Orienteering Victoria - A snapshot of our first 50 years

WORDS ADAPTED FROM BELINDA DALE'S MORE COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF OV'S FIRST 50 YEARS ON THE WEBSITE.

1969 – Orienteering Victoria came into being

The first ‘real’ orienteering event was held in Victoria. A few facts from this event:

- The map was a black and white adaptation of a 1 inch to the mile army survey map, enlarged to ‘about’ 4 inches to the mile.

- There were no magnetic north lines on the map

- The controls were 4 gallon (4 kg) metal fuel bins painted with a red and white stripe

- The event centre was at the Pine Grove Hotel in Upper Beaconsfield

A program of events followed over the next three months – at Portsea Officers Training School, Bambara (Mt Disappointment Forest) and Healesville (Elliot Lodge Scotch College Scout Camp), culminating in the first Victorian Orienteering Championships at the You Yangs on 21 December 1969.

1970’s - We were tough back then

In early 70s black and white photocopies of army survey / forest commission maps, “about” 1:25,000 scale, with 15 metre contours were used. Coloured pens / pencils were used to colour in the drainage lines, forest edges, tracks etc. Later in the 70’s the first coloured hand drawn maps appeared, the first being Mt Egerton in 1973. Field work improved mapping accuracy and added features.

Park Street Orienteering commenced, first with a night park event was held at Studley Park in 1970 and a street event at Blackburn Lake in 1974. Regular street events then commenced from 1976.

Clubs were formed:

- 1972: Red Kangaroos; Bayside; Yarra Valley Orienteering Club; Tuckonie; Super Turtles; St Leo’s Navigators; Peninsula Orienteers (absorbed into Bayside in the mid 70s)

- 1973: Rockhoppers

- 1974: Navigators

- 1975: Eltham College, Geelong, Warby, Eureka, Albury-Wodonga, Active Ants

- 1977: Bendigo

- 1976: Brumby

- 1979: Dandenong Ranges

1980’s – the World Champs Era

Bush maps became 5 colour, fully field-worked and hand drawn, focusing on gold mining (e.g. Nerrina, Castlemaine Goldfields and Wattle Gully) and granite (e.g. Mt Kooyoora and Mt Alexander). More (and new) features were added, including native cherry trees (which are no longer included).

More events offered more courses adapted to age classes. At most events, competitors still marked up their courses and added map corrections at master map areas. Thumb compasses came into use and punch cards were used at all events.

In 1985 Orienteering Victoria hosted WOC85 and WOCARN (the world championships and an associated carnival), with events held in the Kooyoora granite and Castlemaine gold mining areas. Tom Andrews (BK) chaired the overall WOC administration. Barry McCrae (YV), Alex Tarr (YV), David Hogg (PO), Peta Whitford (YV) and Peter Searle (BG) took key roles in WOC. Barry McCrae, Blake Gordon (EU), Sheila Colls and John Colls (then DROC), John Turner (Emu), Peter Searle (BG), and Kathy Liley (then Emu) led the WOCARN team. Steve Key (DROC) and Alex Tarr (YV) were the main mappers. Sue Sturges, VOA’s first employee, worked as the promotion and development officer.

Although Bush O still dominated, along with Street O, new and different O variations were tried, and some have survived: Ski O: Several events held in the early 80s. Tri O: Canoe, bike and run. Events were held at Ballarat and Lake Eppalock, but this format did not survive. Blodslitet: Several events were held during the 80s and 90s. This format has since been replaced by the Maxi and EndurOs. High O: Long distance team event held in the high plains.

Clubs continued to evolve:

- Central Highland Orienteering Club was formed

- Eltham College changed to Nillumbik Emus was formed

- Clubs to dissolve were Brumby (some members joining YVOC) and St Leo’s Navigators (members joining Emu in 1988).

1990’s – OCAD, flatbed plotters and Casio watches

OCAD (Orienteering Computer Aided Drawing) revolutionised mapmaking, particularly OCAD5 in 1995, which offered the ability to scan images as background maps and trace over them. Maps could be made and updated on the computer, negating the need for manual map corrections. Digital printing became available but the colour quality was poor. Offset printing is still used for major events.

Condes support for OCAD files was introduced. This revolutionised designing and plotting courses, calculating course lengths and printing controls descriptions on maps. Courses were plotted using flatbed plotters (an improvement over the over-printers) programmed with all the control circles and lines where they needed to be cut, and the course was drawn with a single plotting pen, with a more accurate finish but still time-consuming. International control descriptions became the norm.

Manual entry was still the norm, but computers were used at major events. Finish times were entered on the computer. Some competitors recorded their splits on personal Casio watches for comparison with other competitors later.

Street O streaked ahead, with a Summer Series on Wednesdays (Eastern) and Tuesdays (Western). That’s twice a week!! MTBO also took off with regular events from the mid 90s.

Major events in Victoria included:

- 1994: World Cup events and Southern Cross Junior Challenge – Ballarat

- 1995: Australian Championships – Creswick Diggings

- 1995: First Australian Ski-O Championships – Lake Mountain

- 1997: Inaugural MTBO State Champs – Lal Lal

- 1998: Easter – Castlemaine and Inaugural Australian MTBO Champs – Creswick.

Clubs continued to merge and the VOA was renamed:

- 1993: Emu and Nillumbik merged to become Nillumbik Emus

- 1993: Red Kangaroos merged with Bayside to become Bayside Kangaroos O Club

- 1995: Rockhoppers merged with Nillumbik Emus

- 1997-8: The VOA became known as OV (Orienteering Victoria).

2000’s – the rise of the digital age

In the 2000s the digital age set in and revolutionised the way we orienteered. Computers were used to make maps and manage all stages of most events.

In 2001, Condes support for OCAD files was introduced. This revolutionised designing and plotting courses, calculating course lengths and printing controls descriptions on maps.

SPORTident (developed in the late 1990s) became our new exciting tool. SPORTident meant that course setters could plan courses in smaller areas with loops and crossovers. Areas previously considered too small to use could now be mapped. Maps could fit on an A4 sheet. No more manned controls. With more pre-marked maps, there was no more tedious hand plotting for the course setters, and no more ‘bums in the air’ for the competitors.

For MTBO the 2000s was its best and biggest decade. Participation rates grew.

Park / Street O surged into the new century on the wave of its rapid rise in the 1990s and participation continued to grow. More maps were added. More events were offered on more nights in the Summer Series. To keep it simple, Park Street O continued to use punch cards. The Millennium Club started on 1 Jan 2000 recognising participants reaching 500,750 and 1000 events.

Key events in the 21st century reflect the dominance of the Bendigo / Castlemaine area as the most progressive centre of bush orienteering in the state:

- 2001: Australian 3 days, Maldon area

- 2002: World Masters held in the Glenluce-Kooyoora area

- 2003: Australian Champs, Bendigo and NE Victoria

- 2004: World MTBO Championships in Central Victoria

- 2004: 35th anniversary event at Bostock Reservoir

- 2006: Australian 3 Days. Castlemaine area

- 2009: Australian Champs, Bendigo and NE Victoria (Bushrangers Carnival).

A new club, Melbourne Forest Racers, was formed

2010’s – OV goes online

Eventor arrived in 2012, providing for on-line membership, pre-entry and results for most events.

At most bush and MTBO events competitors no longer needed to register on the day (except for the EODs – Enter on the Days) or to select start times – just front up at the Start when ready, insert the SI etag into the Clear, Check and Start boxes, pick up a map and control description sheet and head out on the course. Results appearing on large screens in the arena, and result splits print outs handed out to competitors on finishing became a feature of events. SPORTident introduced SIAC etags with proximity recording rather than inserting the etag in the SI station.

The Sprint distance format, with events typically held in universities, schools, parkland and other complex urban areas became increasingly popular through the Sprint into Spring series.

Park / Street O continued to grow, offering events most days of the week during the summer and regular winter night and day events. Six ‘legend members’ of the Millennium Club reached the 2000 event milestone. MTBO consolidated as a regular fixture. We could now orienteer (almost) every day of the year, in a range of events, including the traditional ‘Bush’ O, Park/ Street O, MTBO and, increasingly over the last decade, MelBushO and Sprints.

In 2017 Orienteering Victoria updated its online presence with a new website, modernising its online presence, logo and colours.

Major events in Victoria included:

- Easter 2013 (Bendigo area)

- Australian Championships in 2015 (Ballarat / Creswick)

- Oceania in 2011 and 2019 (NE Victoria)

- Melbourne Sprint Weekends (MSW) held in 2016, 2018 and 2020

- The 50th anniversary event at Cardinia Reservoir in August 2019

- Australian MTBO Champs in 2010 (Castlemaine – Daylesford), 2011 (Beechworth), 2015 (Torquay – Anglesea) and 2019 (Maryborough – Dunolly).

A more comprehensive account of OV’s first 50 years written by Belinda Dale can be found on the Orienteering Victoria website / About Us / Orienteering Victoria