HIGH PERFORMANCE

Mike Dowling, OA Director, High Performance

The 2004 Annual Conference of Orienteering Australia was a most successful one from the standpoint of our High Performance programs. Our existing rules and procedures were updated and a number of important initiatives for the conduct of our High Performance programs in 2005 and beyond were endorsed. These initiatives continue the development and refinement of our High Performance program in keeping with our Strategic Plan.

A National Training Centre

IN partnership with the ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) Orienteering now joins a number of other major Australian sports in having a National Training Centre to support our elite athlete development. This is a marvellous initiative and comes about in a major part through the great work of coaches and athletes involved in the ACTAS program and the vision of the ACT Orienteering Association in supporting the establishment of an orienteering program at ACTAS a number of years ago. Particular thanks should be due to Nev Bleakley and Jason McCrae for their work with the ACTAS orienteering program.

To paraphrase Nev Bleakley’s paper for the OA Conference:

The main argument for creating any National Training Centre is to increase the range of services to Australia’s High Performance orienteers through avenues such as residential scholarships, training camps and sport specific services. The establishment of a National Training Centre s is a step that Orienteering must take if it wants national recognition as a “real” sport, and not just a recreational pastime. In the future, we need to work to build support for Regional Training Centres in other parts of Australia to act as support for the National Training Centre. The National Training Centre model has been part of the structure of all major National Sport Organisations for some time, and it will continue to be a major part of Australian sport for years to come, whatever Federal and State policies will be in place. It’s a model that the Australian Sports Commission understands, and might factor into its funding arrangements with a National Sports Organisation.

In summary, the establishment of the National Training Centre both from a practical and political standpoint achieves two major goals for Orienteering. It enhances our credibility in the eyes of the national sporting fabric and provides great opportunities for our high performance athletes in assisting to improve our international competitiveness.

New National League Guidelines Adopted

As mentioned in previous editions, we have been working on the development of specific guidelines for the conduct of our National League. Thanks to great work of OA Technical Director Andy Hogg and the input of the High Performance Management Group (foot), State National League Managers, athletes and coaches the guidelines were unanimously endorsed. It is hoped that the guidelines will provide all stakeholders with a clear, easy to understand document that can assist in continuing to build our National League as a strong, vibrant program for our top competitive senior and junior foot orienteers.

Revision of OA Operational Manual

The OA Operational Manual is a weighty document that provides governance and direction of policy procedures and rules. A focus of the 2004 Conference was to endorse changes of existing provisions and adopt new rules to bring the manual into line with the number of changes that have been made over the last couple of years. New specific rules have now been adopted to provide policy direction as they relate to the selection of Junior World Championship Teams (foot) and the MTBO national squad.

2005 - A Busy Year Ahead

We have a busy year ahead for High Performance. By Easter, we will have revised the athlete agreements that were adopted last year. Based on the experiences of their initial implementation, we will aim to simplify procedures where applicable and strengthen areas identified as requiring improvement. We have to develop a new Strategic Plan for High Performance orienteering for the next period of Australian Sports Commission funding. The Strategic Plan governs our general policy direction and will continue to be ambitious in its intended outcomes. We have the World Games happening in July in Germany where we will be entering a team of four athletes. For those who may be unaware the World Games is for Olympic recognized sports that are not a part of the Olympic Games program.

We have the World MTB-O Championships in Slovakia where we will be hoping to continue our fantastic results from 2004. In foot orienteering we have the World Championships in Japan and the Junior World Championships in Switzerland where we have the potential to achieve some excellent results. The World Championships in Japan is the end game of the current Strategic Plan and as such we are doing what we can to provide team aspirants with the best opportunities. A number of our athletes will be attending a supported camp in Japan just prior to Easter to familiarise themselves with expected conditions and we have provided opportunities for our best elites to compete in New Zealand where conditions exist that are similar to that expected in Japan.

Financing High Performance - The Ongoing Challenge

Despite the outstanding support of States Associations for our High Performance programs and support of the Australian Sports Commission there are still many challenges in providing the level of support we would ideally like for our High Performance programs. The great results of our MTB-O team combined with the continuing development of a pool of seriously competitive MTB-O athletes place additional challenges to funding. One could easily suggest that our National Squads need to reinvigorate the need to undertake some more fundraising activities of their own initiative. In addition, it is clear we do need to continue to explore the opportunities of outside corporate support. This, as is the case for many sports, presents great challenges. To that end perception is everything. We must all do what we can to present our sport to the wider community in a most positive way in all aspects.

What could you do to enhance our public profile and present a positive perception of our great sport?

ORIENTEERING PUBLICATIONS

IOF Publications

International Specifications for‑Orienteering Maps . . . . . . . . . . $11 .00 Competition rules for IOF events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11 .00 Control Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . $11 .00 Simple Maps for Orienteering . . . . $11 .00 Trail Orienteering (BOF book) . . . . . $30 .00 Trail Orienteering (booklet) . . . . . . . . $8 .25 Trail O (leaflet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0 .70

Australian Publications

Elementary Orienteering Instructors‑Manual $13 .20 Level 1 Coaching Manual . . . . . . . . $22 .00 Level 1 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . $3 .90 Level 2 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . $4 .40 Level 3 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . $4 .40 Among the Best Orienteers (video) $19 .75 Sponsorship & Advertising, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . available from states

Club Guide, available on disc .

Prices include GST and postage within Australia for single copies. Prices for bulk orders available on request. Orders should be addressed to Orienteering Australia, PO Box 740, Glebe, NSW 2037, with cheques made payable to Orienteering Australia. Email: orienteering@dsr.nsw.gov.au