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:-

Our first volunteer is a coach whose efforts over the years have underpinned the success of one of our biggest clubs – Nicola Melville of FVO

Over the past few weeks Scottish Orienteering has been busy in Dundee. With the support of coach Matthew Clark (KFO) and volunteers from Tayside Orienteering Club (TAY) we have been running a series of family coaching sessions at Balgay Park, Dundee. 

The SOA runs an Accreditation scheme that allows clubs to be recognised for their achievements. Post COVID, the scheme was put on the back foot to allow clubs to get back on their feet and get back to some form of normality. We are now keen to refocus clubs towards the scheme which comes with many benefits.

At the recent Scottish Championship weekend, two of our clubs were presented with accreditation awards after fulfilling the criteria at the beginning of the year. INVOC are now on the ladder, achieving the Bronze level award, whilst Moravian have progressed to Silver level – congratulations to both!

A large number of Scottish (and Scotland-based) athletes have been selected for various international competitions this summer, and with the World Championships team yet to be selected, there are likely to be more. This is a testament to the excellent orienteering and coaching available to athletes in Scotland.

The World University Orienteering Championships will take place in Bulgaria in August, with a team heavily dominated by Edinburgh University athletes – Rachel Brown EUOC, Fiona Bunn EUOC, Eilidh Campbell EUOC, Isobel Howard EUOC, Niamh Hunter EUOC, Jim Bailey EUOC, David Bunn EUOC, Euan Tryner EUOC – and also several other alumni and native Scots – Peter Molloy FVO, Freddie Carcas INT, and Eddie Narbett INT.

Volunteer week is once more upon us. This is the time of year when we celebrate all our wonderful volunteers without whom the sport would not run (no pun intended). Each day over the period of the 3rd – 9th June we will highlight a volunteer or group nominated by their club who has stood out for their contribution to the sport over this last year.

We are delighted in Scottish Orienteering on behalf of the experienced organising team to announce that the IOF have granted us the honour of holding the World Masters MTBO Championships 2026 planned for 8th to 14th September 2026. 

We can promise you excellent World Class terrain, courses and maps from beep to beep. Based in Northern Scotland at the floral town of Forres, with phenomenal tourist opportunities nearby. Castles, Distilleries and varied World Championship terrain! What’s not to love? See you there.

Still time to enter for the three race WMS weekend in Scotland near Falkirk on 7-9th June 2024 on www.bmbo.org.uk

The 2024 Jamie Stevenson Trophy event is being held at the Hermitage just outside Dunkeld this year on Sunday 16th June. Some may say this will be a huge disappointment to all the Scottish juniors as they will be unable to spend the whole day spoiling their fathers but we all know that peace to indulge in whatever hobby they love best is generally what every father wants!

The Jamie Stevenson Trophy provides an opportunity for all Scottish junior orienteers to come together and compete for their club whilst also providing another opportunity in the year to meet juniors from other clubs. It is a fun and inclusive day which allows club friendships to blossom and generally everyone ends up hoarse cheering their team mates.

It starts with a traditional parade of each club with their club flag and after the INVOC eagle mascot making an appearance last year we are looking forward to this year’s parade. A mass warm up then takes place lead by the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (SCOTJOS) before the orienteering begins. There are spot prizes awarded through the day with the most supportive club award becoming an institution alongside the Jamie Stevenson Trophy itself!

The Jamie Stevenson Trophy is organised by and acts as a fundraiser for the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (SCOTJOS). Last year the prize was taken by Forth Valley Orienteering (FVO) Juniors again having taken home the trophy in 2022 as well but before that nobody had managed to wrestle it away from Mar Orienteering Club (MAROC) for more years than everyone cares to remember. Who will raise the trophy this year?

Entries will be collated by Clubs and so make sure you tell your Junior Club Captain or Club Coach that you want to be involved in what is sure to be another fun day. Entry forms will be despatched to clubs in the next week.

The Scottish Schools Orienteering Festival is taking place at Drumpellier Country Park this year on Friday 7th June. Entries are now open and more information can be found of the St Andrews Glasgow Orienteering Club (STAG) website – STAG website.

Entries forms can be found via the following link – Scottish Schools entry form

Young people are the future of our sport and we are once again delighted to announce the opening of nominations for the Young Orienteer of the Year award kindly sponsored by Tulloch Homes.  This annual award gives us the chance to recognise and celebrate the considerable contribution to orienteering by young people through their volunteering.