After long deliberations it was decided that the Young Orienteer of the Year award sponsored by Tulloch Homes for 2023 should be awarded jointly to Ruari Cottier of Loch Eck Orienteers (ECKO) and Peter Owen of Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO).

Both individuals have made huge efforts to promote the sport and both their efforts to support their clubs and promote orienteering within their schools should be celebrated. Therefore they were both presented with the prize at the Jamie Stevenson Trophy event. Well done to both Ruari and Peter!

Well there hasn’t been a damp Jamie Stevenson Trophy for a few years but a bit of rain did not diminish the chatter, shouts of encouragement and enthusiasm for the event.

The Jamie Stevenson Trophy is an annual inter-club competition for junior classes only, and traditionally held in central Scotland to encourage participation from all Scottish clubs. It was initiated as a fund-raising event for the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) by Bill and Anne Stevenson in honour of their son, Jamie, who is a multiple World Championships medal winner ( winning gold at the World Orienteering Championships in the Sprint in 2003) and also one of our Patrons. It’s a chance for all juniors in a club to take part in a competitive event with a parade of athletes, commentary and prize-giving.

This year 11 clubs ventured to the Hermitage, just outside Dunkeld, to join to let their juniors enjoy a taste of a competition focussed on juniors with a celebratory atmosphere. Club tents line the run in, faces are adored with face paints and club mascots on are display. No club has yet challenged the Blue Peter skills of Inverness Orienteering Club who have created a cardboard eagle costume in the last few years. Will we get a Wallace Monument costume from Forth Valley Orienteers, a capercaillie from Mar Orienteering Club or a Burghead Bull from Moravian Orienteers to name but a few next year?

As is tradition the day started with a parade of all the juniors led by last year’s winning club Forth Valley Orienteers. It also helped this year to ensure the run in was suitably trampled to make their final run in easier!

As the Jamie Stevenson Trophy hosts the presentation of the Young Orienteer of the Year Award this Sunday, it’s time to remind everyone of just how much young people are doing for our sport.  Back in Nov 2022, we hatched a plan to recognise the contribution that our juniors make and to train them to fulfil those roles effectively – the Young Leader scheme was reborn.  We envisaged 3 roles – coaching, planning and organising and designed courses and club experience logs. 

Last Friday was the Scottish School Orienteering Festival. This year the festival was organised by St Andrews Orienteering Club, Glasgow (STAG) and was held at Drumpellier Country Park, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire. This was the fourth time it has been held in Drumpellier Country Park having previously being held there in 2008, 2014 and 2017.

We were thrilled to receive such amazing testaments to 2 juniors who have shown huge dedication to the sport. The winner will be announced at the Jamie Stevenson Trophy event this weekend

ScotJOS enjoyed a weekend of fantastic sunshine for their latest camp in Perthshire. This was also the Last Blast, a chance for the leavers to plan some fun and games (and orienteering with a difference) for the others.

30 juniors and 8 coaches gathered at Killiecrankie with orienteering at Black Spout Wood, Tullochroisk, Faskally and Bonskeid.  Special mention has to go to Yann who rather than arriving on one of the minibuses decided that he fancied a challenge and ran the 100km from Banchory to Killiecrankie – he was excused from the Friday night training!

On Friday evening they met at Black Spout Wood for a mass start gaffled race and set off at speed with the coaches watching the GPS tracking trying to work out what was happening in the loops. We then headed back to the hall for refuelling and to find a comfy patch of floor space for the night!

On Saturday morning we headed to Tullochroisk. This area hasn’t been used for several years and offered great orienteering with some complex contours. There were a selection of loops and a Duo relay – teams of 2 with each person running 2 legs (although the coaches did win they cheated and had a team of 4 each running 1 leg). The base was beside a small stream where juniors sat with their feet in to cool down between runs and enjoyed the sunshine.

We then headed to Faskally for the traditional “Last Blast” planned by the leavers – this included various challenges alongside the orienteering and ended with the last control in the River Tummel.

On Sunday, after a slight delay caused by a burst water pipe at the hall, we headed for Bonskeid, stopping to watch the bungee jumping at the Garry as we headed to the base for the orienteering. There were a selection of exercises including trains, simplification and visualisation. The weekend finished with a Harris relay – where the planning was the key was to success.

A final farewell to our Leavers – Maja, James, Michael, Sam and Angus – we wish you all the best as you head off to new challenges.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend a success: providing access to maps; gaining permissions; planning training; setting up GPS tracking; supporting the junior; cooking and coaching. The ScotJOS team couldn’t provide these opportunities for the Scottish Juniors without the support from everyone involved.

The SOA AGM will take place on 24th June online at 7pm.

Today we have published the AGM booklet in respect of the 2024 SOA AGM. As you will see from the terms of the narrative our President, Chair and Finance Director have decided for continuity to remain in post until after WOC 2024 and the Scottish Orienteering Strategy has been launched. An EGM will be held in the autumn to allow these posts to be filled.

We would welcome any one who feels they have the skills which could help guide the future of Scottish Orienteering and would be in a position to stand as a Board Director. Please contact either our Chair, Keith Dawson via chair@scottish-orienteering.org or our our Chief Operating Officer Nikki Howard via nikki@scottish-orienteering.org to discuss your interest.

The 2023 AGM minutes can be found via this link 2023 AGM Minutes.

A link to the AGM can be found in the AGM Booklet but if there are any issues please contact nikki@scottish-orienteering.org

The Scottish Orienteering Association has previously entered into an agreement with the Capercaillie Project that areas which are sensitive for capercaillie will not be used between 1st March and 31st August. The main reason for this agreement was to ensuring a buffer zone around the active lek sites and avoid disturbance to hens and chicks during the breeding season for this protected species.

As per the selection policy, the SOA has made some early selections for the team to represent Scotland at the 2024 Senior Home Internationals, which are being held 7/8th September in the Callander area. There have been some strong performances by Scottish athletes this spring, and that is reflected in the ability of the athletes already selected. The final selections will be made in August, after the Welsh 6 days.

Selected athletes:

W20 – Isobel Howard and Daisy McNamara

M20 – James Hammond and Adam Barrie

W21 – Helen Bridle, Niamh Hunter, Jo Shepherd

M21 – Josh Dudley, Matthew Gooch, Graham Gristwood

25th and 26th May saw another successful Scottish Individual and Relay Championship weekend hosted by Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC), Badenoch and Strathspey Orienteering Club (BASOC) and Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR) on the Moray Coast.

The Scottish Individual Championships on the Saturday hosted by INVOC and BASOC saw over 400 participants travel to the hilly ridge of Craig Leach and Craig Dunain on the edge of Inverness. The sun shone and the area provided some quality Scottish orienteering where few paths meant that compass bearings were important. It was lovely underfoot with hardly any brashings to contend with and a carpet of bluebells adorned the hillocks of Craig Leach which comprised the main part of the shorter courses. Those on longer courses endured some additional climb and MTB trail maze navigation on the steep slopes of Craig Dunain. The young and old were provided with plenty of entertainment from the miniature goats, highland cows and llamas whose paddocks adjoined the arena.

 The west start Photo credit: John Davidson/johndavidsonoutdoors.com

There were lots of podium pictures which can be seen at the end of this article and the opportunity was taken to award INVOC their achievement of Bronze Certificate of Club Accreditation.

Sunday saw MOR put on the Scottish Relay Championships on the forested sand dunes of Roseisle. After the glorious weather when the Scottish 6 Days visited the forest, as part of Moray 2023, it was disappointing to have a drecht day but the intricately contoured orienteer’s paradise lived up to its reputation. Recent forest thinning had meant there were some brashings to content with towards the end of the courses but it made for a delightful run in another technical area.

Competition was the top spot on the podiums was tight with over 115 teams taking part and in many categories there were seconds between teams. The men’s open competition saw a Forth Valley Orienteering team beaten on the sprint finish by a Edinburgh University Orienteering Club team who were grateful the controller was standing on the line to judge that they crossed the line first as the final runner’s exuberance meant they ran past the last control and backtrack to the last control. It was just a shame the liquid sunshine decided that we had received out quota of actual sunshine before the call to the podium!

There were lots of podium pictures which can be seen at the end of this article and the opportunity was taken to award MOR their achievement of Silver Certificate of Club Accreditation.

Thank you to all those INVOC, BASOC and MOR volunteers who made the weekend possible. With a special mention to Saturday’s officials – David Summers (planner – INVOC), Laurence and Carolyn Cload (organisers- INVOC), Brian Bullen (controller – FVO) and Marsela McLeod (assistant controller – INVOC) and Sunday’s officials – Eddie Harwood (planner – MOR), Andrew Campbell (organiser – MOR), David Eades (controller -INT) and Sarah Dunn (assistant controller – MAROC).

Here are all the podium pics:-