Tag: 2026

It was announced by Jonathan Molloy at the SOA 2026 Annual General Meeting that the Service to Orienteering Award was being awarded to Janice Nisbet of Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Association (ESOC). The Service to Orienteering Award was previously known as the President’s Award but following the re-organisation of the SOA Board and there being no current President, it has been renamed as the Service to Orienteering Award.

The 2026 Veteran Home Internationals took place down in the Peak District last weekend (19th/20th September) and saw Scotland finishing in third position despite being a very close run thing overnight after the individuals. The date of the VHIs was brought forward to the end of September this year from its normal late October position. This meant that it clashed with Coast and Islands, children starting university and the London City Race among other things.

Thank you to all of those who took time out of their Monday evening to attend the SOA Annual General Meeting. A small group but essential for our governance joined the Board to hear our chair Jonathan Molloy summarise the SOA actions in the last year and have the opportunity to raise queries about the reports contained in the AGM Booklet.

Last weekend Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club (ESOC) hosted the 4th Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) event of 2026 at Cademuir. Cademuir has been described by all involved in this event as a beautiful but quite awkward area to plan on. Along the high ridge of the area the short grass, intricate contours and rock detail provide excellent running whereas the slopes on either side of the ridge become very steep and less enjoyable. Thankfully our planner, Peter O’Hara, endured the wind and weather the day before the event on the exposed area to put out the controls and also managed to plan it so that everyone got to enjoy the intricate contours in the sunshine allowing everyone to take advantage of the fast conditions! The views were worth the climb for those who stopped to soak them and the sunshine in.

Scottish Orienteering, with the support of Sport Scotland Summer of Sport funding have been running an initiative to attract families into orienteering, with taster coaching sessions followed by local events.

Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC) in conjunction with Masterplan Orienteering put on the Inverness Eagle Weekend which combined a Scottish Orienteering Urban League (SOUL) event, a World Ranking Middle distance event and a Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) into one weekend of glorious orienteering with a ceilidh as the cherry on top!

The 2026 Annual General Meeting of the SOA will take place online on 14th September at 7pm. The link for the meeting and all information in respect of the AGM can be found in the AGM Booklet below together with the link to the finalised 2025 SOA Accounts.

Got experiences you think are worth sharing, want to meet members from other clubs or find out what others think about the hot topics in a format where chat is not restricted by start times, download queues or volunteering requirements. With a free lunch on offer and a guarantee of home made cake the Club Networking days really are a chance for our members to come have lunch and chat about all things orienteering.

After a summer break we resume our 2026 Community Conversations series. In September, Monday 7th September 7.30pm, we are focussing on Permanent Orienteering Courses and the learnings from clubs which could ensure they have an impact.

It is now just a 6 weeks until the World Masters Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships in Moray. There are 4 days of competition following the registration day on Tuesday 8^th September.