The Australian Orienteer – March 2017

M A RC H 2 0 17

Sporting Schools Venice by Night RRP $8.50 inc GST

2017

Round 1

2

3

Event

Date

Location

1. Middle Distance

11 March

Pittwater, Hobart, TAS

2. Long Distance

12 March

Pittwater, Hobart, TAS

3. Sprint

25 March

Canberra, ACT

4. Middle Distance

26 March

Canberra, ACT

5. Sprint

14-17 April

Oceania Championships Auckland, NZ

6. Long Distance 7. Middle Distance 4

8. Middle Distance

10-12 June

Australian 3-Days Wagga Wagga, NSW

9. Long Distance 10. Sprint 5

6

11. Ultra-Long Distance

26 August

Canberra, ACT

12. Sprint

27 August

Canberra, ACT

13. Sprint – WRE

23 September –

Australian Championships

1 October

Bathurst/Hill End, NSW

14. Relay 15. Middle Distance – WRE 16. Long Distance – WRE

WRE = World Ranking Event

All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

The President’s Page Blair Trewin

A

nother Orienteering year has started and there is a lot to look forward to, both in Australia and on the other side of the Tasman (and I’m not just talking about a time of the year when there are fewer grass seeds and spider webs). Some of you will be keenly anticipating the events in New Zealand over Easter, whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the dunes or making the trip across the ditch for the first time, but there is also a lot on offer at home. A larger-than-usual proportion of that is happening in New South Wales, with first the Australian 3-Days in and around Wagga in June – a nice part of the world to orienteer – then our chance to find out what NSW goldmining terrain looks like, when the Australian Championships week comes to Hill End in September.

Summer is a time of year when a lot of the orienteering which takes place is in the parks and streets of Australia. (After waxing lyrical about the Sydney Summer Series last time, I had my first taste of one of their events in person in December). It’s also a time of year when a lot of training happens. Supporting this for a while now has been the work of the numerous overseas athletes who have come over here in recent summers as coaching scholars.

Some excellent work is being done here – South Australia has seen some particularly creative work done – which should be to the considerable benefit of our local athletes, both young and not-so-young. The various national squads have also been busy, with a camp amongst all the runners at Falls Creek in early January, generating photos and reports to make the rest of us envious.

Orienteering Australia’s annual conference took place in early December. There wasn’t a lot of revolution (yet), but we’re continuing the process of looking at what structures will best support us in growing Orienteering into the future, and what roles OA, the States and clubs would play in that. One of the challenges we face is now that we are, in effect, no longer eligible for government high performance funding as a non-Olympic sport, we have a fairly substantial financial hole to plug. We’ve made some progress towards this but will need to do more. Part of this will involve national team members being expected to raise a higher proportion of their funds themselves, so if you see one of your State’s WOC or JWOC team members running a fundraiser of some description, they would appreciate your support. For those of you who would like to contribute more directly and get a tax write-off at the same time, the Australian Sports Foundation provides a vehicle for donations, as described in an article elsewhere in this edition.

We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to get Orienteering in the spotlight. Last year our engagement with World Orienteering Day was a bit limited (despite some great work done in the ACT) because a clash with Naplan testing made it hard to organise school events, but this year it’s a couple of weeks later – on 24th May – and we’re hoping that all States will be able to get on board.

Finally, this edition marks the launch of the digital edition of The Australian Orienteer. Whether you’re reading this on paper or on a screen, this marks a new step in our communications.

For now the digital edition is a straightforward copy of the paper edition, but in the future we hope to explore more of the possibilities that online publishing gives us.

Brisbane

Brisbane

Hill End

Sofala

Orange Melbourne

Blayney Canberra Melbourne

Bathurst event centre

Lithgow

Sydney

Lyndhurst

www.onsw.asn.au/ozchamps2017 The Aus O Carnival including the Bathurst 3 day has something for everyone, even those who are not a champion like me. There’s also so many other things to do, such as goldmining history, arts trails, car museums, adventure playgrounds, food, wine..

Sat 23 Sept Sun 24 Sept Tue 26 Sept Wed 27 Sept Thu 28 Sept Sat 30 Sept Sun 1 Oct

I should probably book accommodation soon, because the car races fill the town early. Or maybe I’ll save money and get cheap lodging at the private Tent Town. There’s even a tent and bedding if I forget to bring my own!

Australian Sprint Champs Australian Middle Distance Champs Australian Schools Champs & Bathurst 1 Australian Schools Sprints & Bathurst 2 Australian Schools Relays & Bathurst 3 Australian Long Distance Champs Australian Relay Champs MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3

Winning PartnershiP

The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, supports and invests in sport at all levels in Australia.

Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.

AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with the Australian Sports Commission to develop its sport in Australia.

www.ausport.gov.au

w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u Orienteering Australia PO Box 284 Mitchell ACT 2911 President Blair Trewin Director High Performance Lance Read Director Finance Bruce Bowen Director Technical Jenny Casanova Director Special Projects Robert Spry Director Media & Communications Craig Feuerherdt Director International (IOF Council) Mike Dowling Executive Officer John Harding National MTBO Coordinator Kay Haarsma OA Head Coach Jim Russell Badge Applications John Oliver High Performance Administrator Ian Prosser Manager Coach Development Barbara Hill National Sporting Schools Coordinator Jim Mackay Coach & Controller Accreditation Jim Mackay

orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 oa_president@netspeed.com.au lancer@hillbrook.qld.edu.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6288 8501 orienteering@netspeed.com.au m: 0427 605 167 rbspry@gmail.com craigfeuerherdt@gmail.com 0438 050 074 oa_international@netspeed.com.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0490 048 031 kayhaarsma@hotmail.com 08 8337 0522 headcoach@orienteering.asn.au 0411 125 178 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650 ian.prosser11@gmail.com 0439 668 151 barbara@boldhorizons.com.au 0418 270 476 sportingschools@orienteering.asn.au 0407 467 345 sportingschools@orienteering.asn.au 0407 467 345

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Secretary: David Firman secretary@oq.asn.au Orienteering NSW: PO Box 3379 North Strathfield NSW 2137. Admin Officer: John Murray, Ph. (02) 8736 1252 admin@onsw.asn.au Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402 Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Secretary: Phil Walker, Ph. (02) 6162 3422 office@act.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Victoria: PO Box 1010 Templestowe VIC 3106. Secretary: Carl Dalheim, voa@netspace.net.au Orienteering SA: State Association House 105 King William St Kent Town SA 5067. Sec: Erica Diment (08) 8379 2914 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6094. Secretary: Daisy McCauley oawa.secretary@gmail.com Orienteering Tasmania: PO Box 339 Sandy Bay TAS 7005. Secretary: Peter Cusick secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Susanne Casanova topendorienteersNT@gmail.com

NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE

April 14. Time-sensitive: April 21

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 1/17 (no. 185) MARCH 2017

The national magazine of Orienteering Australia Inc. ABN 77 406 995 497 Published four times a year: First day of March, June, September, December. Print Post Approved PP 236080/00011 Editor: Michael Hubbert, P.O. Box 165, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113 mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au Phone (03) 9844 4878 Magazine Design & Assembly: Peter Cusworth, Ph. 0409 797 023 pcusworth53@gmail.com Magazine Treasurer: Bruce Bowen Printer: Ferntree Print, 1154 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully.

Contribution deadline: April 14; Time-sensitive – April 21.

Deadline dates for contributions are the latest we can accept copy.

Publication is normally planned for the 1st of March, June, September & December. Copies are dispatched in bulk to State associations in the week prior to that date.

Regular Contributors: Competition – Blair Trewin; High Performance – Lance Read; MTBO – Kay Haarsma; Official News – John Harding; Training – Steve Bird.

Contributions welcome, either directly or via State editorial contacts.

Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions.

Guidelines available from the editor or from state contacts.

State Editorial Contacts QLD: Liz Bourne – batmaps.liz@gmail.com NSW: Ian Jessup – marketing@onsw.asn.au ACT: John Scown – scown@light.net.au SA: Erica Diment – diment@adam.com.au – tel (ah) 8379 2914 VIC, WA and TAS – vacant Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: Write to The Australian Orienteer, PO‑Box 165, Warrandyte, Vic. 3113. Within Australia: $40 pa. Overseas: Asia/Pacific (inc. NZ) $A49, Rest of World $A58 pa.

Delivery is airmail, there is no seamail option. Please send payment in Australian dollars by bank draft or international postal order, or pay direct

by Visa or Mastercard. Quote full card number and expiry date.

Subscription renewals (direct subscriptions only). The number in the top right-hand corner of the address label indicates the final issue in your current subscription.

Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.

CONTENTS T H E P R E S I D E N T ’ S P A G E.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 S P O R T I N G S C H O O L S U P DAT E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 BRINGING ORIENTEERING TO SCHOOLS......... 9 O R I E N T E E R I N G I N J A P A N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 M U L T I L E V E L O R I E N T E E R I N G.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 VENICE BY NIGHT.................................. 22 AUS 3 DAYS......................................... 26 S P O T T H E D I F F E R E N C E .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 HUGH CAMERON.................................... 30 AUSSIEOGEAR COMPETITION.................... 31 ORIENTEERING WITHOUT LIMITS............... 32 M T B O N E W S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5 COURSES FOR OLDER ORIENTEERS............. 36 LiDAR MAPPING.................................... 40 N U T R I T I O N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 O - S P Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6 TOP EVENTS......................................... 47 Cover photo: Tara Melhuish (ACT) at the 2016 AUS Middle Distance Championships. Photo: Ingrid Baade.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

Tax deductible donations to support Orienteering in Australia John Harding and Ian Prosser

O

rienteering Australia is seeking the support of the Orienteering community in following the lead of many other sports in fund raising using tax deductible donations through the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF).

Specifically we have the following fundraising targets for 2017: • $10,000 for the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) team (Foot); • $10,000 for the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) team (Foot); • $10,000 for the MTBO WOC and JWOC team; • $10,000 for the High Performance Program overall. In particular camps, uniforms and technical, travel and admin support for national squads (Talent ID, Junior Development, Bushrangers).

The ASF used to have a clunky paper-based system for donations until a couple of years ago, with donation forms mailed to OA and receipts for donations posted. Now there is a much more user-friendly online system for Orienteering donations on the ASF website at https://asf.org.au/ourprojects/# Not only that but the options for donating have greatly expanded: • You can go directly to the ASF donation link on the OA website at http://orienteering.asn.au/index.php/ donations/ • You can go directly to the donations page on the ASF website and type in Orienteering as the sport https://asf. org.au/ • You will be asked if you wish to donate when you enter a major Orienteering carnival in 2017, in particular the AUS 3 Days in June and the Australian Championships Carnival in September.

• You can organise a fund raising dinner or other fund raising event and keep the entry fee low but covering costs (this is not tax deductible) and add a donation item which is tax deductible. The organiser of the fund raising event collects information for all of the donors and donations on an EXCEL spreadsheet and provides the spreadsheet and total donation to the ASF which loads it in their system which automatically emails receipts. Such fund raising can be of the crowd funding type, such as Movember or Biggest Morning Tea. • The ASF understands that a particular club and State association may want to make a big fund raising effort for a particular member who, for example, is in the WOC team. It is now possible for the ASF to set up an ASF donations page for that person, providing OA signs off on it and providing at least $500 will be raised, and providing Tax Office rules are followed.

• A company or an individual may donate goods such as a car to be raffled, or property. The ASF must do a valuation at market value and charges 5% processing plus GST, and must provide documentation to the Tax Office which issues a Certificate.

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

• The largest donation OA has received to date was over $20,000 for mapping development projects in Australia.

To facilitate this, an ASF mapping donation page was set up. This project is going to have major long term benefits for Orienteering mapping in Australia.

• If an Orienteering club or State association wanted to raise funds for a local project such as a new equipment shed or trailer, or a defibrillator, it can set up an ASF taxdeductible donations page for this purpose, and have a donations question in the club membership form.

Why are we trying to raise $40,000?

What are the benefits of the high performance program?

It is often misunderstood as a very elite program that just supports the top few athletes who compete at the World Championships. In actual fact the program provides competition and training structure for about 100 athletes.

It is based around a 5-stage pathway, starting with keen juniors of 16 years age and helping them all the way through to when they finish competing in M/W21E.

Why we now need donations?

ASC high performance funding of non-Olympic sports has ceased and sports such as Orienteering need to community fund raise as there is little corporate support available. For example, members of the Australian team at the 2017 Junior World Championships will be paying about $3000 each to attend the Championships in Finland, mainly for airfares and the pre-JWOC training camp.

Orienteering Australia pays about $1500 per athlete for the JWOC week itself. If team members had to pay the full costs this would make it prohibitive for many families and it would especially discriminate against any athlete who is not able to get family support for a range of reasons.

The coaches and managers of Australian teams are also voluntary positions, just being reimbursed for their travel costs, so it is hard to save any further costs for the teams.

Longer term benefits.

The athletes who have been supported by the high performance program tend to stay in the sport after they retire from elite competition. If you look at the National and State boards, course setters, controllers and coaches in the sport you will see many retired elites now volunteering their time and expertise to support Australian Orienteering, even the OA President. Their children also take up the sport and looking through the names of the younger juniors you will find many familiar surnames from past elites. This year for the first time we saw a mother and son, Natasha and Aston Key, represent Australia in the same year at WOC and JWOC respectively.

There is also a major benefit in attracting new young people to the sport. The National Orienteering League and elite categories at National Championships are part of the program. These events and the coverage given to the elites in local print and electronic media and in social media inspire younger athletes to try the sport and keep in the sport.

So far, WOD events announced in Australia are: Queensland: Enoggeroos (Brisbane); Range Runners OC (Toowoomba).

New South Wales: Garingal (Milsons Point).

ACT: Remembrance Park; Mt Ainslie North (twice); Radford College; Campbell Primary School.

THINK GLOBALLY - ACT LOCALLY WORLD ORIENTEERING DAY – May 24th IOF President, Leho Haldna: “The success of this great achievement is ours to share. World Orienteering Day is an International Orienteering Federation project lead by the Regional and Youth Development Commission.

West Australia: Albany & Denmark Hinterland OC (Albany).

You need to register your WOD event on Eventor, and also on the WOD website at http://worldorienteeringday.com/index. php/auth – after your event you will be asked to report the number of participants on the WOD website.

The global reach of the World Orienteering Day project has made it a powerful marketing tool for Orienteering globally.

Orienteering is not known as a mass-sport outside Northern Europe, and World Orienteering Day helps us to be seen in all parts of the world. Our World Orienteering Day activities are well aligned with the key objective of IOC Olympic Agenda 2020: engaging youth through sport.

I invite all volunteers and activists in Orienteering to support World Orienteering Day 2017 by organising events near their home. All events, even the smallest ones, are extremely valuable to reach our target: a continued global success. It does not matter if your WOD event takes part in a school yard, your neighbourhood, a park or a forest. You can even organize an Orienteering event in a shopping mall or using the map of the public transport system. Central is: Your WOD activity needs to involve orienteering skills!”

The Australian WOC JWOC and MTBO teams outfitted by Trimtex

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

SCHOOLS

Sporting Schools update: John Harding – Orienteering Australia

I

n 2016 Sporting Schools Orienteering lessons funded by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Sporting Schools Program (SSP) were delivered to almost 11,000 primary schoolchildren in 142 schools around Australia. To put this in context, the ASC funded 5,216 primary schools to run SSP lessons for 32 sports.

The average funding is around $1,700 per term for a school to run SSP coaching in two sports, and a minimum of four lessons must normally be provided.

The SSP goal of these lessons is to “deliver a quality Sporting Schools experience using nationally endorsed products supported

by NSO-endorsed coaches that can also support your school’s curriculum”. The OK-GO set of 7 orienteering lessons developed

by Orienteering NSW is supplemented by a one day Department of Education sponsored professional learning course for teachers.

The kit and course were produced to school curriculum standards and endorsed by the NSW Department of Education as meeting curriculum and teacher Professional Development qualification standards. The kit is designed so that teachers with very little Orienteering experience can deliver an authentic and progressive Orienteering program. At the end of 7 lessons, a group of children undergoing the program have the skills to do introductory level line and score courses on their own. OK-GO is used in some States to teach SSP Orienteering but not others. A goal of the ASC and OA is to ensure that non OK-GO lessons meet curriculum standards for delivery by teachers and that these lessons are included on the relevant SSP, OA and State Association websites as OA-endorsed lessons. This is particularly important not just in meeting ASC standards but because State Associations will never have enough qualified Level 0 coaches to run SSP Orienteering for hundreds of schools around Australia; hence they need to conduct accredited Level 0 coach Professional Development courses for teachers to provide the lessons in their schools, with the lesson plan course material meeting Education Department standards. The ASC has advised that engagement with the schools sector to integrate SSP lessons into the day-to-day primary schools curriculum is a major priority.

Sporting Schools Orienteering – 2016 State NSW by ONSW

Schools

Participants

Participations

42

3,347

17,992

7

798

4,144

Total NSW

49

4,145

22,136

ACT

13

1,548

6,921

Victoria

30

2,101

6,451

Queensland

23

970

6,868

South Australia

9

615

2,500

West Australia

6

275

950

Tasmania

12

1,244

4,779

Northern Territory

----

----

----

Total - Australia

142

10,898

50,605

NSW by OACT

Source: ASC and OA. 8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

In addition to the 142 schools and almost 11,000 students for which SSP Orienteering was delivered in 2016, a major benefit for the sport was that an estimated 150 new level 0 coaches were trained and over 120 new maps of primary schools were produced. We want to get these new coaches in the communications loop and build a strong coaching base from which to train increased numbers of level 1 and level 2 coaches over time. The considerable increase in numbers of primary school maps will provide new opportunities for Sprint events, especially when maps of primary and secondary campuses can be linked.

Of the 32 SSP sports, athletics is reportedly the most popular and Orienteering among the least in terms of the numbers of schools engaged. This is not just because Orienteering is a smaller sport but because: • many of the schools interested in Orienteering which have approached us are small bush schools which are just too far away to provide a mapper or a coach; • Orienteering of its nature has increased costs not experienced by sports which have ovals, footy fields and indoor facilities already provided. The extra costs included mapping, planning control sites for lessons, and the extra time it takes to put out and bring in control flags; • Orienteering does not have a big workforce of paid or voluntary coaches available to run Orienteering lessons in primary schools to an unlimited number of schools.

A huge benefit of the ASC funding has been that many schools, particularly in less advantaged areas, that may have been interested in Orienteering prior to 2015 simply did not have the money to pay for mapping and lessons then, but do now. The ASC, to its credit, during 2015 and 2016, also provided major amounts of administration support funding to assist in getting SSP Orienteering off the ground. This is being significantly reduced in 2017 in the expectation that each State operate a business model of recovering the admin cost through user charging schools for mapping, coaching and teacher Professional Development training. The 2016 OA Conference considered whether to continue to be part of the program on this basis, and decided to do so.

However, the Conference also decided that the main Sporting Schools strategic priority will be inclusion in the high schools Sporting Schools Orienteering program when that is rolled out by the ASC. It was an election commitment by the government to expand the SSP to years 7 and 8 in high schools in the future.

The ASC has advised that Orienteering will not be included in a high schools program until it is fully prepared to deliver an effective program. The main requirements will be to develop a set of Education Department standard lesson plans for years 7 and 8, pilot test and refine them, have agreement from all States to use them, and train a coaching workforce to deliver them. Barbara Hill, the OA Manager of Coach Development, has been tasked with managing this action plan during 2017 and 2018. Barbara is also producing a new Level 1 coaching manual and will be working with State coaching directors on coaching development throughout Australia.

Bringing Orienteering to Schools SC-ORE in ACT – The Final event for 2016 David Poland (ACT)

Whilst heavy clouds to the west unsettled the organisers, nothing was going to stop the ultimate Spring 2016 SC-ORE Inter School Orienteering Challenge! Parents and children were out in force as the heavy clouds gave way to a beautiful Spring morning on this the fourth and final Thursday in this popular before-school mini series. Top placings were going to be fiercely competitive. Every team member’s score would count !

T

he action began at 8am with a mass start of 25 girls. A split first control meant the challenge was to orientate your map accurately and head off in exactly the correct angle – a mathematical equation at high speed !

SC-ORE follows the format of the World Orienteering Championships Team Relay – Girl, Boy, Boy, Girl - to provide challenging courses safely within the confines of a different primary school each week with all runners keeping their wits about them as they dart here and there, eager for “full speed, no mistakes”. 96 children gave it their all over the 4 weeks with the thrill of the chase continuing to dominate right through to the end.

Initiated on a voluntary basis by Toni Brown in March 2015 SC-ORE has become a popular part of the ACT school orienteering calendar and it is hoped that, with funding, it can continue twice a year

on Thursday mornings before school in March and November before eventually becoming a self-sufficient, self-funding regular event.

Based on a Swedish model “SkolSprinten” (byorienteering.se) developed

by Göran Anderson, SC-ORE is a perfect “starter pack” providing that keenly sought bridge between the Sporting Schools program and community events.

Preliminary analysis has shown a high (see Box #1) conversion rate approx 100 times higher than that of the Sporting Schools programme alone. But the two programs work hand in hand. One stimulates interest and the other solidifies it.

The secrets of the success of SC-ORE are multi factorial (see Box #2). Importantly it is just one part of a comprehensive Development Pathway that includes school activities, junior intro and parent coaching sessions. It has been managed

and promoted in a comprehensive and consistent manner over three seasons and is starting to develop a life of its own. Well-timed simple communication is a key. Held at a different primary school grounds before school each week it requires parental involvement. Held before school all events are within 15 minutes drive of each other.

Interestingly, up to half the children have had no Orienteering experience at all. Instead, parents are sent simple instructions to discuss with their children.

This helps with long term engagement.

It could be an ideal model to develop further and then roll out around Australia.

Time poor parents everywhere will grasp local grass roots opportunities for screenfree, educational, yet exciting, action.

I have never seen children have so much fun running.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

SCHOOLS

Box #1 – Uptake rates from Sporting Schools and associated SC-ORE activities

I

t is hard to estimate “conversion” or uptake rates. There are many measures of success (see Box #3) other than simply the number of participants who regularly start attending (say at least six) community events. In the ACT it has been estimated that Sporting Schools activities alone have an uptake rate of 1 per 1,000. It is early days and the sample size is small but preliminary calculations show a surprisingly high uptake rate after SC-ORE activities of 110 per 1,000 (11%). By way of explanation this high rate includes any flow-on effects as siblings and parents take up the sport in addition to the child. This is probably the single most important advantage of SC-ORE as parents become active spectators and are encouraged to learn about the sport and to coach their own children.

Box #3 – Five reasons to teach Orienteering in schools

I

t is always worth questioning why we do something. Why do we support elites to attend world events? Why do we place banners promoting Orienteering on the roadside? Why do we have a national organisation? Why do we use Eventor?

People often ask me about the school Orienteering programs in the ACT. A common question is “How many children “convert” or “uptake” and regularly start attending community events?”. My answer is usually that promotion in schools is important for itself even if NO students end up converting. Here are five reasons: •P ublic relations. If there is one factor that Orienteering in Australia could work on nationally it is its public perception. It is said that prospective customers need to hear about a product from at least SIX different sources before they will purchase. We need to promote Orienteering in as many different venues as possible.

•H ealth Promotion. This generation of children may end up being the first to live a shorter lifespan than their parents. The main reason will be too much screen time and obesity.

•V alidation. Next week when Jack comes to school on Monday and his friend asks him – “Hey, what did you do on the weekend ?” and he replies “I went orienteering on Saturday.” His friend will no longer say “What’s that weird sport?” Instead he will say “Hey that’s cool, I did that at school last week. I play hockey so unfortunately I will never be an orienteer as I don’t have time but yeah Orienteering was fun”. Then Jack feels strong in himself that Orienteering is a cool sport so he keeps orienteering.

The goal of Sporting Schools is to teach children that Orienteering is Fun. I was interested to hear some people suggesting Orienteering Australia should pull out of Sporting Schools. The value of a schools Orienteering program clearly varies from State to State.

Some like Queensland, NSW and Tasmania, for instance, have taken it on in a new, comprehensive and coordinated manner and so, not surprisingly, it is having an impact. Others have changed their modus operandi very little and, not surprisingly, little has changed. In ACT we have concentrated on the SC-ORE program.

The important point is to support those States that are seizing the opportunities.

The federally funded Sporting Schools Program is an opportunity too good to miss. Like most government programs it is unlikely to last long in its current form and we should seize the opportunity whilst it remains. If we don’t then other mainstream sports will (and have).

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

• I nfluencing future decision makers. In 20 years time these schoolchildren will be the bureaucrats deciding if we can have permission to access that public forest or if the government should fund Orienteering.

•F uture parents. In 20 years time these schoolchildren will grow up and have families with kids looking for a sport to play – some of them will choose Orienteering.

CASE STUDY:

ACT School Orienteering Sessions – Statistics SC-ORE and Sporting Schools: 2014 – 810 encounters at 6 schools 2015 – 5,420 encounters at 12 schools 2016 - 14,685 encounters at 31 schools ! (We now visit 28% of all schools in Canberra).

Box #2 – SC-ORE Inter School Orienteering – Key ingredients for success • A Perfect “Starter” Pack. Ideal for raw beginners.

•L ocally based. All events are within a 15min drive of each other.

•S chool safe. Held at a different school each week it provides a “safe challenge”.

•B efore school. Parents provide transport and so become active spectators.

•F our week mini series. By the fourth week most have got the hang of it.

• Mixed boy/girl Relay. Encourages gender equity.

• Exciting & noisy! Children invite their friends to sign up.

•J ust part of a comprehensive State development pathway.

• Promoted via multiple media channels.

•A ll entrants agree to being photographed. This makes publicity easier.

•T he emphasis is on excitement. There is only one class. The course is short, simple and safe. Fast runners can do it in 7 minutes. The whole event is over in 30 minutes.

CASE STUDY:

ACT Cross – Border Outreach Program

E

ach term we are breaking new ground in the ACT. We now venture to country NSW visiting small rural towns. This cross border work has been in cooperation with Orienteering NSW. There is no suggestion that this is going to produce large numbers of new regular participants for Canberra or NSW clubs but as this report by Narelle Nixon shows it is providing excellent community relations. Narelle, a teacher at a small rural school, has never been orienteering before but has now completed a Professional Development Course in Sydney run by Orienteering NSW. “Small Schools Project” - written by Narelle Nixon, the co-ordinating local rural teacher.

Three small NSW schools in the Canberra region - Rugby, Rye Park and Wee Jasper Public Schools - recently took the opportunity to integrate sport into their traditional combined camp at a rural property near Wee Jasper. The camp provided a wonderful setting for 30 Kindergarten to Year 6 students to be introduced to Orienteering. Instructors from Orienteering ACT joined with the students for a day to provide foundational skills of the sport. These skills were then consolidated when the coaches visited each school for a further two days.

Students of all ages enthusiastically learnt about orientation, direction, map interpretation and simple legends. The Orienteering coaches used really cool outdoor teaching techniques to engage all ages and stages - everything from pattern matching and number recognition for the juniors, through to spatial geography and teamwork for the seniors.

In addition to a range of different map types, including customised maps of the individual schools funded from our Sporting Schools grants, the electronic timing systems were a great motivator - the children enjoyed the flash and beep of the “dibbers”, and received individual hard data to compare their navigation expertise.

Comments from staff and students included: “Engaged learning across many areas of the curriculum was a real highlight.” Jeanette Grinham (Teacher Wee Jasper Public School).

“It certainly gives meaning to the term “running for a reason”!” Narelle Nixon (Principal Rugby Public School).

“We were impressed with how versatile the maps could be for activities to be planned around the skills associated with Orienteering.” (Melody Thompson – Principal Rye Park Public School).

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

O IN JAPAN

日本でオリエンテーリング Orienteering in Japan Seb O’Halloran – Australopers, Tasmania

Japan is a country renowned for its conservative culture, impressively fast trains, fat wrestling men, delicious sushi and much more. However, one thing that may have not necessarily come to your mind is Orienteering – and I really can’t blame you. The country itself is not a major ‘podium grabber’ at the international level, and its member count isn’t the largest. However Japan is hiding away a well-kept secret – its impressive terrain.

This was put on show at the 2005 World Championships held in Aichi (Japan), where runners consistently commented on how physical the terrain was, but also the incredible beauty of the maps. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience this terrain for myself.

T

his whole story begins back in January 2016 after returning home from a school exchange in Japan. I was competing at Sprint Canberra when I happen to start talking to an exchange student from Tokyo University, Hiroaki Okamoto. Hiroaki didn’t stand out as a particularly fast runner, but what caught my attention was his incredibly enthusiastic and caring nature. Upon being shown maps from Japan, I was really impressed by the nature of the terrain that was in front of me - I had to experience this for myself. After again being given the fortunate opportunity to travel to Japan, I packed my O-Gear and set off.

I had my sights set on a map roughly two hours north-east of central Tokyo named, 両総用 水 (Ryoso Canal). On first impressions, the map appeared very green compared to the Australian maps I was accustomed to, along with interesting contour patterns. The ground itself is a unique mix of shelves and steep climb, with thick undercover mixed in between. Looking at other maps, including the previous World Championship maps, it was interesting to note the highly physical nature of the terrain - steep contours with LOTS of green.

It made me ponder, why isn’t Japan a stronger country at the international level? There are many contributing factors with the most outstanding being young study-occupied athletes, lack of national 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

funding, and low presence in the local media - just to name a few.

However, the most outstanding thing was the lack of consistent training and events that are on offer. The small community and long traveling distances mean that events are far rarer than in Australia, and as a result, the opportunity for improvement is evidently decreased. It’s interesting to note, however, the strong university sports program that runs alongside Orienteering in Japan. Is this potentially something that could be integrated more

often into the Australian Orienteering program? Its effectiveness in bringing new participants to the sport is definitely showing in Japan.

Unfortunately, winter in Japan is ‘hibernation’ season for orienteers, and therefore events were few-and-far-between - so a group training session ended up being decided on. Japan’s world famous train service means that long distance travel is fairly well priced, and very quick. For a one-way ticket to training, it cost around $20 and lasted for two hours.

It was great to be leaving the snakes and creepy crawlies behind in Australia, however, another animal took it’s place - wild boar. This reality was made even more chilling due to an encounter I had while trail running in the Japanese mountains on New Years Day, the previous year. This ended up being nothing more than a lot of fear for both parties and running on the boar’s part, however, it wasn’t a particularly pleasurable experience.

Upon being given my EMIT card (used throughout Japan), I started my course. At first sight, the terrain immediately reminded me of New Zealand sand dune terrain.

It was similar in the sense that it contains distinct areas of ‘scattered’ knolls, with runnable sections scattered throughout. The only major difference was the amount of undergrowth on the map - very widespread.

Like any new terrain, the aim was to take it slow and not rush the first few controls. I tried to incorporate tracks and then pull off whenever it seemed right to - but this was difficult at times because the vegetation wasn’t as prominent on the map as it appeared in the terrain. Going to the first control showed me that tracks in Japan are mapped far more prominently than how I would perceive it, which did catch me out a few times. It also taught me that white ‘forest’ is almost always covered in some sort of undercover, however not mapped.

The flat section between #6 and #7 instantly took me back to New Zealand, with forestry tracks bordering flat sections of a plantation with sand knolls scattered throughout. #7 to #8 was a really interesting leg when compared to other runners. Personal instinct would have told me that my route was well executed, however taking the right track option around appeared the faster option. This made me think that orienteering in Japan almost has a ‘vegetation knowledge’ component to it as well.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

O IN JAPAN By understanding what sort of vegetation will be in a particular area, you can judge the runnability and route choice. #12 to #13 hit me with two sections of fallen bamboo completely impenetrable, beaten only by creek marsh in St. Helens (Tasmania).

Upon reflection of the course, it was interesting to note the relative simplicity of the navigation and number of short legs. This might say something in itself about how Japan approaches Orienteering and the reason for it’s ‘lack’ of strength at international events. It was interesting to note that underfoot, the terrain was soft on the slopes, but fairly well packed in and runnable on the later sections. The dark green on the map was generally fallen bamboo, which is worse than anything I had every come across.

Japan is also a great country to go to, even for just an overseas trip - the culture is extremely vibrant and people incredibly caring. With the number of foreign tourists in Japan reaching 24.5 million in 2016, the popularity of the country is definitely becoming more apparent. Contrary to popular belief, Japanese people don’t simply eat sushi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Food in Japan is world-famous and for a very good reason. The cheapness to ‘yumminess’ ratio is a food-lovers dream, and the level of attention placed into each and every detail is mindblowing. I strongly recommend getting out to the less ‘touristy’ parts of the big cities, and exploring the little laneways for familyoperated businesses when eating - you won’t be disappointed. If you ever get a chance to visit Hiroshima, I recommend trying the ‘Hiroshima Okonomiyaki’ - a favourite amongst many.

Until recent times, Japanese culture was very much shut off from the outside world. However, after foreign trade commenced and fierce Shogun tensions ceased, this all changed. This relatively short exposure to western society means that the number of traditional structures and activities still operating is pretty phenomenal. Despite it being incredibly moving at first, I highly recommend a trip to the Hiroshima Peace Park & Museum. The following day you can take the local ferry and train service to Miyajima island to see the famed ‘floating’ torii gate. Japanese culture is so well kept for modern times, it is said to be “One of the world’s most preserved, considering the amount of western influence it’s taken on”.

Kyoto Temple.

Paper Cranes.

14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Terrain

Atomic Bomb Dome - Hiroshima.

With the massive boom in home-sharing services, accommodation is becoming ridiculously competitive, and fairly cheap. If you want to get to really know the local culture and have the fun challenge of communicating with residents, AirBNB is your best friend.

If you ever get the opportunity to go to Japan, why not consider entering a local Orienteering event and have a try of the terrain yourself - you won’t regret it. Japanese people are incredibly kind and will do anything to make you feel at home. Feel free to get in contact with me if you want to know any more, I’d love to help.

As they always say, “It truly is amazing where Orienteering can take you ..…”.

Useful Japanese ‘O-Talk’

頑張って！ (Ga-n-ba-te) Do your best!

お疲れ様! (O-tsu-ka-re-sa-ma) Well done for good work! - often said after finishing a run.

1番はだれですか？ (i-chi ba-n wa da-re de-su ka?)

Who’s first? オリエンテーリング (Orienteeringu) Orienteering.

コントロール (Co-n-to-ro-ru) Control (flag). 早い！ (Ha-ya-i) Fast!

オーストラリアからのオリエンテーリング人です。 (O-osu-to-ra-ri-a ka-ra no O-ri-e-n-te-e-ri-n-gu ji-n de-su) I’m an orienteer from Australia.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

INDOOR O

In past editions of this magazine we have brought you courses from the Stockholm Indoor Cup. Now, the concept of multi-level indoor Orienteering has spread to England with the recent running of the York Indoor Cup using a 4-level map of Millthorpe School.

(The event was covered in the December 2016 edition of CompassSport.)

A

s mapper and Controller Steve Whitehead said, it may be difficult to find other suitable schools for future events in England. Here in Australia the probability of obtaining permission for indoor events is likely quite low. But mapping outdoor multi-level structures for inclusion into existing maps is quite another thing.

A number of campus maps used for Sprint events in recent times contain readily accessible outdoor multi-level structures such as car parks, walkways, balconies and flyovers which would make for some quite interesting three dimensional navigation.

All that is needed is to map and present them in a way similar to these indoor maps and to incorporate some creative course planning.

We thank Steve Whitehead, cartographer Oli Johnson, Eborienteers and CompassSport for permission to print the map, photos, and an abridged version of the original article.

Controller Steve Whitehead takes up the narrative: I think I’ve worked out why even good orienteers find this difficult. Having the map orientated and your thumb positioned to show your location are the key skills involved in the sport and indoor O makes both more difficult than usual. If you run Quiet please.. along a corridor and turn down a flight of 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

stairs which doubles back on itself and then you turn around the stairs onto another corridor and turn into the control, what do you do with your map? You have made a right angled turn followed by a 450 degree turn followed by another right angled turn (all in the space of 30 metres) ..... have you turned your map on each occasion? If not, you’ll have to stand still for a while (something top orienteers rarely do and really hate). Not to mention the fact that your thumb, unless you moved it, is now on the wrong map section.

That’s why it’s a challenge and remains a real test of basic skills and concentration throughout the run. The straight-line distance and the direction of the next control are also meaningless and often downright misleading.

So many stairs, so many levels ...... so many options..

A couple of years ago I read a CompassSport article about the Stockholm Indoor Cup. Doing it in Stockholm where everyone knows the sport is one thing, getting permission from a school in England is another; but we’ve used Millthorpe School for club nights for a few years now and done some mapping and coaching for the school in return, so I thought I’d ask. And luckily the manager proved overwhelmingly supportive; brave man!

Of course running round a school is a suppressed dream of every child so my gut instinct was that it would prove popular.

We negotiated a fee and got permission to access pretty much all areas except the head teacher’s study, the school inclusion support department and some offices. We had to marshal three areas: the labs and engineering workshops due to dangerous equipment and the staffrooms due to confidential material. But, of course, marshalling in a comfortable chair while sniggering at people standing still and looking confused is very different from staffing a road crossing in horizontal sleet. The school is heavily used so the only day we could have exclusive use was a Saturday at the end of half term.

I did the map survey in the evenings. It was complex with 4 floors, 45 sets of stairs and 182 internal doorways. My neighbour made 25 wooden door wedges especially for the event !!

When I say 4 floors, there could have been more or less! The school is built on a slope (one of the few in York) and York architects clearly can’t cope with digging out or building up the foundations so they have produced a succession of half floors and corridors that drop a few steps at a time as the school has grown from its origins as a large posh Victorian house built in 1856 complete with stable yard (now the dining hall), to a modern comprehensive school. The scale of 1:750 was the largest we could manage and still get all four floors onto an A3 sheet.

I was interested to see how people’s performances in this event correlated to those they achieved in normal races. They correlate surprisingly well at the top end but not at all lower down the results where the more accurate but slower runners beat their less accurate but faster rivals. Top orienteers are both accurate and fast, I guess. The one consistent theme is how everyone found the Start really difficult. It was at the bottom of some stairs and any move in the correct direction took you off the map ..... and onto the map section of the floor above, of course, but this was not as obvious in the heat of battle as it is sitting in an armchair.

Men’s Open winner Joe Taunton handled it better than most: “The York Indoor Cup was, truth be told, not top of my ‘must do’ races of the season – traditional orienteering being my personal preference. It was nonetheless an intriguing concept – perhaps somewhat similar to Maze-O which I have enjoyed in the past – and I found myself on the start line in York. The prestart brief was much the same as usual, but as I picked up the map I felt both excitement and trepidation – this was a new challenge. Immediately #1 was a mini conundrum as, although it was on the same level as the Start, there was no way to reach it directly. After puzzling for quite a few seconds I worked out that two sets of ‘level-changing’ stairs would take me there safely, which they did; phew!”

The men’s first control was on Floor 0 close to stairs K. Only Jonas Rinnbäck (Stockholm Indoor-O) had a faster first split than Joe. “The map was well done – all the key information was there without unnecessary clutter. The colour coding of the stairs was invaluable and it was clear how the different levels linked together,” commented Joe Taunton, “so my main time losses

Steep descent..

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

INDOOR O

actually came from getting mixed up between multiple criss-crossing overprint lines: on my first visit to the central butterfly control, I couldn’t spot the next control on the map and later in the course, I followed the wrong overprint line.”

Neither the Course Planner nor I had ever competed in an indoor event so it took us a long time to produce consistently challenging courses without too much doubling back or repetition.

We also had lots of good advice from CompassSport and the Nopesport forum. We decided people would want it to be as hard as possible. We made both the Men’s and Women’s courses as long as we could without being too silly, about 2.5km actual distance we think. We used butterfly loops so that the many people who stood confused at the Start for a whole minute couldn’t be followed too far by the person after them before their routes diverged. We decided all ages could do the same course with the butterfly loops creating different control orders.

Ignoring minor turns, the shortest route on the Men’s course has fifty-five right angle turns, thirty-four 180 degree turns, two 270 degree turns and four 360 degree turns. No wonder people got dizzy! A ballet dancer would have had a distinct advantage.

You can count the turns on the Women’s A course for yourself!!

Penny Bickle, who became the first York Indoor Orienteering Women’s champion (the car park duty she did before her run clearly didn’t affect her concentration), writes: “I would like to congratulate the Planner on creating one of the most complicated courses I have ever run! Before we started, the final details provided an example map, which gave clues to how different indoor orienteering would be to other forms. There is no north arrow and the map was oriented to the west. Control descriptions are also missing, with control codes printed next to the control numbers.” (ED:- we’ve left the codes off for simplicity.)

“These factors, together with the lines connecting successive controls, meant that there was a huge amount of information on the map.

When I first picked up the map after starting, it took some time to find where #1 was let alone plan a route there. After the Start, we immediately changed level, which also had a disorienting effect. Once I’d got through #2 and #3, I had developed a strategy

- I’d identify the staircase I needed first and then build the route choice around it. This worked mostly, though I missed a quicker route between #5 and #6. I chose to use staircase A, but a shorter route might have been to use B and C together. I nearly climbed staircase C on the way to #25, but spotted that this was a dead end just in time. With controls on the same floor, I tried to choose

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routes with the fewest changes in direction, for example between #8 and #9 running straight across the bottom of the quad and up its left hand side. Overall, I think that indoor orienteering tests quick thinking, above speed at running.

Once a route is chosen, you have to stick to it. It was a great challenge and I’ll certainly be back next time.”

Penny did well to avoid staircase C on the way to #25 .... two top England internationals told me with glee how they failed this challenge and ended up on the wrong part of floor 2. Her route choice #8 to #9 was also top class. Seconds count!

We hope this will be an annual event ..... though whether or not we’ll find another school that has quite such a complex layout is yet to be seen. As one woman competitor said, “I’m going to dream about stairs tonight”.

Your Editor Michael Hubbert continues:- There are three more course variations from the York Indoor Cup. If you would like to see some of them please let me know and I will include one or two in future editions of this magazine.

At the beginning of this article I suggested that there are several outdoor multi-level structures on some campuses around the country which could be mapped and presented in much the same way as the Europeans treat their indoor areas.

Here’s one I prepared earlier – it shows a section of Deakin University in Melbourne presented as a multi-level map.

A fairly simple structure made more complex by the multi-level map format and just waiting for some creative course planning – four levels are shown but there are actually six levels available to map. And the stairways are much more complex than shown here – many twists and turns and stairs to dream about. Clearly in this case, with such a small area, courses would include other parts of the campus as well. The Deakin campus does have two of these multi-level structures separated by mono-level building complexes, parks and creekland.

Michael Hubbert – Red Kangaroo Orienteers MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21

VENICE O

Venice by Night Peter & Ilze Yeates – Dandenong Ranges OC (VIC)

Those of you who competed in the Sprint event of the 2015 AUS Championships in Ballarat, Victoria, may remember the forlorn figure in the wheelchair who conducted your start. Forlorn for two reasons, one being that I had broken my leg the day before and the other having to tell my wife that the trip to Italy, due to commence in three weeks, was going to have to be put off until next year. The main purpose of that trip was to compete in the first Venetian Orienteering event to be conducted at night.

Y

ou can imagine how those next twelve months dragged.

However, on a very cold, crystal clear Venetian evening in November 2016, there we were on the Riva degli Schivioni looking out across the lagoon towards San Giorgio Maggiore.

Surely it is one of the world’s most glorious sights.

I am in the start box and desperately trying to concentrate.

We all have our little start routine, check this, check that, am I really seeing this? Is that really St Marks up ahead? Is that really my long suffering wife Ilze seeing me off before preparing for her own run later? Absolutely true on all accounts. She never once gave up on me through the healing, lumping the wheelchair around with hardly a complaint. Now the reward, she begins her own event in 30 minutes plus a new hand bag in Sienna and three pairs of earrings on Murano.

So what if it is the second Venice night race, it will just have to do?

When the entries for this event opened in June, we piled in early anxious not to miss out as the MOV organisers now impose an entry limit due to previous issues with a nameless European orienteer from a nameless landlocked country who was hoping to become a sheep station owner and had mown down passing tourists and the odd waitress or several. Having secured our place we found ourselves part of an Australian contingent of four, Lachlan Dow, who had entered 21E and an unfortunate Austrian who had clicked the wrong button and then didn’t turn up for the team photo.

22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Team Aussie.

The new race format was to be three Sprint events plus the usual Model event on the day registration opened. It was not until months later when we were trying to work out how get to the events from our accommodation in the apartment in the Palazzo Lezze on the Rio della Misericordia in Canareggio, that the harsh winds of reality began to blow across the laguna.

The organisers had located the event registration centre in a sports centre in Lido Jesolo, about 55kms north of Venice. On the

Jesolo Lido (Event #1).

day registration opened we left our apartment in Venice at 8:30am and the plan was to walk to the nearby Ca d’Oro vaporeto stop and sail merrily down the Grand Canal to San Zacharia, change swiftly to the No 12 to Punta Sabioni and then happily onto the No 24 bus with wheels to Jessolo, an expected travel time of 95 minutes. That’s not too bad; it takes us that long to get to an event in Victoria’s famous Golden Triangle. The only thing wrong with this is that the Italian Public Transport system has failed to come to grips with a process called “keeping to a timetable”.

We missed every connection.

Arriving at the event centre at 2:00pm we found ourselves in the queue with a couple who had driven from Vienna and they had left at the same time we did. Think about that for a while. We promptly abandoned all hope of doing the Model event and headed back home just beating a storm and getting in after dark.

The next morning, Event #1 was back at the same place with starts from midday to be followed by the Venice night race starting at 8:00pm. We wisely chose to stay in bed.

When you see the map for Event #1 the wisdom of our decision becomes clearer. There was also a modest aqua alta, not as bad as the famous one in 2012 when we had first come to Venice together with our DRV

club mates Debbie and Ian Dodd. In that year I had run across St Mark’s square in knee deep water. The sirens had gone off just early enough to delay my departure to the bakery for the cornetti.

We eventually set off to the event about 7:00pm and again sailed happily down the Grand Canal to the start at the Arsenale sports centre, close to St Marks. I defy anyone to not be happy sailing down the Grand Canal.

In the end I was pleased with my run, I had made some route choice errors in the process of over simplifying and missed one

Rialto Bridge.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

VENICE O

Venezia.

turn that was hidden behind restaurant tables. I took a longer route to avoid a street party with live band in a campo near the famous lions at the entrance to the Arsenale but otherwise hit the controls well. It was over all too soon.

I made it back to the Start in time to see Ilze away and she also made it around. We caught up with Lachlan who had finished 11th in a hot field and he was pleased with his run. For the record, I took 26.08 in M70 and was 7th. I BEAT SWEDES. Ilze was a creditable 17th in W60 and happy with her efforts and was grinning like the Cheshire cat at the Finish, but then both of us are Legend members of Melbourne’s Millennium Club and running around darkened streets in the freezing cold with a map and a headlamp is our strange idea of fun. Evergreen Peo 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Orienteering Club were in the fortunate position to know people who owned an apartment in Venice. Deep sigh. I wish we did own this apartment in Venice, and then we could do this every year.

It is simply worth what ever it takes.

You can never be too rich, own too many t-shirts, or ride the Grand Canal too often.

Bengtsson finished 4th in M75. So its back up the Grand Canal to go home and we got to bed about midnight.

Even getting back up again at 6:00am failed to dampen our spirits as we went back down the Grand Canal back over to Punta Sabioni and then on the bus to Eraclea, even further away from Venice. We were then bussed from the assembly area to a remote Start, bussed back from the remote Finish to the download and all for a 22 minute Sprint; you can all see the map and wonder why anyone bothered. I would imagine that it is just as difficult to run and organise an event in a good area as a bad one. If you look at the cost benefits in terms of travel and time, Ilze and I spent 49 hours travelling to two of three events of about 25 minutes each and that is almost 63 minutes of travel for every minute on the course. I am not sure what that means but it’s not a good look.

“We thought everyone would stay in Jesolo” moaned an organiser. I mean why would you want to stay in a closed up beach resort when La Serenisima is gazing at you across the lagoon?

Prior to our leaving Australia I sent Lachlan a message, via his mum Coral, that we had a spare bed in our apartment in Venice, should he need it. I later realised that I had left out the words “rented“ and that I may have inadvertently conveyed the impression that members of the Dandenong Ranges

Venice apartment.

Eraclea Mare.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

AUS 3 DAYS

AUSTRALIAN 3-DAYS ORIENTEERING 2017 WAGGA WAGGA

What is missing from the National Orienteering calendar for 2017? – Yes, you are correct - the traditional Australian 3 Days 2017. This event oft referred to as the Easter 3 Days, is not being held this year.

N

o, there has been no takeover of Orienteering Australia by some left of centre, anti-exercise group but instead a decision by Orienteering Australia to put the event on hold as Oceania and World Masters Orienteering Championships are being held just over the ditch in New Zealand around the same time.

So the question remains – what do we do to get our usual fix of 3 Day? The answer is Wagga Wagga, as the Australian 3 Day Carnival has been moved firstly to Wagga Wagga and secondly to June 10-12th. Traditionally, Orienteering New South Wales runs their Queens Birthday 3 day event over the June long weekend.

Connorton.

What is in Store?

The weekend begins with a Middle Distance event on “Connorton”, an easy 15km drive south of Wagga. The area is part open farmland, part open woodland littered with granite rock features, some of significant size. The woodland is mainly eucalypt forest with some areas of native cypress. There are a few farm tracks and a few narrow footpaths transecting the area (the latter are generally not mapped due to seasonal nature). Runnability varies from fast in open areas to slow in the steeper, rockier gullies. A single sturdy fence crosses the map. Courses are being set by local elite Briohny Seaman with Alex Davey as controller.

The weekend promises to be anything other than a pale imitation of the Easter events. The elite runners will certainly be gathering at the fray as each day is a NOL event. For the non-elites, each day will also be a NSW State League event meaning big points are up for grabs.

Sunday will be the Australian University Championships. To cap the weekend off the combined times for the three days will sort out the Carnival Champions.

The “magician” of results, Toph Naunton, will be in attendance and his efforts will enhance the event presentation.

The Carnival weekend will be presented by four NSW clubs: Illawarra-Kareelah, Southern Highlands, Uringa and Waggaroos. Alex Davey and Ron Pallas are the head honchos for the Championships.

26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Burngoogee.

Connorton map sample.

Burngoogee map sample.eps

Sunday will see orienteers head east to “Burngoogee” which is located approx. 60kms from Wagga. The area is predominantly native eucalypt forest with extensive areas of granite rock. There are numerous forest roads and some significant motorbike tracks.

Some may not be mapped due to recent formation. The main spurs and gullies are broad with fast running apart from some steeper hillsides. Courses for the event are being set by Julian Dent with Rob Vincent in the controller’s seat.

Sunday’s event at “Burngoogee” will also be the Australian University Championships. Competitors will run their usual age class and the results are determined using kilometre rates. There will be one Men’s and one Women’s class.

Charles Sturt University.

Day 3, Monday, will see the culmination of the Carnival with a Sprint event at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. A typical university campus with a mix of complex buildings and fast open areas. Many buildings have both overhead canopies and detailed paths and gardens (see photo). The running level has been preferentially mapped. An area of native eucalypt forest adjoins the campus to the west and features significant granite features and some steep slopes. Course setter, Dave Meyer, is sure to utilise this forest area to provide a smorgasbord of control sites.

Controller for the day is Robert Spry.

Wagga Wagga As an event centre Wagga Wagga has a lot to offer. Being winter, running conditions will be excellent. The Wagga Wagga Visitors Centre (www.waggawaggaaustralia.com.au/ or phone 1300 100122) is available to help with all your accommodation and tourism needs. The information provided on the Visitors Centre website is extensive and even includes a list of other double barrelled place names such as Bael Bael and Yo Yo! Wagga Wagga is easily reached from Sydney and Melbourne by road - surprisingly according to Google maps there is only 4 minutes difference in travel time.

Qantas and Rex offer flights daily to Wagga Wagga from Sydney and Melbourne (Rex only) plus there will soon be a new GoJet air service from Brisbane on weekdays and there are many interstate flights to Canberra with car hire options to Wagga Wagga. There are direct rail services available too from Sydney and Melbourne.

Be sure to visit the event website at www.onsw.asn. au/aust3days2017/ for full details on what is promising to be a great event.

Charles Sturt University map sample.

2017 Australian 3 Days

Wagga Wagga 10-12 June 2017

No Easter 3 Days next year?

WMOC and Oceania crowding out the calendar?

But you still want your annual 3 Day Aussie “O” fix in 2017? Then why not come to Wagga Wagga in June? ONSW is showcasing a mini carnival over the June long weekend. 3 days of excellent orienteering comprising a middle, long and sprint distance events on high quality maps.

Day 1: Connorton, middle distance

Day 2: Burngoogee, long distance

aust3days2017 Contact Wagga Wagga Visitors Centre for accommodation bookings Ph 1300 100 122

Day 3: Charles Sturt Uni, sprint distance

ONSW

Supported by Wagga Wagga City Council

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

The Bush O season will be upon us soon so it’s a good time to test your skills at reading a complex map. This map has been used several times for major events. It’s complex spur/gully and gold mining. You may recognise it. The scale is 1:10,000 and there are 25 differences in the two otherwise identical map sections. CAN YOU FIND ALL 25 ???

28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

You can run what else will you do?

Photos: Tourism Tasmania and Andrew Wilson; Poon Wai Nang; Kathryn Leahy; Paul Fleming; Rob Burnett

Start planning now!

WIN one of five easter tasmania 2018 entry packages!

To enter, look for our competition posts on the Easter Tasmania 2018 Facebook Page and in the comments section, tell us why – in 25 words or less – taking part in the adventure appeals to you.

Entry Packages include a credit to the value of one adult entry to the Australian Three Days plus $200 towards accommodation and transport costs.

Lucky draws will be held late October 2016, April 2017, September 2017, November 2017 and February 2018.

FOR TERMS AND CONDITIONS VISIT OUR WEBSITE, GO TO PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND CLICK ON COMPETITION DETAILS

www.eastertasmania2018.net.au

make your travel plans easy with ract travel Use our preferred travel agency RACT to book your ferry, flights, car, accommodation and sight-seeing adventures. For details visit our website and go to Travel Advice.

AWARD

Hugh Cameron Long-time orienteer and Orienteering administrator, Hugh has just won the prestigious “Strewth” Award from Albury Wodonga Orienteering Club. The award is presented for any reason the existing holder considers appropriate.

I

n this case the citation reads: “For dedicated service to International Administration of our sport over many years and participation from M35 through to M70 and recently overcoming family adversity.”

Hugh is always a happy face at events (that is, five minutes after finishing); his many years of participation only interrupted by the untimely passing of wife Robyn two years ago but he has now regained his strength after experiencing a very difficult period. In 1998, Hugh very happily donated a kidney to Robyn. Hugh’s reward was seeing Robyn so active again and in 1999 he witnessed her triumph at the World Transplant Games in Budapest, winning three gold and two silver medals in athletics and cycling.

While Hugh has always enjoyed orienteering, he describes himself as a social rather than competitive orienteer. A wellknown, anonymous fellow orienteer (and, by the way, still a friend) has been somewhat unkindly heard to remark that if you want to find out how Hugh has fared in an event it is quicker to start at the bottom of the result list and search upwards!

Hugh began orienteering in 1976 as a founding member of Central Coast Orienteers in NSW and was the Club President for eight years. To mark Central Coast Orienteers’ 40 year anniversary, Hugh has recently been awarded Life Membership of the club. He was President of OANSW in the early 1980s and President of OFA (now Orienteering Australia) for a four year period from 1984–87 during which time he played a significant role in facilitating the conduct of the 1985 World Championships near Bendigo. A teacher by profession, upon his transfer to the Albury area in 1987, Hugh and Robyn joined AWOC. Hugh has been both a State and National Event Organiser and a Level 2 Event Adviser. He often teamed with Robyn in the staging and course setting of major events in the north-east of Victoria and assisted Leigh Privett initiate and organise, in 2003, the first National Sprint Championships for all age groups (as opposed to only for elites). He particularly remembers running around the event map, Mayday Hills in Beechworth, on many occasions!

Hugh was elected to the IOF Council in 1988, a position he held for 22 years, eighteen as Vice President. In the early years, Hugh was known for making flying visits to the Nordic countries for meetings, departing Albury on a Thursday, home the following Tuesday –returning early in the morning, and heading straight from the airport to his Headmaster’s position at Billabong High in Culcairn. Barry McCrae, OA President at the time, recalls ringing Hugh at school one such Tuesday to check that he had returned safely and receiving the reply (in all seriousness): “Yes, no worries Barry, but I’m struggling to stay asleep”!

In 2010 the IOF General Assembly awarded Hugh a Gold Pin and appointed him an Honorary Member of the IOF. Friend and scribe, Leigh Privett (Albury Wodonga OC).

30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Windchill Magnifier

A

new Windchill magnifier that fits current model SILVA Race Jet and NOR thumb compasses is available. It replaces the “SILVA Zoom” magnifier that is no longer available in Australia.

The magnifier is a high quality German lens, 50 mm in diameter with 3.5 x magnification. The supporting anodised aluminium bracket is available in a left and right hand version and a range of colours.

The bracket has 2 locating pins that fit into the compass plate and is held in place by the thumb strap.

The price is $48 plus postage & handling, and is available from Windchill Sports online at www.osoa.com.au.

Contact Ralph Koch for more information 0419 577 514 or email info@osoa.com.au.

COMPETITION

Aussieogear Competition

Which map is this?

P

eople have asked what map is displayed on the back of the Aussieogear ute.

Colin Price of Aussieogear will give away two Bryzos O shirts and a pair of Bryzos pants to three correct answers.

If there are more than three correct answers there will be a draw four weeks after the issue of the magazine – that is, drawn on Monday 27th March, just before Easter.

You also need to mark (accurately) on a copy of that map where each of the three map sections are (as displayed on the three panels of the aussieogear.com ute).

Copy the map with your answers on it, your name, and email to me.

Colin Price colinp53@yahoo.com.au www.aussieogear.com

aussieogear.com

What I require is the name of the map.

AUSTRALIAN AgeNT foR

Sportident and trimtex

Sportident Comcard Pro & SI11 Now Available

SUPPLIER OF: ORIFIX, ORIFIx, VAVRY, VaVRy,BRYZOS, SIVEn, VAPRO, VaPRO, MOSCOMPASS MOSCOMPaSS • Pants • Shirts • Socks • Gaiters • Map Boards • Compasses • Spectacles • Flags • Punches

Win some Bryzos O gear.

phone: 0243 845 003 mobile: 0415 210 339 email: colin@aussieogear.com

www.aussieogear.com

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

ORIENTEERING WITHOUT LIMITS

Don’t Diss Their Ability Ian Jessup, Orienteering NSW

Coaching school students is difficult enough, but teaching someone with a disability can pose extra challenges. For one, there is communication. Students may have hearing impairment, or be on the autism spectrum. Then there is mobility: students may be confined to wheelchairs, or need to use a walker, or have vision impairment and need an aide to get around.

They may have ADD, ADHD or other behavioural issues.

I

n the September 2016 edition of this magazine we revealed how Heidi and Angus, a Sydney mother and son with autism, are regulars on the Orienteering scene. In this issue we’re going to look at the experiences of some ONSW coaches.

Lyn Malmgron – our western Sydney development officer has taken a group with muscular dystrophy at Narrabeen Sport & Rec Camp. MD is a group of muscle diseases that results in increasing weakening and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. Many people eventually become unable to walk.

“For 3 years in a row I set up an Orienteering course for a camp at Narrabeen Lakes for 15-20 children and young adults with Muscular Dystrophy. The age range was 7-21, with an average age of 11.

The venue was very friendly, based around buildings and a huge oval with plenty of paved areas and paths. Being familiar with wheelchairs, I walked the course a number of

Deaf Girls.

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

times to assess access by wheels and the degree of mobility needed to reach the controls. We were using SI so the units had to be flat and about knee high.

The group’s disability ranged from severe in wheelchairs, moderate in power chairs and mild in scooters. Each member of the group had an aide with them. The aides were physio students from Western Suburbs University and they stayed with the one child for the duration of the camp, looking after all of their needs.

The Orienteering activities started with a small star relay with controls based around a disused car park. This was when I first realised how much space 15 scooters and chairs use up.

Next was a map ‘walk’ of about 200m.

Then we started the competition – one-minute starts and a course of about 1km. They went in and out of corridors, down ramps, a bit of hard grass, through trees and took a couple of shortcuts. This was when I realised that a scooter can easily overtake a runner and some of these boys really moved! The aides pushing chairs really worked hard too. A number of the aides carried the SI sticks for the children with poor mobility.

Everyone was so excited as they downloaded, with one saying she ‘loved competing because I’m not usually allowed’. Another said, ‘I couldn’t use the stick, but I loved the map’. Another asked if they could go out again and bring in controls, and another took over the Finish. All wanted to know if they could do it next year.

Another time, on an annual Orienteering day in the bush with a private Sydney high school, a boy went missing. All the students had done a map walk with a coach to several controls, and been told about safety bearings, etc.

“This one boy left the start at 9:35am, had no difficulty at the first 5 controls, spent a bit longer finding control #6, but after 90 minutes was still not back,” recalls Lyn. After a foot search of the map area, a drive 2km beyond the map boundaries, and a phone call to emergency services there was still no sign of him by 2:30pm. Shortly after, the boy was returned by a local farmer. At the beginning of the search, students informed the teaching staff that the boy was a ‘wanderer’ and had a previous history of drifting off harmlessly.”

LESSON: While it was unbelievable that the school did not inform Lyn about the boy concerned, event organisers should always ask if there are any issues/individuals they need to be aware of.

Carolyn Rigby is our Newcastle-based development officer.

“Over the years I’ve had a few children with mobility issues or minor issues for which they had a carer. I have insisted there be no differentiation, and the affected student be treated the same as a kid with sprained ankle, for example.

I’ve had a few children who had literacy issues and for these the problem was easily fixed. I didn’t use written words after that and went on my crusade for symbols - 90% in sync with O symbols and some local variants. From then I used symbols for kindergarten upwards (assuming they had lower literacy skills). For some it was a code exercise; for others it was easier to take in - so much easier and added to the mystique of O. The majority of kids I had with challenges were behavioural and attention difficulties. I had a whole class of them for 7 weeks – it was fantastic to see them achieve.

The loveliest example was I’d spent a term with a behavioural group and one girl came to Hunter Region Schools and was devastated that the control descriptions were in English. She could read but she wanted them to be symbols. So I rewrote them for her. She didn’t want to rely just on control code numbers – she just had to check the symbol too.”

Wheel O – Coffs Harbour. Late June 2013. ONSW’s initial foray into wheelchair Orienteering was a great success and had participants demanding more. One of the keen rookies was the local area manager of Wheelchair Sports NSW. His first reaction: “We have to do this again, and soon!”

The brainchild of Bush ‘n Beach OC ,president Bruce Meder: “‘Orienteering Without Limits’ drew around 30 people to the local university for a taste of O. Participants had the choice of 3 line courses, all wheelchair-accessible and suitable for beginners. Course lengths were 300m, 800m and 1200m.

Some of the participants were in electric wheelchairs and some were self-propelled. Route choice wasn’t the only problem to be solved - how to hold/carry the map posed an extra challenge.”

Victoria Ave PS – this was a Sporting Schools program in November 2016 with first-time coach Barbara Dawson.

Some students have autism, hearing impairment and moderate intellectual disability.

Jim Mackay, development co-ordinator for ONSW, recalls: “The principal said they had students with special needs, and had to co-ordinate a number of support staff, which forced changes to the times of the activity before we even started.

Barbara lived nearby and, having helped out at many schools events, offered to take on the task.”

Barbara reports: “My first contact from Jim Mackay said ‘We have a new, small school near your house, could you run the OK-GO program for them?’ Dates were confirmed for 5 weeks and Ian Jessup gave me a crash course in the OK-GO kit. The school confirmed numbers for each session and that they had some students with disabilities, who have support staff to assist them. I thought: ‘What have I got myself in for?’”

Finland leads the world in its discovery that play is the most fundamental engine and efficiency booster of children’s learning. Finnish children learn through play until age seven, and then are given guaranteed 15-minute outdoor free-play breaks every hour of every single school day (regardless of the weather) until high school.

Stacey Furner, the principal, said: “We are so lucky to have Bicentennial Park right next to the school. We see outdoor education as a big part of the children’s education.”

She wanted the students to: • be engaged in outdoor learning experiences • try a sport that they weren’t likely to have been exposed to before (or know much about it) • use the Orienteering experience to develop social, physical and cognitive skills • be able to access Orienteering regardless of their ability • extend their learning into our local community Barbara now provides her recollections on the five-week program: “Session 1 – It was a windy day and the resource cards were blowing everywhere. I think the students found the job of holding them down with sticks and rocks to be a better game

Luke Fieldhouse in action at Orienteering Without Limits.

Raymond Munro - local coordinator Wheelchair Sports NSW. MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

ORIENTEERING WITHOUT LIMITS

than the cards! They were so excitable that they didn’t listen, except the hearing-impaired group who were transfixed with the talk on Orienteering, and ‘North’. The games begin: the older boys have bravado, some work it out for themselves, and others ask for help. (One of the support staff used to belong to the Uringa club many years ago.)

Session 2 – a very hot day and before the kids arrive the cleaners took away 4 control flags. I explained to students that some flags had gone missing. Some remembered, others didn’t. Some kids just cannot get enough of running and exploring.

Session 3 – the highlight of this session was two hearingimpaired girls of different backgrounds who ran together on the course. I told all the students of the “trick” on the course today (one flag did not have a punch). They had to tell me at the end which control it was. The two hearing-impaired girls ran up to me and waved their finger at me, signing “You tricked us” and laughing.

Session 4 - another very hot day. We did an ‘odds and evens’ course. Some students did not know/remember their odd and even numbers, so it was highlighted on the map by the teachers. Some of the disabled students wanted to go on their own, albeit shadowed from afar by the support staff.

They finished the course with big smiles on their faces on their achievements.

Session 5 – a quick game of Bing-O and the big race for the final week. Most students had taken on board a lot of information. Most have learnt where North is. One boy wanted to run with his mates and didn’t take a map at the beginning. Midway through the course his mates ran off. I found him without a map. ‘Oh miss, I lost my map,’ he says.

‘I think you lost it at the beginning; here is a spare map,’ I said. He was seen scratching his head, map pointing north and heading to the next control. One boy returned halfway through his course carrying his shoes and shorts, after becoming anxious by farmers’ friends.

The highlights were seeing all students including students with disabilities learning and on the same level playing field.

And I learnt to sign “Orienteering” for the hearing-impaired.”

“The program was greatly enjoyed by both teachers and students,” she said. “It was also a learning opportunity for teachers as they had not been involved in Orienteering before.

Most of all it was a great way to get students outdoors (away from technology) and participate in a very worthwhile activity with benefits for academic achievements, social development and healthy lifestyle habits.”

They also had some tips ..…

•S tudents with disabilities should be provided with preparation before the Orienteering program so that they are aware of what to expect and can practise some of the skills required.

•T hey also need to be supported during the program so that they can access the program and successfully participate with their peers.

It’s worth remembering these wise words .....

“No student is too anything to be able to read and write,” David Yoder, PhD. Dr. Yoder’s current research is focused on the literacy needs of persons with severe speech and physical impairments, and assistive technology for adults with disabilities.

“For most people, technology makes things easier. For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible,” Mary Pat Radabaugh.

WHO and the World Bank state: “The exclusion and marginalisation of persons with disabilities is a human rights issue as well as an economic issue for countries. When a significant section of society, estimated at 15 percent of the world’s population, faces obstacles in receiving an education, transitioning into the labour market, and becoming economically self-sufficient, it not only undermines their rights and dignity but adds significantly to a country’s welfare burden.”

The next time you get a request to put on a course or a school activity for people with a disability, just think of how much they will get out of it and say:

“Yes, we can!”

And the feedback from head teacher Danielle Coonan?

The President of NTOC presents a winners certificate to Kate Corcoran.

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Sam

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING NEWS

NZ MTBO Championships

Angus Robinson during the picturesque Sprint race.

Words and photos: Peter Cusworth

N

ot sure how it happened, but New Zealand hosted two National MTBO Championship Carnivals in 2016. The first was the 2015 Champs that were held in January 2016 around New Plymouth on the North Island. The second was the 2016 Champs and they were held around Rotorua, also on the North Island, over the weekend of 19-20 November 2016. Added to the date confusion was that the second Champs included the first two races of the 2017 World Masters Series. Confused? No matter, as they were fantastic events whatever the name and date.

Added to the 2016 Champs in November, was the North Island Champs on the weekend before, which encouraged some Aussies to extend their stay to over 1 week and take in both weekends of MTBO. Entries were excellent with lots of fit and fast Kiwis taking on the 20 or so Aussies.

The Sprint was held in Rotorua combining a college campus and a parkland and garden area. The contrast in areas really had riders concentrating.

The Middle Distance race was a bushland adventure camp combining minor bush tracks with roads and open grassland areas.

The Long Distance race was held at the Cougar mountain bike park 60km from Rotorua. It was a pine forest area with lots of single tracks, which fortunately could be ridden in either direction. The park included quite a bit of climbing, with many being very short but sharp climbs that really began to test riders endurance.

Reigning Aussie Champ, and former World Junior Champ, Angus Robinson (VIC), used the first weekend as a warm-up with a couple of up and coming young Kiwis getting the better of him. He was even more motivated for the NZ Champs weekend though, and took a trifecta of wins in Men’s Open class.

Visiting Danish WOC medallist, Camilla Søgaard, also had a clean sweep taking out all of the Women’s Open races from evergreen Kiwi Marquita Gelderman.

The Sprint and Long Distance events scored points in the World Masters Series and Leigh Privett (VIC) got off to a good start winning all three M70 races.

Other Aussies that scored some good early points in the Series included: Richard Robinson, Hamish Mackie, Tamsin Barnes and Kay Haarsma.

BIKE SHORTS Xmas MTBO Three MTBO events were held during the Xmas 5 Days carnival based at Newcastle, NSW. The events were all based on 75 minute score courses, but organisers had got very creative with a number of features of the courses requiring more than the usual amount of grey matter. Hard to explain here, but included: doublesided maps, colour coded routes to follow with controls not shown, line course and score course options to swap from.

Tricky stuff.

Vic MTBO Champs

Results at www.mtbochamps.nz/results.html

The first National Series kicks off in Ballarat, Victoria on 18-19 March with the Victorian Champs, which are also selection races for the World Champs to be held in Lithuania in August.

MTBO Training

Some open parkland at the end of the Middle Distance race.

Two days of light technical training on maps will be available on Thursday 16 & Friday 17 March in the Ballarat region immediately prior to the Victorian Champs. Both of these are open to all age groups.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

COURSE PLANNING

Planning Courses For Older Orienteers David Hogg

David Marshall (TAS).

Orienteering is described as ‘a sport for life’. One of its attributes that earns it this description is the opportunity to design courses to meet appropriate physical and mental challenges for all competitors, irrespective of their age. Course planning guidelines, based on winning times and indicative course lengths, have been developed to assist in course design and, for the most part, these have worked well in Australia.

O

ver the years, the age profile of Australian orienteering has changed. For example at the 1975 Kareelah 3-Days (the forerunner of the Australian 3-Days), out of approximately 200 competitors, there were just two men and no women in the 50 year age class, the oldest age class offered. The younger orienteers marvelled at the fact that such ‘old’ people could still enjoy orienteering! Today our best M/W50 competitors can put in a creditable performance in the elite age groups. At the 2016 Australian 3-Days over 40% of competitors were aged 50 or above.

At the same time, the oldest classes on offer at national events increase in age every few years as dedicated active orienteers grow older. However, the bodies of those orienteers increasingly show signs of ageing and many of the diverse skills that they need for orienteering deteriorate.

A basic means of demonstrating the decline of physical fitness with age is to compare running speeds for world record holders in masters track running. This is done in the top line in Charts #1 & #2 for the men’s and women’s 5000 m races respectively.

Fairly similar lines are obtained for the handicap factors used in the Australian Family Relay/Teams Event held at Easter, although those factors show a slightly larger differential with age, particularly for men.

36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Orienteering fitness, however, depends on much more than just running speed across flat, uniform terrain. In terms of the various elements of physical fitness, it is one of the most demanding of all sports, requiring a combination of speed, strength, power (a function of both speed and strength), endurance, flexibility, agility and balance. The last two elements combine to influence running confidence in steep or rough terrain, and show significant decline in the later years of life.

There are also the issues of visual acuity, which influences the ability to read a detailed map while moving, and peripheral vision, which may help in spotting an elusive control flag out of the corner of one’s eye. Both of these attributes also decline with age. Then there are the mental skills involved in interpreting what one sees on the map in relation to the terrain and making intelligent route choice decisions, but these skills may be retained at a high level by many ageing orienteers.

It is the physical elements of fitness that are likely to have the greatest bearing on orienteering performance in ageing orienteers – not just speed but also strength/power, endurance, flexibility, agility and balance. The relative extent to which these come into play depends very much on the nature of the terrain. For short events held in streets or parkland, speed may be the main element influencing performance but on steep slopes, rocky or rough

ground, or areas with fallen timber or grass tussocks, the other elements can have a multiplying effect. The older the orienteer, the more critical these other elements become.

Appendix 1 of the Orienteering Australia Competition Rules lists relative speeds and course lengths for all age classes compared with those for elite orienteers, based on data available from the first decade of the 2000s. The factors applied in these guidelines work most satisfactorily for events held in undulating forest or woodland with grassy or sparse understorey and not much fallen timber or rocky ground. When the terrain gets steeper, it requires more strength or power to run uphill and a good sense of balance and confidence to run downhill. Traversing a lot of fallen timber, grass tussocks or rocky ground also requires strength and is demanding on flexibility and balance. If the older classes traverse a significant percentage of steep or rough terrain, the factors on which the OA guidelines are based become less reliable. A steep erosion gully which may cause only a few seconds delay to an elite orienteer may add minutes to the time of some of the oldest orienteers as they tentatively inch their way down the least steep part of the gully wall or make a long detour to avoid it.

There is some scientific research which indicates that decline of muscle fitness does not become particularly apparent before the age of about 50, but accelerates with increasing age, becoming particularly obvious in the 70s. While this appears to be consistent with orienteering observations, it is not so much speed but strength and agility which lead to the steady decline in the physical performance of orienteers in the over 70s.

As shown in Charts #1 & #2, the 2016 OA guidelines have treated all women’s age groups from 70 upwards with the same relative speed factor and for men have not reflected the significant slowing from 70 to 75 or from 80 to 85. Charts #1 & #2 also show a revised scale initially developed by Eric Andrews in 2015 for the OA Technical Committee. This revised scale has been refined

Jenny Bourne (VIC).

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37

COURSE PLANNING

2016 AUS Middle Distance Championships – Course 11 – W55 & M65

Alex Tarr (VIC).

Ann Ingwersen (ACT).

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

further to eliminate anomalies caused by some exceptionally talented orienteers in certain age classes, or by the reluctance of leading younger masters competitors to run in their correct age classes (especially M/W35). The revised scale takes account of results of national carnivals since 2008 and reflects a more consistent reduction in orienteering speed factor with age.

Both the 2016 OA guidelines and the revised scale are based on analyses of a representative range of national events reflecting ‘typical’ high quality terrain. However, even the revised scale should not be adopted automatically without considering the specific terrain characteristics that may impact disproportionately on older orienteers.

In physically difficult terrain this scale should be modified to take account of the multiplying effects of reduced strength and agility. This is indicated notionally in the bottom line of each graph which accentuates the decline in speed for the 70 age groups and above in difficult terrain compared with that in typical terrain.

The OA guidelines are intended to apply primarily to national championship competitions in which the large number of participants justifies setting a wide range of courses. For such events, it is intended that the oldest competitors should have courses of length and winning time tailored to their specific abilities, although it is sometimes difficult to achieve this without compromising on technical challenge, something which many of those oldest competitors still regard as important. There is also the issue that, in the oldest classes, the very small number of competitors may not give the statistical spread of finishing times that in more popular classes is likely to ensure that at least one person manages an error-free run that matches the planned winning time.

Orienteering is not just for the winners, however. As people age, their fitness deteriorates at different rates and, while there are some in the older age groups who still manage to retain a relatively high level of speed, strength and agility, there are others who tend to fall further and further behind. This can lead to a wide spread of finishing times within the older age classes which is accentuated in physically difficult terrain. In such situations, it becomes increasingly important to design courses which do not become demoralising for the later finishers in the older age groups.

For regular club or State events, the limited number of courses may not offer the luxury of setting a course specifically tailored to the oldest competitors. In events with fewer courses, it is desirable for the shortest course within the hard navigation group, or the moderate navigation group if this is the highest level of technical difficulty offered, to be designed to limit the physical problems caused by steep terrain or obstacles. This benefits not only the older orienteers but also others with limited physical fitness.

Orienteers are a tough breed and enjoy facing the challenge that course planners create for them. As their physical capabilities decline, it is increasingly important for that challenge to be based on navigational skills, rather than becoming a war of attrition against difficult terrain. This is the secret to making Orienteering truly a sport for life.

2016 AUS Middle Distance Championships – Course 17 – W85, W90, M90.

Hermann Wehner (ACT).

Orienteering Australia’s Technical Committee is in the process of reviewing its guidelines for winning times and course-class combinations, particularly for older age groups and A Short classes. Changes recommended

by Eric Andrews are being trialled at the 2016 and 2017 Australian Championships Carnivals.

Jenny Casanova – Director Technical, Orienteering Australia

Kevin Paine and Sue Healy.

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

MAPPING

Lessons from LiDAR mapping around Bendigo Neil Barr – Bendigo Orienteers

In Part One I will describe how LiDAR can be used as a mapping tool and some of our experiences with it in Bendigo.

What is LiDAR?

L

idar is short for “Light Detecting and Ranging”. There are countless explanations of the process on the web. Here is another. A plane (or drone) scans the ground below with a scanning laser beam and measures the reflections. Using accurate GPS as a reference these reflections are converted into a cloud of data points with three dimensional coordinates. These coordinates replace old analog photogrammetry in the mapping process. The result has been maps of previously unaffordable accuracy. Orienteering has hung on the coat tails of this mapping revolution.

How do I get hold of LiDAR data?

The answer is generally not very encouraging. It is easy to get hold of LiDAR data from many overseas sources if you just want to play. Getting hold of data for the particular terrain you want to map is much more complicated. There is a lot of government held LiDAR, and some commercial. The coverage is incomplete.

In Victoria coastal, urban and flood plains have been the target of government funded LiDAR. Granite hill tops in Central Victoria are almost totally absent from these holdings. You need to chase up a map of the LiDAR held in your jurisdiction.

Access to existing LiDAR data depends on the jurisdiction. There is a gradual international trend for governments to put their data on line. Australia lags behind countries such as Finland, the Czech Republic and a number of American States. The positive signs so far are from Tasmania and New South Wales.

In Victoria a government cartel holds LiDAR data very tightly in contravention of stated open data access policies. We have had some success through bypassing the cartel and negotiating directly with the original data custodian. The Productivity Commission is currently advocating the freeing up of as much Government data as possible and that it be made available at transaction cost only.

There are some LiDAR derived products in the form of digital elevation models that can be downloaded from the GeoScience Australia web site. Only the highest resolution data sets will be of use, but the coverage is very sparse. Tasmania and coastal Australia have some coverage. NSW is posting some LiDAR derived products here: Google Elvis (with GeoScience Australia).

A useful tool would be an Australian guide to access to LiDAR data across the States. A further step would be to lobby for more open access as recommended in recent work by the Productivity Commission.

Bendigo Orienteers’ experience with LiDAR. Severe flash flooding in Bendigo over two summers resulted in a major investment in flood mapping for the town. The resulting LiDAR data covered not only the urban area, but the forests surrounding the towns of Bendigo and Heathcote.

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Negotiation gained access to some of this data. Two club mappers have now produced 12 bush maps, 2 large urban maps and 3 Sprint maps using LiDAR as the base. The first three of these maps were used in the 2013 Easter carnival. Since that time the club has been systematically remapping terrain covered by preLiDAR maps as well as creating new maps. What follows are some lessons learnt from this experience.

Processing the data There is no escaping the need to do some digital processing.

Processing replaces the work of the photogrammetrist. The more of this you do, the less time you will spend in the field. So it’s best to get hold of the data itself rather than asking a commercial firm to provide LiDAR products. This means a collection of las files. Each file will represent a square kilometer of data. Each will be between 100 and 200 megabytes in size. That possibly means a gigabyte of data for a modest bush map.

There are lots of tools to process this data. The easier to use ones each look very different, but nearly all of the tools are built with a common set of processing routines that are part of a package called LAStools, developed by Martin Isenberg. In an approximate order of complexity.

OCAD 11+: The later versions of OCAD have inbuilt tools to process LiDAR. OCAD uses a relatively simple pipeline of LAStools commands. These are limited in their flexibility.

OL-Laser: Developed by Jerker Boman of Sweden. This one is free. It’s my tool of choice. It produces unsmoothed contours (necessary for gold mining), slope and terrain images. It also allows customization of vegetation processing (more later). Batch processing available, but with some edge effect issues. http:// ol-laser.software.informer.com/ Karttapullautin: Developed by Jarkko Ryyppö. Finnish for “map machine”. It’s free. It produces maps direct from data files.

It takes a lot of processing time and lots of machine memory.

I let it run overnight. This tool is excellent for spur gully. It’s not useful for gold mining or granite (though in the latter case that’s not Karttapullautin’s fault). http://www.routegadget.net/ karttapullautin/ Terje Mathisen’s LAStools pipeline: As part of developing the maps for the 2015 JWOC, Terje evaluated all the above tools. He wasn’t satisfied that the tools were well tuned to the Norwegian terrain. He developed a new set of LiDAR processing routines using LAStools. These routines are freely downloadable. Whilst these Norwegian routines may be no more suited to Australian terrain than the Swedish and Finnish alternatives, Terje’s approach to fine tuning processing for his terrain gives an indication of a direction we might follow in Australia. Terje has in the past expressed an interest in experimenting with Australian LiDAR data. http://tmsw.no/mapping/basemap_generation.html

SAGA: This is a free raster GIS system that comes as part of the QGIS open source GIS platform.

This and LAStools are probably the ultimate accessible processing option available to mappers.

Importantly, SAGA has the capacity to reprocess las files to reclassify points. More on this later. http:// saga-gis.sourceforge.net/en/

Caption: 1 metre contours and ground slope.

LAStools: Download here - https://github.com/ LAStools/LAStools.

Useable outputs from LiDAR Before being released to the user, LiDAR contractors process the data by cleaning rogue data (clouds, birds, planes, high tension power lines etc). They also classify the return points. At a most basic level they use computational routines to identify “last return� points (or ground). These last returns are used to create contours. The rest of the returns represent mainly vegetation, but also buildings. Victorian LiDAR is only classified as ground or above ground, but other classifications are sometimes used (buildings, water etc). With basic software you can produce quite an array of products from LiDAR. Here are the main ones I use. I have used an example image of the same area for each product. The examples are from the same pane of the Yorkshire Hill map. The first four use only data reflected from the ground. The remaining two use the full data set.

Caption: Ground relief and ground intensity.

Contours: The example shows 1metre contours, though this is a bit extreme.

Ground slope: An image that darkens according to the slope of the ground. Shows cliffs, banks and pits. Sometimes tracks are visible if they are benched.

Caption: Terrain relief and vegetation density (sort of).

Relief shading: Shadows created by an oblique light source. Similar uses to slope shading. I prefer slope map.

Intensity: Darkness according to the strength of reflection. Can pick up canopy and bitumen roads.

Terrain relief: Mostly useful for vegetation (clearings) and buildings.

Vegetation density: If you are lucky this may be some help.

LiDAR will often be improved on with the addition of high resolution aerial photography (particularly in granite terrain). The demise of free access to Nearmap has been partially offset by improved image resolution on Google.

What is the best base map for use in the field?

If you tote that up you will get up to seven different images of the terrain, many of which show unique aspects of the area to be mapped. There seems to be two approaches to integrating all this data into a basemap for fieldwork. The first is to continue the analog approach by using a single base map under a mylar sheet on which to draw field work. Some have chosen to stay with this rather than go digital. You can combine contours with one of the other images in OCAD. Inevitably you will have more than one base map sheet and will swap between them. An alternative is Karttapullautin which produces a suitable base map for spur gully terrain. It is less useful for other terrain types (see below).

MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

MAPPING

Increasingly mappers overseas are moving to a digital tablet for field work. The advantages claimed are: • Real time GPS on the base map; • Ability to switch background maps in and out while doing fieldwork; • Ability to draw something as it will look in the final product so you can determine what features you can draw without it being too cluttered; The technology is in an experimental stage with lots of configurations being used. The following are important criteria to be considered when planning a digital approach to field work: • Screen visibility in direct sunlight; • Battery life in the field; • Drawing ease - an active stylus is a much better option than passive stylus, but needs software support from your drawing package. A resistive screen is next best. A capacitive screen has limited utility. Some mappers have taken to using a Bluetooth mouse. Some add a mouse board to their mapping setup.

Many use the mouse on their trousers or a trouser board.

There is no consensus on the best approach. Some advocate the active stylus while others claim it is useless.

relies on finger touch to screen. To ease accuracy issues a closeup circle is used.

• Using an Android Tablet with OOM Mapper app. This seems the most popular European configuration. Android tablets are cheap and OOM is free. This means there has been a lot of experimentation with the combination and it seems to be well established.

• Using a Windows tablet and OCAD. This is a higher price option and seems to be also mostly being tested in the US. There is a consensus on the use of Garmin GLO or GNS Bluetooth GPS devices. There is less consensus about the best tablet. Choices include the Surface Pro, second hand Trimble Yumas or cheaper Windows tablets. Battery life is an issue, with the Surface only lasting 4 hours. One mapper uses two Surfaces - morning and afternoon. You can use Open Orienteering mapper if you accept the use of a Bluetooth mouse rather than an active stylus. My own experimentation with a Surface, active stylus and OOM proved frustrating until I realised OOM was never going to talk to the active stylus.

• Memory to manage large image files produced by LiDAR processing; • Licensing costs - running multiple copies of OCAD is expensive; • GPS integration. Android and Apple devices have built in GPS. This is not the case with all Windows devices (eg Surface).

Windows tablet users generally use a bluetooth GPS often attached to their hat.

Four software choices are available: •O CAD: Comes with active stylus support. Main issues are that it is limited to Windows and the cost of licensing. As most digital fieldworkers finalise their maps on desktops, they would require an expensive second license to run OCAD on a tablet. One approach is to use a Surface for fieldwork and in desktop configuration. It’s debatable whether this is more cost effective than buying a second OCAD license for a cheaper Windows tablet.

•O pen Orienteering Mapper: An open source OCAD competitor available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.

It is becoming more widely used. The main issue with this software is the lack of support for active stylus in the Windows version. Stylus support is available in an Android port. I am also unsure if there is GPS support for other than the Android app. http://www.openorienteering.org/mapper-manual/pages/ android-index.html •M oMap: Swedish program for Windows Mobile and Android.

There doesn’t seem to have been much development work since 2014. http://www.momap.se/ •G hettoCad: An Apple environment mapper developed by Greg Walker at MIT. It’s hard to find any documentation on this. It’s a non-commercial program so one cannot expect support. Users seem very happy with the program. But then Apple users are always happy with Apple. http://okansas. blogspot.com.au/2010/08/downtown-sprint-map-update.html

GhettoCad map window.

Dell Windows tablet used with Bluetooth mouse.

Most of the above has been gleaned from Attackpoint, blogs and the odd Scandinavian web page in Swedish. It would be useful to have a more formal means of sharing experiences on digital fieldwork configurations.

Three main approaches have emerged based on the computing platform of choice - Windows, Android and Apple.

• Using an iPhone or iPad with the GhettoCad app. The examples I have seen have been Sprint maps. I suspect memory limitations may be an issue. The use of this option seems to be mainly limited to the United States. The software

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

In Part Two I will describe how useful LiDAR can be in different terrains and deal with some of its limitations.

NUTRITION

Your food will be purple in 2017

W

hile green seems to be a perfect fit in the world of healthy food, think crunchy leaf salads, crispy snap peas, cucumber slices and a variety of green beans, it won’t be the only popular colour in the fresh food section this year.

Consumers will be seeing a lot more purple on supermarket shelves in 2017. Richly coloured purple foods are popping up everywhere: purple cauliflower, black rice, purple asparagus, elderberries, acai, purple sweet potatoes, purple corn, and cereal. And these colourful vegetables aren’t just pretty on the outside - they’ll also nourish you from the inside. Purple natural foods tend to be loaded with nutrients that are great for your health. The power of purple goes beyond the vibrant colour and often indicates nutrient density and antioxidants.

According to studies published in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: “Adults who eat purple and blue plants have reduced risk for high blood pressure and better levels of HDL cholesterol (the “good” kind). They are also less likely to be overweight.” The compounds that give purple foods their colour are believed to mop up free radicals and soothe inflammation.

What are these magical compounds? According to dieticians, purpleblue colours occurring naturally in produce come from anthocyanin, an antioxidant that’s known to have heart-health benefits. The anthocyanins that give these vegetables and fruits their distinctive colours may help ward off heart disease by preventing clot formation.

So look for purple fruits, grains and vegetables, such as purple cabbage, eggplant, beets, kale, berries, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and carrots that are also good for your health. For example, Japanese eggplant may look like a smaller, longer version of its better-known cousin, but it is much easier to prepare.

This low-calorie food is also chock-full of nutrients that will help keep your body healthy.

And, in other news, seaweed food and drink products are predicted to be one of 2017’s biggest food trends. Seaweed is dairy-free, gluten-free, fat-free, low in calories, and loaded with calcium and protein. It can be eaten raw or cooked, and used as a snack on its own or an ingredient in salads and other dishes. supermarketguru.com

Japanese egg plant.

Purple carrots.

Purple cauliflower.

Purple potatoes.

Seaweed dish.

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O-SPY

R O-SPY Ski Orienteering Down Under

S

ki Orienteering which had its origins in the 1890s, and is an IOC Recognised Sport, has been popular in Europe for many years.

In March 2017 the 22nd World Ski Orienteering Championships will be held in Russia and some 250 athletes from 35 countries will be taking part.

In Australia a small band of enthusiasts meet each year on the first Sunday in August to hold the NSW Ski Orienteering Championships. Last winter two clubs, Big Foot NSW and Bushflyers ACT, combined to produce the third successive annual event at Perisher.

In past years championships have also been held in Victoria at Falls Creek and Lake Mountain.

Perfect weather and the addition of a new rogaining “Snogaine” option attracted 38 newcomers and oldhands alike. Families were prominent with several enjoying the sport for the first time. Tess Noble wrapped up her third win in succession whilst new-to-orienteering skier Michael Brennan took away the men’s title.

Senior Moments

emembering letters in AO December 2016 (“Watch Your Step” and “Herding Cats”) in order to help myself, and sometimes Trevor Sauer, at the Starts of major events, I write not only my start times but also my course number/s on my ID bib, upside down for ease of self reading, and cross them off after use. As an occasionally forgetful senior I have found all that most useful when my course numbers vary between days at a Carnival.

We decided not to print those details on bibs for the last National Series in WA as late changes cause confusion and, anyway, we are all personally responsible for being at the Start on time and taking the right map.

Ken Brownlie (WOW – WA)

T

WMOC 2018 and beyond

he IOF has decided that WMOC will be withdrawn from the World Masters Games program after the 2017 event in New Zealand and will, instead, be scheduled yearly as a stand-alone major event. Orienteering as a sport of choice will remain in future World Masters Games programs.

New Olympic Sports

C

heerleading and Muay Thai Kickboxing have been newly recognised as Olympic sports. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given these sports provisional recognition which is a step on the way to becoming part of a future Olympic program. The IOC will provide annual grants of $25,000 to each of the sports’ governing bodies to assist with their athlete development and anti-doping programs.

After three years they can apply to be placed on the program for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Orienteering has been an IOC-recognised sport for some years but has struggled to progress any further toward inclusion on an Olympic Games program. So, has the International Cheer Union (ICU) surpassed the efforts of our International Orienteering Federation (IOF) ?

So if you are looking for a new adventure why not join us on Sunday August 6th at Perisher, NSW. David Poland (ACT)

Cheerleaders.

Family at Snogaine.

44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Clearly, Cheerleading is spectacular and well suited to television coverage. It also has the numbers. News reports claim that Cheerleading is the fastest growing sport in the world with a strong focus in schools and universities. The ICU has 112 national Member federations spread across 5 world regions, and close to 4.5 million registered athletes.

The recent National Championships in Australia saw more than 10,000 competitors and 15,000 spectators gather on

Queensland’s Gold Coast to pack the Convention & Exhibition Centre. And the 2016 ICU World Championships featured more than 10,000 athletes from 70 countries.

By contrast, the IOF has just 65 Member federations and 5 provisional Members, and the majority of registered athletes and major events are concentrated in one region – Europe. At the 2016 World Orienteering Championships held in Sweden, the home of Orienteering, 327 athletes from 47 nations took part.

The Olympics has become more and more focussed on television popularity and relies on the networks for a huge amount of funding. Clearly, our sport has a long way to go before we can make the eyes of TV network executives light up.

The IOC has recently introduced a new provision which enables host cities to include additional sports which are popular in their country. For 2020 Tokyo has chosen to include five sports - baseball/softball, karate, skateboard, sports climbing and surfing. This is a one-off inclusion for the 2020 Olympiad, with no guarantee that they will be on the program at future Games.

Dalek conspiracy?

I

s the present requirement to install ramp access in schools, universities and commercial sites simply a scheme by the Daleks to gain access to our public buildings?

T

2017 World Masters Games

hose of you who might be hoping for medals over in New Zealand could keep this photo under your pillows at night – it might bring you luck.

It seems that the best hope for Orienteering to be included on the Olympic program, albeit for just one Olympiad, is for a future Games to be hosted by a Swedish city. So, is the IOF lobbying the Swedish Olympic Committee to bid to host a future Olympic Games?

Michael Hubbert

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MARCH 2017 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

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.

Chas(tis)ing Olympic Dreams

S

ome orienteers are not going to like this letter but the question must none-the-less be asked: Do we really want to get our unspoilt sport into the Olympics?

This idea has been a dream now for four decades and a major influence in many IOF decisions made at top level and there is no denying that it would be rather nice to see top navigational experts showing the world how wonderful Orienteering is. The financial advantages of getting amongst those five rings could indeed be enormous, but have advocates really looked properly at the negative side of the coin? Are there really advantages for all of us and not simply for a few IOF committee members hobnobbing with the elite of other federations? An attempt will be made here to clarify certain aspects of the situation.

Every year in many countries we hear lamentations upon the difficulties of supporting national teams on the scarce money allotted to them by sports authorities, and this problem has led to aggravating spinoff effects as seen at last year’s JWOC where youngsters from one country were deprived of the chance to run after having trained hard and travelled to the event. With more money available through being an “Olympic sport” this would perhaps not occur and the financing of coaching courses and important international training trips would also become easier. Sponsors would be more willing to invest if they knew their products would be on show on TV and even if one is not happy with the morals of such lines it is still clear that top orienteers would gain a lot by Olympic inclusion. But do we really want and need this?

As a former national coach, years ago I also felt it would be good to go Olympic and I therefore supported the various efforts in this direction. However, time and experience have forced other truths to the forefront, a major one being that if we haven’t managed it despite great efforts and costs in four decades, is there really much chance that we will be successful in the future? In recent times minor (and actually far less sporting!) sports with more advertising pull have managed to persuade the IOC of their power, and waiting in the wings are more aspirants in this theatre, most of whom carry more clout than we do. Is it sensible to keep pushing expensive aims in the face of such competition and historical failure? Even more to the point, do we really, all of us, want to be part of what appears to be the pathetically cowardly and generally corrupt organisation that the IOC has become over the years?

It’s probably not necessary to give examples supporting the background validity of such a question, everybody who can read a newspaper or watch TV knows the nature of the problem. Necessary diplomacy here or there, the efforts made to keep Russia in the fold despite horrendous doping criminality, are nothing short of an affront to fair sportspeople all over the world. Although I have it on personal authority from one of Europe’s top doping experts that even Orienteering is not completely clean, both he and I do believe that there are very few such culprits presently in our sport.

We would like to keep it that way, but are however not sure that joining the Olympic movement is the best way to achieve this!

46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2017

Mapreading is an important skill even in these GPS days, and should be in the school curriculum, especially in combination with outdoor activities. Perhaps being in the Olympics could help further this aim but I think that it is more likely to occur through work at a lower level, as has always been the case in navigational sport. Enthusiastic orienteers have spread our sport all over the world and continue to do so, and teachers recognising the worth of map related adventuring will always be a major factor.

For more than ten years the IOF thought that Ski-Orienteering offered the best chance of attaining the number of affiliated countries because for the Winter Olympics only half as many were necessary. Okay, so Ski-Orienteering is a great sport, very competitive at top level and involving extreme skills in various spheres. But only 10% of orienteers do the job on planks - is that really a valid form to be utilising in such a way? In fact Orienteering is already a “recognised sport” at Olympic level, but it remains a massive step further to actually get on the program of one or other of the Games.

One must, however, applaud a number of major spinoffs from efforts to impress the IOC, for example Trail-O and especially Urban Sprint races, originally developed by European nations mainly to make Orienteering more visible and TV-acceptable.

At a recent race I almost knocked over an old lady as she emerged from a shop I was sprinting past and I was pleased to hear my breathless “sorry!” commented with “Oh, you’re orienteering here?” That statement would never have been uttered a couple of decades ago and such public knowledge has been achieved without the IOC even if they have indirectly caused it. But what else must we do to prostitute our forest sport just to impress those in power?

There are various further politically inclined elements worthy of comment here. For example, why does the highly successful WMOC have to be linked to other veteran sports organisations thereby causing higher costs for entry, administration, official merchandise, etc, and calendar contortions to fit somehow. Aren’t we orienteers intelligent and well-organised enough to do our own thing perfectly happily without having to play up to other umbrella federations? Isn’t there more pride in being satisfied with our sport’s development progressing successfully, as it is? Perhaps we have too little money, but is that the most important factor? Isn’t honest, friendly, intelligent honorary effort without any vestige of corruptness or criminality better than that extra money? Perhaps I’ve become oldfashioned, but I’ve definitely changed my mind over the years. Even if the sporting camaraderie (which I can well appreciate because I have many olympian friends) is indeed a wonderful element of the Games and perhaps worth striving for, I reiterate: We can probably manage better without the Olympics.

Wilf Holloway (Germany)

TOP EVENTS 2017

2018 April 14-17 April 22-29

April 29-30

June 10-12

June 17-18

June 29July 2 June 30July 7 July 5-9

July 9-16

July 9-16

March 30April 2

Oceania Carnival near Auckland, New Zealand WMOC near Auckland, New Zealand worldmastersgames2017.co.nz 10Mila Göteborg, Sweden www.10mila.se AUS 3 Days & QBIII, Wagga Wagga, NSW onsw.asn.au/aust3days2017 Jukola Relay 2017 Joensuu, Finland www.jukola.com/2017 European Youth Championships Banská Bystrica, Slovakia www.eyoc2017.com/ WOC Tartu, Estonia www.woc2017.ee

April 5-7

dates TBA

June 27July 1 July 6-13

July 8-15

Aug 3-10 Aug 4-12 dates TBA Dec 27-31

2019

July 22-28

a us tr a l i a n

M T BO c h a m p i o n ships

20 17

W i ng ello, N SW

O-Ringen Arvika, Värmland, Sweden. www.oringen.se July 25-27 The World Games Wroclaw, Poland July 29WMMTBOC Orleans, France Aug 4 www.mtbo17.fr July 30Scottish 6 Days Aug 5 Deeside, Scotland August 19-27 WMTBOC & JWMTBOC Vilnius, Lithuania. www.mtbo.lt Sept 23AUS Championships Carnival Oct 1 Hill End, Bathurst, NSW http://onsw.asn.au/ozchamps2017 October 7-8 AUS MTBO Championships Wingello, NSW. ausmtbochamps.com Nov 11-12 Orienteering Venice Italy. www.orivenezia.it Dec 27-31 Xmas 5 Days, NSW www.onsw.asn.au

JWOC Kecskemét, Hungary www.jwoc2018.hu/ O-Ringen Höga Kusten, Sweden. www.oringen.se WOC Riga, Latvia woc2018.lv WMTBOC, JWMTBOC, Austria AUS Championships, South Aus Xmas 5 Days, NSW www.onsw.asn.au

July 21-27

Czech MTBO 5-Days Pilsen, Czech Republic www.mtbo5days.eu JWOC Tampere, Finland www.jwoc2017.fi FIN5 Tampere, Finland

AUS Easter Carnival, Hobart, Tasmania www.eastertasmania2018.net.au Bay of Fires 3 Days, Tasmania www.eastertasmania2018.net.au European Youth Championships Veliko, Bulgaria www.eyoc2018.com/ WMMTBOC Nagykovacsi, Hungary WMOC Copenhagen, Denmark

April 19-22 dates TBA July 6-12 Aug 13-17 Sept 28 - Oct 6

AUS Easter Carnival WMOC Riga, Latvia JWOC Silkeborg, Denmark WOC Sarpsborg, Østfold, Norway Oceania & AUS Championships Wagga Wagga, NSW

July 7-11

Sprint WOC, Denmark (near Velje)

2020

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