FROM THE PRESIDENT
Making Events more Friendly
Bob McCreddin President, Orienteering Australia
I
T is perhaps unfortunate that the statement of “The Leibnitz Convention” is hidden away from general view as the last Appendix to the Competition Rules for Orienteering Australia - Foot Orienteering Events because each time I read it I am excited at what it says for the development of Orienteering. True, the Leibnitz Convention is aimed at the big picture - giving our sport media appeal; attracting sponsorship; and achieving the entry of foot Orienteering into the Olympic Games, but its message is as equally important for all levels of Orienteering. The first three aims particularly have relevance at all events, conclusions borne out from research across all states in recent years as to why people choose to stay orienteering or why they try one or two events and then opt not to orienteer.
We need to accept that when we plan an Orienteering event, we are also planning a social function and that we should tailor the planning of our Orienteering event accordingly. The cards and letters that come my way – well telephone calls, e-mails and chats on the way to the start of an event – usually address social issues and ways of keeping people orienteering. Separate the women’s results from the men’s results to encourage women to participate. Separate the ages and do not force older people into one large class so that they gain recognition for their continuing participation. Reduce the costs to families attending events so as to encourage their continued participation. It is this last issue that has drawn the greatest comment throughout 2004, with several articles on the topic having also appeared in The Australian Orienteer. There is a strong plea across the country from parents of families to organisers of national carnivals to consider ways in which costs of participation can be kept to a minimum. The problem covers all aspects of the carnivals, with fees, transport and accommodation being the key costs. The problem is exacerbated when one – or more – junior members of the family start to become interested in interstate competitions and national teams. How do we tackle this issue? Should one person on the organising committee for each carnival be assigned the task of monitoring the costs for families, particularly for the older juniors, and seeking ways to reduce these costs? This is just another example of the manner in which we must successfully address the social contexts of Orienteering if the sport is to continue to expand and to prosper – let’s each of us try to implement the principles underpinning the Leibnitz Convention as we make our contributions to organising Orienteering activities. Keep spiking those controls.
• i ncrease the visibility of our sport by organising our events closer to where people are. Use maps based on popular parks with assembly areas close to where people assemble and of course locate events close to the people so that travel to events is not a deterrent. Results in the major newspapers, recording the event locations, are important to attract people. •m ake our event centres more attractive giving increased attention to the design and quality of installations. As annoying as human nature can be, the regular Sunday event needs to get the car close to the assembly area and the locations of the various event support facilities needs to be planned and not just left to happen. The real killjoy for an Orienteering event – presumably for the newcomer as much as the captivated orienteer – is the long line of cars parked down a narrow gravel road – can’t find your friends – too far to walk back and buy a cold drink - no common gathering place for club members. • i mprove the event centre atmosphere, and the excitement, by having both start and finish at the centre. We want to encourage parents to bring enthusiastic children to Orienteering events, we want to keep our orienteers in the sport by having their non-Orienteering family and friends accompany them to events, we want to attract the curious passersby. Locating the start and finish at the assembly area is a big bonus to these causes. As much as we may love the physical and mental challenge of the event, a major reason that most of the regular orienteers keep coming back is the friendships arising from the social experience. Perhaps this is best demonstrated with the juniors. While success is a key factor, the juniors will keep coming back if they are coming to see friends and to have a social outing. Why will so many regular orienteers who speak negatively about street Orienteering keep turning up to events? They come to see their friends and have a social outing!
6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2004
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