Coming Back for More

WORDS PETER HODKINSON

Victoria has attracted many orienteering scholars from overseas in the past few years. After hearing great things from friends (and getting jealous seeing their photos online), Will Gardner and I were lucky enough to have that experience too in 2017-18. It was an amazing trip that I’ll remember for a long time, and I hope that some of you enjoyed our training sessions. It’s clear from talking to people that the coach-inresidence programme has had a positive impact on many Victorian orienteers in various ways, and it’s particularly rewarding for me personally to see some of the juniors I helped to coach continuing to develop, enjoy the sport and produce some outstanding performances. However, something that isn’t highlighted so often is the enormous amount that we, as scholars, also gain from the experience. Some things go without saying (but I’ll say them anyway) - the opportunity to explore a new country, the lovely weather and the very welcoming and sociable orienteering community are just three. But Australia has so much more to offer an elite orienteer than just a nice climate to train in. You have unique and world-class terrain, and more importantly the enthusiasm and creativeness to keep using it in new and interesting ways. I’m always amazed by how difficult a tiny school can be when combined with a map-flip and a fiendish course setter. The Sprint Into Spring series and Melbourne Sprint Weekends you stage are top quality events which, in my view, are far superior to anything happening in Europe.

All these things, combined with wanting to see some good friends again, convinced me to return this year for another summer down under. I’ve been lucky to have a great group of local orienteers to train with, visited some new places and been on some great training camps in Victoria and NZ. Thanks to Fredo’s training and the relentless drive of the Key family (grillings from Warren in particular) I have also come away with a greater understanding of my orienteering technique and plenty of ideas to keep working on. Saying goodbye to Australia wasn’t much easier this time than last, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll be back again before long. For me, it’s one of the best places in the world to train for orienteering. See you next time!