six training weekends between October 2026 and September 2027:

Andy Kitchen and Matthew Clarke have expressed interest in the coaching of TD3-5 levels. We also hope that young coaches can get involved in delivering TD3-4 training to allow them to build their experience and confidence whilst being supported by more experienced coaches.

Accommodation will be organised for each weekend to increase the accessibility of SEDS and reinforce the group’s social environment. This will likely be in village halls, but anyone may join the training whilst using other local accommodation if they prefer.

All SEDS communication will take place through the existing WhatsApp community (link to join sent upon request). Welfare and safeguarding are a priority within the group to ensure it is a safe and fun environment. Informative final details will be released ahead of the weekends so that participants know exactly what to expect, and all participants will be required to sign the SEDS code of conduct before attending any group activities. The SEDS code of conduct and communication pathways will be monitored by the SEDS Athlete Panel and a representative from the SOA. 

The SOA are also launching SEDS social media channels to share what the group gets up to! Be sure to follow SEDS on Facebook and Instagram. More information can be found on the SEDS page of our website.

The beginning of October saw the Scottish Senior Home International (SHI) team travel to Northern Ireland to take on England, Wales and Ireland – and win! – after three tiebreaks!

Kirsten Strain of Auld Reekie Orienteering Club and Vicky Thornton of Forth Valley Orienteering Club have been appointed as joint managers of the Veteran Home International (VHI) team, following the retiral of Janice Nesbit.

Jason Inman of Forth Valley Orienteering has been appointed as the Scottish Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) Team Manager following the retirement of Judy Bell.

After 6 years in post as Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) manager, Judy Bell decided it was time to step down and last Saturday’s Junior Home International was her final event in post. The Scottish juniors and their parents were keen to show their appreciation for Judy’s efforts and so keen were they that they organised not one but two celebrations!

Last weekend saw Juniors from the Home Nations teams of England, Ireland, Wales and of course Scotland travel to the edge of the Trossachs for the Junior Home Internationals (JHIs). The event used the 5th event of the 2026 Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) calendar at Edinchip (Lochearnhead) for the individuals and a relay event at Lochan Spling near Aberfoyle for the relays. Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) were hosting both the SOL and provided an opportunity to test themselves against the finest juniors by running the first leg of the relays with a mass start.

Back in June, Scottish Orienteering was excited to announce the brand‑new Junior Volunteer Awards Scheme. A scheme created to recognise and encourage juniors who are taking their first steps into volunteering. Juniors can be nominated for volunteering in four different categories; planning, organising coaching and IT/results/timing. These awards are not about being the best at a role — they are about having a go and learning! The winners of each category will be announced at the Junior interareas at the end of October. 

This scheme was first introduced as a points system whereby juniors could earn points each time they volunteered. The decision has been made to scrap this to avoid over-complicating it. Juniors can be nominated for one or more categories. To nominate a junior we just need their name and it would be helpful if you could provide a note of the volunteer tasks they have undertaken in the past year. Nominations can be made by; the junior, a coach, committee member, area squad official, club fixture secretary. 

We have had some fantastic trophies made up for the award and we hope presenting them at the interareas will encourage more juniors to try volunteering. 

Please contact heidi@scottish-orienteering.org to nominate a junior for one of these awards. Please have your nominations in by Sunday 25th October.

A team of 24 junior orienteers travelled to Switzerland last weekend to compete for GB in the Junior European Cup (JEC). Scotland was well represented on the team and the Scottish athletes provided some outstanding results – in particular Finn Duguid from TAY who won a gold medal in the M18 Sprint and a silver in the Long. Congratulations to Finn!

The SOA Team was delighted to welcome Holly Stodgell as she started in the post of SOA Development Officer this week. Holly has joined the SOA team as a replacement for Louise Adams who left the post of Development Officer in July.

SATPE stands for the Scottish Association of Teachers of Physical Education. Last weekend SOA attended their annual conference at Crieff High School to promote the sport to teachers as a sport they could introduce pupils to. The conference attracts PE teachers working at both primary and secondary level from across Scotland. As part of the conference SOA delivered a workshop and had a stall at the marketplace. 

The workshop aimed to introduce teachers to orienteering, giving them the confidence and resources to deliver in schools. The workshop introduced: what is a map, setting maps and using orienteering maps. At the marketplace teachers wanted to know about mapping, working with younger children, structuring lessons and more. 

At being at this conference we hope to get more orienteering into schools and more people participating in orienteering in Scotland!