A junior’s take on the program

by Joel Crothers

The Learn to Orienteer Program taught me many new skills. I began orienteering in 2019 after Pam King did a program at school. I loved it straight away as I have always had an interest in maps and asked my parents if I could join an orienteering club.

I went to many park street events and did my second bush event as a 10 year old at the Creswick Victorian Championships. I also planned my first park street course when I was 10.

With Covid disrupting everything over the last couple of years, it has been challenging to go from the very easy courses I did as a 10 year old, to the more difficult longer courses I am doing now. Being an orienteer whose parents have never done orienteering before is also a challenge, as they don't know the correct way to teach me.

The Learn to Orienteer Program was a great help to me. It went right back to the basics, such as knowing how to orientate your map and included fun games such as running to north, east, south and west.

We learned about attack points and catching features as well as the basics on contours and gullies.

Each week we practiced the skills and got the opportunity to run around a course. It was all done in a fun, supportive environment and I got to meet many new people. I enjoyed every minute of the program.