Scotland’s junior orienteers turned out in force for the annual Jamie Stevenson Trophy, held this year on Sunday 15th June at Hill of Alyth. With stunning views, great weather, and a fantastic buzz at the assembly, the event celebrated both competition and community — and inspired many new memories for the juniors involved.
The Jamie Stevenson Trophy is a much-loved date in the junior calendar — a chance to represent your club, build team spirit, and enjoy a full day out with friends from across the country. This year, Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) retained the coveted trophy for the 4th year in a row, holding off a strong challenge from INVOC who were just 4 points behind. Moravian completed the podium.
Sunday 15th June saw Scottish juniors for over 10 clubs travel the Hill of Alyth to compete for the Jamie Stevenson Trophy. An event aimed at encouraging participation from juniors of all Scottish Clubs.
It was a day of friendly rivalry with the sun shining after a few days of dreich weather. Face paint was applied and club tshirts were worn proudly.
To start the juniors in time honoured tradition paraded their flags around before a mass warm up which this year saw them all opening the gates, feeding the chickens and giraffes before kicking the badgers out of the farmyard?!?
Well there hasn’t been a damp Jamie Stevenson Trophy for a few years but a bit of rain did not diminish the chatter, shouts of encouragement and enthusiasm for the event.
The Jamie Stevenson Trophy is an annual inter-club competition for junior classes only, and traditionally held in central Scotland to encourage participation from all Scottish clubs. It was initiated as a fund-raising event for the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) by Bill and Anne Stevenson in honour of their son, Jamie, who is a multiple World Championships medal winner ( winning gold at the World Orienteering Championships in the Sprint in 2003) and also one of our Patrons. It’s a chance for all juniors in a club to take part in a competitive event with a parade of athletes, commentary and prize-giving.
This year 11 clubs ventured to the Hermitage, just outside Dunkeld, to join to let their juniors enjoy a taste of a competition focussed on juniors with a celebratory atmosphere. Club tents line the run in, faces are adored with face paints and club mascots on are display. No club has yet challenged the Blue Peter skills of Inverness Orienteering Club who have created a cardboard eagle costume in the last few years. Will we get a Wallace Monument costume from Forth Valley Orienteers, a capercaillie from Mar Orienteering Club or a Burghead Bull from Moravian Orienteers to name but a few next year?
As is tradition the day started with a parade of all the juniors led by last year’s winning club Forth Valley Orienteers. It also helped this year to ensure the run in was suitably trampled to make their final run in easier!
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 club flag parade featuring for the first time the INVOC eagle
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 warm up
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.
After missing a couple of years due to covid, it was great to see lots of smiling faces on Moncreiffe Hill yesterday for the 2022 Jamie Stevenson Trophy.
Twelve clubs from across Scotland brought teams along to enjoy this junior inter club competition. The sun shone and there were smiles all round for the club parade started off the event.
