We are delighted that thanks to funding support from the Orienteering Foundation, Scottish Orienteering and Moravian, the club are now seeking to appoint a part-time Club Development Officer(CDO). For more information check out their website.

I am delighted to announce that Nikki Howard has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer for the Scottish Orienteering Association.

Many of you will know Nikki already both as a competitor and a member of Moravian Orienteering Club. During the past year Nikki has also been employed by the SOA as the Events & Operations Manager and Assistant Coordinator for the Scottish 6 Days.

We were very pleased with the number of very high quality applications we received for the post which reflects on the exciting times that lie ahead with the World Orienteering Championships coming to Scotland in 2024.

We’ll announce plans for Nikki’s current SOA and 6 Days work in due course. In the meantime please give Nikki your support as she takes on her new role.

Richard Oxlade

On behalf of the SOA Board

The idea of competitive pairs was mooted last year and we were delighted when Edinburgh University readily agreed to trial the concept at their Big Weekend. So why would anyone be interested in running in a competitive pair? It turns out there are lots of reasons!

The Scottish Orienteering Association are seeking help from someone with experience of equality and/or safeguarding procedures in a work or club environment to help with the role of Director of Welfare. This role is crucial to the development of orienteering and to ensure orienteering is a safe, welcoming and inclusive sport for all.

As Director you would be working with the SOA Chief Operating Officer to provide advice and support in implementing appropriate equality, diversity, safeguarding and PVG practices. We are looking for either a member of the orienteering community or someone from outwith orienteering who can bring alternative experience to this role.

Could you can help guide SOA strategy to ensure that orienteering is a safe, welcoming and inclusive sport for all and help to increase participation from under represented groups and communities? More information about the role can be found here and any questions about what is involved should be directed to Keith Dawson chair@scottish-orienteering.org

In 2022 we revisitalised the Young Leaders Program. The program now comprises three components for young planners (age 12+), young coaching assistants (age 14+) and young organisers (age 16+). We spoke to our young leaders about what they would like as a form of recognition. The Young Leaders said they would like a buff. 

Therefore we are opening up a competition for Juniors to design a buff for the Young Leaders. To enter, design a buff with a different colour variation for each type of young leader. We want the buff to be instantly identifiable as a Young Leader’s buff with a colour variation for each role. 

Last week saw our final face to face team meeting with our outgoing COO(Chief Operating Officer) and what a way to go! Fiona had us all lined up throwing axes – luckily not at each other… A bit like working for SOA, we had targets to hit!

A sheltered hall at the top of Morningside was an ideal location for the presentation of the 2022 Scottish Inter-Club Championship trophies by Peter Hodkinson and Richard Oxlade. Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO)were presented with the Senior and Junior Large Club Trophies (the juniors have to make sure the adults hand over the chocolates!), Roxburgh Reivers (RR) took home the Senior Small Club Trophy and East Lothian Orienteers (ELO) juniors very generously shared their Junior Small Club Trophy spoils with the other juniors in the room.

After the sheltered surroundings of Saturday’s trophy celebrations, the first event of the 2023 Scottish Inter-Club Championship took place in Holyrood Park at Edinburgh University Orienteering Clubs’s (EUOC) Seat Classic Race. The climb to the starts then saw competitors racing up and down and up and down Arthur’s Seat in gusty conditions.

ScotJOS and Talent Scotland had their 1^st training camp of 2023 last weekend. The camp was based in Livingston with its multitude of underpasses, alleyways and complex housing estates providing the ideal location for a Sprint orienteering camp. 

Going Forward into 2023

Hello and a warm welcome to 2023. The Development Team had an exciting yet challenging 2022. At the start of the year we were understaffed then lost Sarah Dunn as Development Manager. However in the autumn Heidi Ross joined the team enabling us to be a full staff team again. We have supported projects including: Dundee Active Schools with Tay and Earlston High School with the Roxburgh Reivers along with summer camps and work to find out more from young people about what keeps them in the sport. We are excited for 2023 to take on new development projects and continue our work from 2022. 

Following consultation on the 2022 Scottish Inter-Club Championship, it was found that members were in favour of the new format which allowed clubs to gather points through the year rather than previous focus which required attendance at one event.  The Scottish Inter-Club Championship format had been revamped because it was felt that members increasingly saw it as an irrelevance having been held in the last few years alongside the Scottish Individual Championships.  

This new format of the Scottish Inter-Club Championships is aimed to help clubs foster club spirit and enthusiasm.  It aims to be more inclusive as it allows all members to add points to the club total, even those who are unable to travel outwith club areas.  The number of events has also been decreased so that clubs can be clear which events will count towards the Scottish Inter-Club championship.