LETTERS

The Australian Orienteer welcomes letters. Preference will be given to letters which are concise and which make positive points. The editor reserves the right to edit letters, particularly ones which are longer than 300 words.

Not Elite

A lady called Sally from Townsville (Letters – AO-Dec’07, p30), who is a youngster of 65, would like some ideas about enjoying Orienteering. Firstly, it is not a speed event in spite of all the pictures of darting youngsters. It is a sport of dealing with the natural environment and that includes humans who make maps and set courses. If you want something to be competitive about, be competitive about your minutes-per-kilometre, but it is not important. Each Orienteering environment differs but they can be easily classed into different grades, and the Elites are given some of the hardest possible grades, sometimes too hard for any enjoyment, like being on a never-ending treadmill in a cyclone, level 4. Fortunately, ladies at W65 are given some of the less unpleasant grades of experience and their main problem is being over-ambitious, making mistakes and becoming ‘Grumpy Old Women’ and sitting on handy rocks. I have been orienteering now since Year Dot, plus a couple, in Victoria, as car rally navigating was becoming too elite oriented and like the treadmill in the level 4 cyclone, and though I was no runner I used to do well through what I call navigational skill. This is not running along bearings although that is easy enough in some places, nor aiming off which wastes energy if it is too much to one side. I am skilled in finding what is called, by kangaroos I suppose (although they cannot say much), the natural travel lines. These take the most easy way through the bush for moderate to high speed bounding, and on steep country with lots of rocks wallabies do the same job. I read the contours very carefully, and many are not all that accurate in width, but modification by looking is straightforward. If it is a wider contour than mapped it is evident from vegetation in gullies and often differences on spurs and ridges. As a spare time activity, instead of running in half marathons, take a mathematics grid book with 5mm squares, a pencil and a sharpener with a rubber, take an ordinary common rectangular base compass and map some nearby wild country such as an empty house block or, better still, some unruined bushland. It needs only small trees and some teeny weeny plants. Map on bearings and take paces. An easy scale is one single pace = 1mm. Triangulate to locate objects, which is a frustrating process to the less than very careful. Check and double check. After a couple of hours you may have mapped 10 square metres and located all the special plants which you must decide whether to include. This alone will make you more aware of being finicky and is not very physically tiring. In time you will become better with bigger areas and take a double pace which is easy to make 1.25m which relates readily to the usual map scales. You will have become a great deal more observant and can see more things readily than just orange & white cubes. As you age the map will become harder to see clearly and although the circle may be in the right place one has to work out what the feature is like on the ground. This gives opportunities to read the course setter’s mind and other control sites may give indications whether he likes hiding markers in slots or whether he thinks that route choice is the challenge. Although I am M80, and not on the ‘going-to-distant-events’ rigmarole, I orienteer most weeks on 4.6km hard courses. Sometimes they are made extra hard to find (with contours only), or a reduced scale, or both, which makes seeing things difficult. So, Young Sally, one does not have to wear coloured clothes and headbands and run like a gazelle to enjoy Orienteering. It is supposed to be a sport for all ages, once they can read. I have not been to a State Event since 1992. I had been headhunted by a Bendigo member as I lived nearby. Since then the competition in my age group comes to Bendigo local events, and I generally go to all of them, although I am not a Sprint addict. When Victorian runners in my age group see me they start to run faster. And during the World Masters in 2002 M75s chugged along near me, comparing route choice no doubt. In our events we are on the same legs in all age groups so I can see runners going elsewhere, which is common. They use their eyes to see markers, not the country. I did go in a State Relay (Mixed – 3.5km). All the other old fogies went in short legs – actually W45. We came 3rd (I was headhunted for that too). I have been ‘carbon friendly’ now for 16 years – it is less expensive too.

Ian Johnson (Bendigo, VIC)

VICTORINOX AWARD

The Victorinox Award goes to Ian Johnson of Bendigo Orienteers for his informative letter of advice to older orienteers. Ian will receive a Victorinox Voyager with 20 tools and features including a watch/alarm/timer; retail value $109.95.

Promoting Bush Orienteering

My profile in Australian orienteering – and Victorian for that matter - is not very high, but Bush Orienteering in Bendigo (Vic) has been my passion for over 33 years. I would like to comment on Ben Rattray’s article about a Newcomer pathway, in the March 2008 edition of The Australian Orienteer. With Park-Street rapidly taking on the public face of Orienteering, Bush Orienteering seems to be doing it hard in the big cities. I would like to share with you what Bendigo Orienteers are doing to attract, and hopefully keep, more people in the sport. Interestingly enough, what we are doing in Bendigo bears an uncanny resemblance to the thoughts put forward by Gareth Candy, as quoted by Ben in his article. As a backdrop to what I am about to say, I will briefly touch on the general O scene here. Bendigo is a city of approximately 100,000 people situated in Central Victoria, 160 kilometres north of Melbourne. We are a strong club, approximately 60 membership units, founded in 1977. We run a winter program of approximately 35 Bush Orienteering events between March and October, and a small Street-O program in the summer months. About six months ago a small group of club members embarked on a program to increase participation in Bush Orienteering in our region. It wasn’t glamorous or high tech – two Newcomer Series of 3 events each with courses specifically aimed at people who have never orienteered before, friendly maps, interesting terrain. The second series was timed to connect with the first event in our 35 event Local Event Series for 2008. We tweaked the entry procedure for our events to make them more friendly and welcoming for Newcomers. As well, at all our events there is an obvious, well signed reporting place for Newcomers, and easily recognisable Newcomer helpers (look for the orange hats!) -- a team of mentors who provide whatever assistance is requested both before and after the run. It is maybe a little too early to start boasting about our results but, from the exercise so far we have a mailing list for our ‘Newcomers Update’ (published monthly), of 30 names (a lot of these are families, each including two or three children), and approximately 15 people from the Newcomers Series have attended each of the first two events in our Local Series. Whatever numbers we attract however, won’t be final because it is intended that our Local Event Series will become, in effect, an ongoing promotion of the sport. Because we have events almost every week during Autumn/Winter/Spring, we can offer a continuing series to the Newcomer. Of course it’s never that simple – there is a lot more work to be done yet. We will develop features within our event series to keep these people interested and coming back -- and we must continue to attract more Newcomers. But we have taken the first and, I believe, the most difficult step. There are many factors in the capital cities presently working against participation in Bush Orienteering: high fuel prices, areas that were originally forest close to town being transformed into housing estates, increasingly easy access to other sports, to name a few. Coupled with this, it is my view that the desire to go out into the bush that once burned so brightly in orienteering clubs based in the capital cities, seems to have been watered down by the distractions of Park-Street Orienteering. Given these circumstances then, I personally believe that the best place to seriously promote Bush Orienteering is in the provincial cities. Access to the bush is so much easier, there are far more Bush-O events, media promotion is more accessible and cheaper, the general public is more reachable. Fine, let the city clubs look after their two or three Bush-O events each year, as is happening now, but for the promotion of consistent, high quality orienteering on bush maps – go bush. Bendigo, certainly not the biggest club in Victoria (but arguably the best!), is developing a pathway for Newcomers to grow into Orienteering. What are other clubs in regional areas in Australia doing -- in other countries, New Zealand, Britain, USA? Are they promoting the sport – by what means -- is what they are doing working? To those who really want to see Bush Orienteering assume the status it deserves in Australia, I suggest that we stop sitting here gazing at our own navels. Let’s look at other people’s navels, let’s talk about it, let’s exchange ideas and start seeking new directions for the promotion of Bush Orienteering.

Peter J. Creely, (Bendigo, VIC) luddcreely@aapt.net.au

State of O Origin

The National Orienteering League races achieve their main goal of providing intense competition for elite competitors. However I would like to see a rule brought in whereby elite orienteers run for their State of origin, defined in this case as the State where they initially learnt their orienteering and first represented in interstate events. Young orienteers tend to be a mobile lot, often moving States, lured by better orienteering terrain or competition; for university or employment. Their “State of origin,” which carefully nurtured and coached these as up-and-coming juniors, spending much time, energy and development money on them, rightly feels a little cheated when they pull on another coloured O suit. State-of-origin would create a fairer playing field for the “outer States,” which are already disadvantaged by the tyranny of distance. Elites could still belong to a club in their “State of residence,” and put back into the sport via event organisation, coaching and administration there. For example, the South Australian team, the Southern Arrows, over the last two years has been quite competitive due to “emigrated” orienteers such as Reuben Smith, Zoe Radford (2007) and Ben and Kerrin Rattray choosing to run for their State of origin. In contrast no elite orienteer has ever chosen to move to SA, thus the need for “State of O origin.”

Kay Haarsma (Sth Australia)

Southern Arrows’ Simon Uppill and Kerrin Rattray after their close 1, 2 finish at Easter.

Need for new areas

The Victorian and ACT National Orienteering League races this year were all run on areas well known by many of the competing orienteers, and especially those of the host States. While putting our best orienteers together on any area will provide good competition, putting them on unknown areas and maps (like often when they race overseas) will provide quite a different and more pressurised competitive environment. Having run on, and to a lesser extent, prestudied existing maps, takes away the fear / nervousness of the unknown. I believe that at least one map per National Orienteering League round should be on a new area. (I can see the technical officers from each State getting aggro, but please read on.) The use of SI sticks allows smaller areas to be utilised for Sprint, Middle Distance and loop style races, so large tracts of virgin O areas aren’t needed. A new (although perhaps a less technical area), will provide a different and beneficial stimulus for our elites. Also will be appreciated by the rest of the orienteering population too.

Kay Haarsma (Sth Australia)

Nordic Walking Poles

Well done on a very readable and interesting magazine – the last one I thought one of the best ever and not just because you featured the Nordic Walking Poles! It was one of life’s little coincidences that I had been an enthusiastic consumer of the free lessons provided at the Swiss O Week and had decided to buy a set of poles the very day before my accident. I am still a great fan of the poles, but thought it worth your readers knowing that there are techniques to using the poles most effectively, both in terms of them assisting with stability and also providing an effective workout. For example, I do remember from my week’s worth of lessons that the poles should not usually touch the ground in front of the body, but should be held at an angle of about 45 degrees to the ground and thus hit the ground beside the body. The arms are generally held fairly straight. The technique is then to push off from the pole thus exercising the triceps and shoulder extensors and adding to the upper body workout. There is also an optimal length of pole to suit the individual and the terrain. Whilst I’m sure it takes time to become expert with them, I was impressed how quickly one was able to master some basic techniques with just a little enthusiastic coaching and practice. Thanks again for a great magazine.

Lisa Lampe (Uringa, NSW)

Bob Mouatt’s vision

It is interesting that Bob Mouatt pursued a vision of

Orienteering as a big-money glamour sport. For myself I must admit that I am not sorry that he retires from his presidency with “considerable regrets about not achieving my goals” (The Australian Orienteer, March’08, p14). Perhaps now it is time for a rather different vision of the future. In a long-ago life I pursued elite rowing in an environment where we paid our own way or we did not go. That seemed fine to me at the time, it was only sport after all. As a mature aged competitor today I am involved in Orienteering for recreation. I do some maps, some event and club management, and some participation - all at my own expense, and that is still fine, it is still only sport after all. That Bob failed to turn an enjoyable recreational activity into a commercial entertainment business does not distress me at all. While some sporting codes are heavily oriented toward commercial entertainment and are very lucrative at that, it does not follow that Orienteering should also go that way. There is another possible future in which Orienteering has a low profile and is simply enjoyed by participants who organise themselves, who learn to do things very efficiently and who cover their own costs. More importantly, it is to be hoped that Orienteering administrators and participants are able to clearly discriminate the need we all have for recreation activity which is focussed toward our own personal ‘re-creation’ and does not become confused with our more important life-goals and purpose. In this context we need re-creation so that we are better able to pursue those more important goals. Those few who see their life purpose in providing entertainment through elite sports performance might do well first to choose some other sport which was more entertaining to watch. For the rest of us, recreation can be well achieved without reaching any of the objectives of our former President. It is all a matter of priorities, and clearly mine are very different from Bob’s. I wonder which of us is more representative of the wider membership.

Peter Hoban (EVOC-Tas)

Ed: Many orienteers I know would consider competing in their sport to be one of their most important life goals.

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 .

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