N AT I O N A L J U N I O R S Q U A D
In January, the nation’s best junior orienteers gathered in Newcastle to take part in a National Junior Training camp organised by Orienteering Australia. One of the attendees, Josh Blatchford, wrote this report:
2008 National Junior Training Camp Photos: Rob Preston and Ben Rattray
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ATIONAL Junior Coach/Manager team Nick Dent and Hilary Wood, High Performance Manager, Rob Preston, and recently appointed Victorian Schools Coach, Roch Prendergast, put together a demanding, at times gruelling, but also motivating and extremely enjoyable National Junior Training Camp. The 26 strong group was drawn from the National Junior Squad and included some members of the newly formed Junior Development Squad, for talented 15-17 year olds. Many in attendance had already been in the Hunter region competing in the ‘Wine & Waves’ 2007 Xmas 5 Days. Others flew into Newcastle or joined the training schedule during the week. The actual camp started on the 1st of January, in surprisingly luxurious accommodation in the Anna Bay area (north of Newcastle), with a short group ‘get to know you’ session. This was our rest day and all in attendance made the most of it with some relaxing and easy socialising. Wednesday the 2nd brought our first day of training and fitness testing, with a tough 3000m track time trial, followed in the afternoon by the ‘beep’ test and timed agility run. Not to be forgotten was the pleasant trip to the beach in between. The Queenslanders seemed to think the water was cold and were a bit reluctant to swim, while the Victorians seemed to love the water. On Thursday the Squad headed out to the legendary and very tricky sand dunes map of ‘Bob’s Farm’, to improve our technical navigation in the contours. A few legs in the thick and spider infested forest, and we were soon headed back to the resort. We had another fantastic social evening including a round of minigolf and some sandboarding at the Stockton sand dunes. Friday saw us leave the accommodation at Anna Bay and start heading towards ‘the hut’ for the rest of the camp, much to
8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2008
the dislike of the Queensland junior girls after some of the stories they heard about ‘Ivan’. We stopped on the way for some Sprint Orienteering training in Sydney. After arriving at the hut and taking a short rest, we headed out to the forest for relay simulation training. That night the Squad went out for tea at the Mittagong RSL, which was followed by talks from Dave Shepherd on tips for Orienteering in Sweden, and Kris Dunn from ACTAS introducing us to Sports Psychology. Saturday morning was our Middle Distance event on the map ‘Miners Despair’ in Belanglo State Forest. Some good times were posted on both the men’s and women’s courses, and splits were able to be compared thanks to us having the resources of SportIdent on camp. Saturday afternoon was pretty relaxed with rest, socialising and a few games of cricket. Our evening talk examined the trend of Orienteering in Sweden, with a few maps of JWOC type areas being handed out, and then tips were given by the elites helping at the camp. Rob Walter, Julian Dent, Jo Allison, Kerrin Rattray and Dave Shepherd shared their wealth of experience of competing in Swedish terrain. On Sunday we had the gruelling Long Distance camp championships at ‘Executioners Drop’, also in Belanglo. The courses were very tough and the bush was very thick, almost unrunnable. Everyone put their best effort in for the courses set, but were certainly exhausted on the way home. Many fell asleep on the bus - even Nick came close and he was driving the bus!! Very special thanks should go out to Nick, Hilary, Robbie and Roch who made the camp as enjoyable and successful as it was. It was greatly appreciated by all who attended, and what was learned is certain to be put to good use.
