HIGH PERFORMANCE REPORT

The main international competition season is about to commence, with JWOC in Switzerland and the World Games in Germany to be conducted in July, the FootO World Championships to be held in August in Japan and the MTBO WOC to be held in Slovakia shortly after. Congratulations to all who have been selected to represent Australian Orienteering in our respective World Championship teams. We have a number of athletes in all our teams who have the ability to achieve benchmark performances and build on our results of 2004. Mass start on Day 1 at Easter for the M21AS “Sledge” class. Photo: Peter Cusworth

The Boomerangs Are Here!

The Board of OA in conjunction with the Foot-O HPMG (High Performance Management Group) and athletes have completed the process of developing an identity for our Foot-O senior team who will be known as the Boomerangs. A logo has been developed, voted upon and registered to formalize this process. Look out for the team identity on national team uniforms and banners which will used to promote and market our senior Foot-O team.

Easter 3-Day a Great Success

The Easter 3-Day conducted by the ACT Association was a great success in the presentation of our senior elite orienteers to the wider Orienteering public. The presentation of each race day met all the aims of the Liebnitz Convention in the visibility of elite Orienteering where the finish set up on each day provided a fitting climax to a great series of races. In particular the reverse chasing start on the final day provided a close and exciting finish for both athletes and spectators with the last few controls of the elite courses in full view. It is the sort of spectacle we hope will be used as a model for future elite races. In addition, the competition was enhanced will almost all our top international competitors competing, making it one of the highest standard domestic competitions in recent memory. Again congratulations to all athletes, and in particular, the organization team from the ACT led by Anthony Scott.

The OA Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of Orienteering Australia saw the endorsement of the final set of updates of documents that form the part of the OA Operational Manual and refinement of policy direction of high performance Orienteering. A key aspect of the AGM was the adoption of new funding arrangements for the support of State teams in our National League developed by Jason McCrae our Manager, High Performance. The central tenet of the of the new funding arrangements is to transfer significant funding to the development of State-based coaching programs to support high performance Orienteering at a more local level. The hoped outcome will be to see States take a more active role in the training and preparation of their National League teams and lead to the further enhancement of our premier domestic competitive series.

New Codes Of Conduct

The Board of Orienteering Australia has adopted a new set of codes of conduct to provide a clearer direction for both our national team officials in their roles with national teams and for our respective national squads in all Orienteering disciplines. These will work in conjunction with existing team agreements that apply to all athletes selected in our national teams. The new codes of conduct will apply to all new national team official appointments and national squads for the next period of 2006-07. Such codes of conduct and athlete agreements work in tandem with the broader Orienteering Australia Member Protection Policy to provide a clear direction of obligations and commitments for both official and athletes.

A new High Performance Strategic Plan

As a part of our agreement with the Australian Sports Commission, our principal external funding provider, we are obliged to formulate a strategic plan for the policy direction of our high performance programs. The current strategic plan expires at the end of this year. The major focus in the coming months for both the respective High Performance Management Groups for Foot-O and MTBO, athletes, coaches and the OA Board will be to work on developing a future strategic plan framework for the next period of 2006-2008. This will involve reviewing the current plan and its aims and looking at future policy direction to continue to build on the large number of achievements and developments that have occurred during the life of the current plan.

The goal will be to formulate a new plan in conjunction with all stakeholders with a view to its adoption at the 2005 OA National Conference in December of this year. As such, we invite input from all stakeholders and the broader Orienteering community. If you would like to have some input into the development of the new strategic plan, your thoughts are always welcome. Contact your HP Director by phoning 03-62447073 or via email at mdowling@tassie. net.au .

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