Junior feedback – We are listening!
At the 2024 interarea weekend, we held a feedback session for our juniors to express their thoughts and opinions on orienteering for juniors in Scotland. They were given 4 topics to discuss: social opportunities, communication (juniors to SOA and SOA to juniors) and prizes. The overarching theme was that orienteering needs to be made more social for juniors by providing more opportunities for them to socialise outwith their clubs.
Common ideas included training camps, regional training and weekends away. Presently, non-elite juniors have limited opportunities to meet other juniors outwith their own club and this is something we need to try and change. Our capacity to hold overnight camps is limited, but we understand that they do provide a fantastic opportunity for young orienteers to meet each other. North juniors expressed their desire for regional training sessions as they are now the only region that does not have regular organised coaching. If any parents wish to help get this up and running, then please contact louise@scottish-orienteering.org.
With regards to communication, a junior newsletter proved popular, as this method doesn’t rely on information being passed on through parents. However, for this to happen, WE NEED YOU! The production of a newsletter would rely on voluntary contributions from juniors covering any content that they want. If this is something that you want to get involved in (or know someone who might), then get in touch! We would also need somebody to pull everything together – this would be a great opportunity for an older junior and it could be done as volunteer work for the DofE award, for example!
It was also highlighted that there needs to be better awareness of young leaders and accessibility to resources, and this is something that could be included within a junior newsletter or magazine. To find out about upcoming young leader courses, head over to the training calendar on the SOA website. Scarlett Britain (MOR) also wrote a fantastic article on her experiences of the courses which you can read here and gain some inspiration!
The juniors also wanted to see more prizes and especially for achievements other than winning. The best of the (many!) suggestions included best supporters/most supportive team, fastest newcomer and most improved. It was also suggested to reward participation, which reiterates that better communication about the badge scheme is needed and is something that could again be included in a junior newsletter/magazine. A very popular suggestion was to have an annual junior awards night and ceilidh.
Our sport currently lacks a pathway for non-elite juniors, leading to low retention rates. Creating more opportunities for socialising and a more junior-oriented method of communication, will help develop a non-elite junior pathway with participation and socialising at the heart. We want to implement the ideas of our juniors as their retention is crucial to our sport.