Clubs get their members out in the Trossachs for the 2026 Scottish Inter Club Championships
Our time in the Trossachs may have headlined as the Scottish qualifier of the CompassSport Cup/ Trophy but just as importantly it was 2026 Scottish Inter Club Championships . The remit of the Scottish Inter Club Championships is to help clubs foster a feeling of club comradery and member contribution towards the success of a club.
Following feedback it was decided that this year we should use the CompassSport Cup/Trophy qualifier as the basis of the Scottish Inter Club Championship. For many clubs there has been a feeling that it is impossible to qualify for the CompassSport Finals or the final is located too far away to be worth pushing for attendance but by making this event the Scottish Inter Club Championships then it provided another event where the efforts of everyone made the difference to how a club faired in the overall score.
As such clubs were divided into three divisions – Large, Medium and Small- (rather than the two of the CompassSport Cup/ Trophy qualifier) as an acknowledgement of the membership size range. For lLrge clubs this year we took 20 scores, the Medium club – 10 scores and the small clubs – 6 scores meaning that no one club should have to turn out their entire club to get on the scoreboard. There was no limit to the number of scorers in each class and all colour coded courses counted including the Light Green and Yellow which do not count in the CompassSport Cup/Trophy qualifier.
The format will continue to evolve as we attempt to make the Championship more relevant and to help clubs to encourage their members to travel beyond their immediate club events, discover the joy of the challenges that different terrain can provide as well as the comradery/ map discussions/ ice cream or coffee excursions that a club event can provide.
The fabulous Trossachs certainly provided showcased the mental and physical challenge that orienteering can provide whilst proving for many that slower and steadier often in terms of navigation can be the most sensible! We even saw sunshine and seeing the range of ages and experience out enjoying the heathery terrain was a joy to behold.
Thank you to Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) and their amazing volunteers for hosting the Scottish Inter Club Championships and CompassSport Cup/Trophy qualifier and in particular Paul Hammond for planning, Andy Llewellyn for organising and Fran Loots (TAY) for controlling the event .
With the results all calculated the results for the Large Clubs, the title was taken by Forth Valley Orienteers who pipped Interlopers Orienteers (INT) in what was a very close race. In the Medium clubs, the race was even closer with St Andrew’s Orienteering Club of Glasgow (STAG) seeing off the challenge of East Lothian Orienteers (ELO) and Tayside Orienteering Club (TAY). For the Small Clubs, Ayrshire Orienteering Club (AYROC) saw off the challenge of Roxburgh Reivers (RR) and Loch Eck Orienteering Club (ECKO). Well done to everyone who took part and the full results can be found below.
Trophies will be presented at the Scottish Individual Championships in May.