DEVELOPMENT
Esk Valley Orienteering Club wins Minister’s Award for Excellence
T
ASMANIA’S Esk Valley Orienteering Club recently received recognition for its primary sport Orienteering program as the recipient of the Minister’s Award for Excellence at the Tasmanian Sports Awards held at Wrest Point in Hobart on March 13. The program is a partnership between the Launceston State School Sports Association, a group of mainly physical education and classroom teachers responsible for a Friday afternoon primary school sport program which includes basketball, super 8 cricket, softball etc, and Esk Valley Orienteering Club members. Initiated in 2003, ten schools participated in 2008, involving a total of up to Mike Dowling, Miriam Whittington, Valerie Brammall and John Brammall at awards night. 250 students each week in a series in Launceston parks and reserves over a ten week period. The real improvement had been seen in the attitude to the In accepting the award as both the President of EVOC sport. Initially teachers chose students who didn’t fit the and a key organiser of the program, together with Valerie mould for the other sports on offer, the not-so-fit or turnedBrammall and the secretary of the LSSSA Justin Cudmore, on by sport. Now the students were asking to be selected John Brammall recognised that the nature of Orienteering for Orienteering and teachers in some instances weren’t able events, requiring course planning, setting up and collection of to bring all who wanted to participate. And for the first time, controls, maintenance of maps etc, was beyond what could following an incentive scheme and a talent identification be expected of teachers in the time available for conducting recognition initiated during the 2008 program, an influx of such an event. students from the LSSSA series have appeared with their He explained that the successful partnership between the families at the introductory club events in the new year midteachers and the club was responsible for the development of week program run by the club. childrens’ skills and their enjoyment of the program. On the one hand there was the technical expertise and ongoing professional development through weekly updates to the teachers by the club’s coordinator of the program, Valerie Brammall and, on the other, the instruction and management of the children by the teachers. In addition a number of regular volunteers from the club assisted the children out on the courses and the increasing knowledge and enthusiasm of the teachers contributed to the success.
32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009
The club was represented at the Sports Awards dinner by John and Valerie Brammall and two of the more long-term volunteers assisting with the program, Peter Hoban and Ken Saunders. Also attending were the president of the LSSSA Malcolm Hales and co-ordinator Justin Cudmore and past and present presidents of Orienteering Tasmania, Miriam Whittington and Mike Dowling. Mike relished the opportunity to celebrate the winning of the award as his first official duty as President.
