Successful Junior year in 2025 with plenty of opportunities in 2026
2025 has provided some exciting opportunities for our juniors at all levels. With Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club having just hosted the successful 2025 British School Orienteering Championships it seemed like an appropriate time to reflect on the junior year and the opportunities available to our Scottish juniors at all levels in 2026.
The focus can often be on performance as that is easy to measure but when we asked two of our successful juniors to reflect on their year you will see it is not just the competitive elements of our sport which they highlighted.
Firstly, Finlay McLuckie of Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR) who was the winner of the Scottish Young Orienteer of the Year Award for his contribution towards the sport including being a planner for Day 1 of the Deeside 2025 Scottish 6 Days (read more here)
“The opportunities as a junior are so varied and exciting, from the regional squads to the JROS (Junior Regional Orienteering Squads – see later in the article) tours, which have together taken me from a club level as an M14 orienteer to international level in M18. The selection pathway this year has given me so many amazing experiences to be grateful for such as being able to represent GB on a European stage, but also for the first time at JWOC (Junior World Orienteering Championships). Competing at JWOC was really special and not something I could have dreamed of being able to achieve only a few years ago. I think as a younger orienteer you don’t fully appreciate how lucky we are to have these sorts of experiences to build our confidence and enjoyment of our sport, but they are undoubtedly the future of British orienteering, both from the perspective of participation and performance.“
Secondly Emily Atkinson of East Lothian Orienteers (ELO) who came first in the W18 category in the Junior European Championships (JEC) Sprint held in Stirling University in October this year.
“It’s been amazing to have been able to go to three international competitions this year: JWOC, EYOC (European Youth Orienteering Championships) and JEC. I have really enjoyed the chance to perform abroad and develop as a competitor.
I have enjoyed doing some planning for ELO this year, my highlight being the Tranent Sprintelope where the high number of artificial barriers added a lot of chaos! Training with ScotJOS has been really fun and beneficial to my orienteering and is a great chance to spend time with friends – it’s definitely helped me develop as an athlete!
Looking forward to next year, I’m going to try to qualify for JWOC again and hope to do some more planning for ELO. I do love planning sprint events but would also like to get better at planning forest events.”
As Finlay and Emily both highlighted there are so many experiences and opportunities for junior orienteers to grow as a participant and volunteer.
We have tried on the SOA website to outline on the Junior Orienteering page details of the different range of levels of orienteering available for our juniors to participate in and for those looking for details of the different levels of skill/ progression you can find out more in our Lifetime Pathways infograms but here is a quick summary of what has gone on in 2025.
Club and Regional Levels
For our juniors their orienteering journey will start at club level where their skills will be practised but the regional squads which operate in the three Scottish regions (East, North and West) offer an opportunity to meet juniors beyond their clubs. The Scottish West Area Training Squad (SWAT) is well established but the East and North Junior Area Squads are being reinvigorated and both have plans to help their juniors get together and hone their skills in 2026. (Ask your club for more details).
To encourage skill development and camaraderie there are the various opportunities provided by the junior club, area and schools festivals each year.
At Inter Club level, the Jamie Stevenson Competition (which is organised by and supports the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad – more about them later) is held each June and provides a battle between the clubs with individual races. It is open to every junior who can run a yellow course or above. This year it was held on the Hill of Alyth (read more here) and will be held on 21st June next year.
At Inter Regional level, there is the Inter Areas competition which is held each autumn over a weekend and sees juniors from the three Scottish regions come together for individual and relay races together with an overnight stay and social opportunity. This year it was hosted by the West Area in and around Stirling (read more here) and next year will be hosted by the East region.
At a school level, this year saw not only the Scottish Schools Orienteering Festival which happens in June each year held in Pittencrieff Park (read more here) but also saw the British Schools Orienteering Championships being hosted by Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club (ESOC) for the first time in Scotland since 2011 (read more here)
Should you wish to develop as a volunteer like Finlay and Emily, there are opportunities to complete the Young Leader Course for those wishing to assist with coaching within your club and also Young Planners Courses which are held each winter. Ask your club coach for details or contact the SOA Coaching and Volunteering Officer, Suzanne Robins Bird, for details (suzanne@scottish-orienteering.org).
ScotJOS
Beyond Club and regional level, there is the Scottish Orienteering Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) which provides a coaching and development programme for juniors between the age of 13 and 18 and provides 6 residential camps a year together with a biannual trip to Scandinavia. The aim is to select a squad containing juniors who have performed at a high level at top races in Britain and have shown a commitment to the ethos of consistent training and striving for improvement.
Selections take place every autumn and the squad for 2025/2026 have been announced (read more here). Looking to 2026 selectors will consider performance of juniors over the season and all known form. They will look at performance at a range of events, placing most emphasis on results achieved at major national events.
Events which will be considered include:- JK2026 ( being held in Perthshire at Easter next year – more details here shortly), Scottish Championships (being hosted by West on 23/24th May 2026), Scottish Orienteering League events (SOL page), and the Jamie Stevenson event. Just because a junior is a late starter or has been injured this does not mean they will not be considered for selection and it is worth discussing anything with the ScotJOS team.
UK level orienteering
There are also lots of opportunities for our Scottish juniors to meet juniors from around the rest of the UK.
There is the opportunity to compete for Scotland at the UK level in the Junior Inter Regional Championships which sees juniors from the 12 British regions compete and took place in the Lakes (read more here) and the Junior Home Internationals which sees Scotland compete against England, Ireland and Wales and took place in Wales (read more here).
There is also the opportunity each year to attend camps organised by the Association of Junior Regional Squads (JROS) which brings together the 12 member regions of British Orienteering to provide opportunities for juniors and are aimed at giving experience to as many juniors as possible across the age groups. From Lagganlia aimed at second year M/W14 (born 2012) through to Gothenburg aimed at second year M/W18s (born 2008) and M/W19s (born 2007). Full details of all these camps are available at (more details here). The website also has details and videos showing previous camps and how much fun they are.
GB Team Opportunities
Each year also see the opportunity for our Scottish Juniors to aim high and to compete for the GB squad in competitions such as European Youth Orienteering Championships being held in Slovenia in June 2026, Junior World Orienteering Championships being held in Sweden in June/July 2026 and the Junior European Cup being held in Switzerland in October 2026.
A full round up of the selection opportunities at Scottish, UK and GB level can be found in the Scottish Juniors Selection Opportunities document on the SOA website. If you ever want to know more or have more questions your club will be able to answer your questions so seek out your club lead coach who will be able to answer your questions or contact Scottish Orienteering via info@scottish-orienteering.org