ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
Executive Matters Kay Grzadka
Annual Conference, Canberra The Orienteering Australia Annual Conference was held in Canberra on the first weekend of December 2007. On the Friday before the Conference the Board of Orienteering Australia met specifically to review and revise the Operational Manual. Amendments requiring Council approval were presented to the Conference or will be presented to the Annual General Meeting in March 2008, after which the a completely revised version of the Operational Manual will be posted at http:// www.orienteering.asn.au/ administration/op_manual/ . Some of the proposals discussed and agreed by the OA Council at the Annual Conference were: • Revision of the Member Protection Policy in
accordance with the Australian Sports Commission template #; • Revision of the Conflict (Dispute) Resolution policy and transfer from the Constitution to the Operational Manual #; • Inclusion in the Operational Manual of a policy for Appeals for other than misconduct; • Inclusion in the Operational Manual of the paper outlining the distribution of functions between Orienteering Australia and States #; • The due date for State Registration Fees to change from 30 June to 30 April; • Amendments to clauses 13 and 15 of the Orienteering Australia Constitution to facilitate the use of electronic banking and to reflect the move away from a permember levy on States to other forms of OA fees #; • Contribution by OA to the costs incurred by the Vice
President, IOF, and funding of another person to attend International Orienteering Federation Council meetings; • Continued support for OA representation in the International Orienteering Federation; • Simplification of the current rule regarding Start Draws; • Change to the current Embargo rule to allow for events being held in public locations; • Support for Australian representation in the 2010 International Schools Championships; • Staging of two test matches per calendar year between Australia and New Zealand for elite senior teams; • Amendment to the rules for Australian Teams to strengthen wording and accountability; • Endorsement of guidelines for the 2008 National Orienteering League; • Endorsement of the Junior Selection Panel structure as a panel of three but with one of the coaches being a member of the panel; • Amendment to the age guidelines for the Junior
Two workshops were held during the Conference: the first dealing with the rotation of national events and from which a modified calendar of events was produced; and the second looked at increasing the participation of sub-juniors in Orienteering. The complete minutes of the Annual Conference will be posted at http:// www.orienteering.asn.au/ administration/minutes/ # Effective after the 2008 Annual General Meeting.
P
NORDIC WALKING ORIENTEERING
The Power of Walking 34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2008
Development Squad to make them clearer and allow for the selection of older juniors; • Change to Junior Selection rules to allow performances in specific overseas events to count for selection purposes; • Support for the inclusion of suitably qualified juniors in the Senior Team for the Mountain Bike World Orienteering Championships; and • Full representation on the Orienteering Australia Council for MTBO #.
OWER WALKING has been the major growth category for Orienteering in the past five years or so. This summer, after the first 40 events of Melbourne’s four park & street Summer Series programs, some 35% of participation has been in the Power Walking categories. Power Walking Orienteering attracts people who want to get out and exercise both their minds and their bodies but who would baulk at the thought of having to run. If you have a competitive streak and Orienteering sounds great but you don’t want to run, the Power Walking category is the one for you. A logical extension to the idea of competitive walking is Nordic Walking Orienteering, particularly in hilly or rough terrain. Nordic Walking poles help to exercise much more of the upper body than just plain
