Eight adult beginners braved some very wet and wild conditions at Hazlehead Park, Aberdeen, on 25th October for a Scottish Orienteering adult coaching day designed to build confidence and skills for newcomers to the sport.
The session was organised by the SOA, planned and led by Katja Neumann (MAROC) and assisted on the day by Fiona McDonald (GRAMP).Among the eight participants were two AUOC (Aberdeen University Orienteering Club) members, who were fully funded to attend as part of ongoing efforts to support student engagement in orienteering.
We are pleased to announce the latest round of funding awards made through the SOA Development Fund. This fund is designed to provide financial support to projects that contribute to the development of the sport and fit within the remit of the SportScotland agreed development objectives for the sport. Specifically at this point we asked clubs to come to us with projects that focus on the recruitment and development of young adults aged 18-40 year olds, supporting and developing young adults to contribute to all aspects of the sport and supporting the opportunities for lifelong learning
Congratulations to the clubs that have received awards: BASOC, CLYDE, ESOC, MOR and the West Area. These clubs all provided project proposals that satisfy the above conditions and have committed themselves to helping develop our sport.
Having received 4 glowing testaments to youngsters who have contributed a huge amount to the sport through their volunteering, we finally decided to award Young Orienteer of the Year to Finlay McLuckie of Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR). Here he is being presented with this very well deserved award at a Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) camp by Roger Goddard, the ScotJOS Lead Coach.
Having already published the full citation, it is sufficient to say that Finlay has impressed members of his club, the staff team and the sport as a whole with his contributions to coaching, welcoming newcomers, serving on the club committee and planning club events, all of which he has tackled with maturity and dedication. The icing on the cake was his contribution to the planning of Day 1 of the Scottish Six Days this year.
The Scottish Inter Club Championships which is held over twelve geographically distributed events over the course of the year allows clubs to compete against each other to see who can gain the most points from their club members performances at events. The Scottish Inter Club Championship consists of two sections, large and small clubs, based on the number of members a club has and these are then split into Senior and Junior sections so there are four awards at the end of the year with two Trophies on offer for the Senior sections and a variety of sweeter prizes for the Junior sections.
In 2025 there were events ranging from the Edinburgh University Orienteering Club (EUOC) Big Weekend in January through to the last event in November in Glasgow, The Tinto Twin Day Race hosted by St Andrew’s (Glasgow) Orienteering Club (STAG). Full details of all the events can be found on the Scottish Inter Club Championships Page.
Each year, as part of the Junior Inter Area Weekend, we hold a dedicated Junior Feedback Session, where our junior members have the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences. This session is an important part of the weekend and is part of why we encourage everyone to come together at the overnight accommodation.
Each year a Junior Inter Area event is held over one weekend, generally in October. The event consists of a relay event followed by an individual event with juniors from the three Scottish orienteering areas – East, North and West – coming together to compete as a team representing their area. The Saturday night offers the opportunity for juniors to all stay in a youth hostel or other accommodation, socialise, renew old acquaintances and meet new ones from outwith their own clubs/areas.
With each area taking turns to host the event, 2025 was the turn of the West area to organise and play host to Scottish juniors. And so the Scottish juniors descended on the Stirling area on the last weekend in October to see whose area would raise the Trophies and claim the sweet treats on offer as prizes!
Forth Valley Orienteers brought the Scottish Orienteering Championship season to a close in the shadow of the Falkirk Wheel with the Scottish Score Orienteering Championships. Unfortunately autumnal weather meant there was no sun to cast any shadows but they did get the delights of contrasting the feat of 21st century engineering against the roman history of the Antonine Wall while they got wet! They even got the option to use the Roughcastle Tunnel as a route choice which is 180m long and forms part of the canal tow path.
This year it was the turn of Wales to host the Junior Home Internationals (JHIs) where the four home nations come together to compete for the glory. Having held aloft the Trophy at the Junior Home Internationals hopes were high on the long bus journey down that the double could be achieved like last year where on Jon Musgrave’s last year as Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad coach they raised both the Junior Inter Regional Championship (JIRCs) Trophy and the Junior Home International Trophy.
Scottish Orienteering is excited to launch a brand-new Junior Photo Competition – and we want you to be part of it! This is your chance to showcase the spirit of orienteering through your own lens – whether it’s about fun, adventure, beautiful places – or something else! Read on for what we’re looking for and how to enter – the closing date is 30 November.
