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OA AWARDS
Orienteering Hall of Fame
The presentation of honours and awards were the final activities of the 2021 Australian 3-Days. Retiring President of Orienteering Australia, Blair Trewin, announced these inductees to the Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame:
Athlete Division: Christine Marshall (nee Watson) Athlete Division: Warren Key General Division: Dave Lotty General Division: Jim Russell
Membership of the Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame is the crowning achievement of a sporting career in Orienteering in Australia and represents the highest level of peer recognition for an individual’s contribution to Australian orienteering. The Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame recognises and promotes the outstanding sporting achievements of our athletes and officials to acknowledge the rich sporting heritage of Australian orienteering. It is an illustrious group of Australia’s most respected and celebrated orienteers that span the test of time. They are the best of the best, who through their achievements have made a significant contribution to our sporting history and have inspired others to achieve their potential in both sport and life.
ATHLETE DIVISION:
Christine Marshall (nee Watson) (TAS) Christine made her first Australian WOC team in 1981 while still a junior and attended her first World Orienteering Championships in Thun, Switzerland. Over the next 10 years, Christine was a member of a further four WOC teams, including the team which competed in the 1985 World Championships at Mt Kooyoora in Victoria. In 1991 she achieved her best place of 27th in the Long Distance race in (then) Czechoslovakia. When competing at the elite level in Australia, Christine was remarkably consistent with many top three finishes – winning W21E at both the Easter 3-Days and Australian Championships in 1989. In addition to her achievements at the elite level, Christine has gone on to win or place in her age class in numerous national and Oceania championships – including a 3rd place in W55 at the 2021 Australian 3-days. Christine joins fellow Tasmanian Hanny Allston, who was inducted in 2020. Congratulations Christine! Warren Key (VIC): Warren is a two-time World Masters Champion, with 4 medals in total. • 2009 World Masters - Champion Long Distance M50 • 2009 World Masters - Champion Sprint M50 • 2008 World Masters - Bronze Long Distance M45 • 2005 World Masters - Bronze Long Distance M45 Warren has also represented Australia 11 times at Elite level at the World Orienteering Championships in: • 1997 Norway (11th Relay, 37th Middle Distance) • 1995 Germany (13th Relay, 51st Long Distance) • 1993 USA (11th Relay, 45th Long Distance) • 1983 Hungary (Relay DSQ) • 1981 Switzerland (23rd Long Distance, 6th Relay) • 1979 Finland (8th Relay, 39th Long Distance)
Warren was also Australian Team WOC coach for almost 10 years. Warren had an extraordinarily long career at the top of the domestic elite fields, with highlights being his Australian Long Distance Championships title for M21E in 1995 and 2nd in 2004 (while eligible to run M45), as well as being winner of the inaugural National Orienteering League in 1993. Renowned for his technical skills, Warren has been dominant in his age classes over the past 20 years. Alongside this, Warren is a regular organiser and course setter for major championships and has recently launched his own compass and orienteering shoe brands. Congratulations Warren.
GENERAL DIVISION:
Dave Lotty (NSW):
Dave was the most influential person in the establishment of orienteering in New South Wales commencing in late 1971. After competing in an event staged in the Blue Mountains for a visiting New Zealand orienteering team, he was involved a few weeks later in restaging that event, followed by the first event in the Sydney area. He helped form and was Secretary of Sydney’s first orienteering club, Bennelong Occasional Orienteers, and later formed Kareelah Orienteers and Uringa Orienteers as Orienteering expanded in Sydney. He helped to form the Orienteering Association of NSW in March 1972 and was initially a Committee member, then Secretary from 1973, the position that he held for many years before becoming the full time OANSW professional officer. As a professional draftsman, he prepared most of the early NSW orienteering maps, initially in black and white and later in colour, as well as field working many of these maps. He was responsible for the concept of the Easter 3-Days, organising the first of these events with Bjorn Blomstedt and Ian Hassall in 1974, as well as several subsequent Easter 3-Days events. He also organised the first QBIII event in NSW. At the national level, he participated in the OFA Council as a delegate or NSW Councillor from 1973, becoming Secretary in 1981. He remained as Secretary until 2002, when the OFA completed a major review of its governance to become Orienteering Australia. He then held the position of Director (Administration) until 2006, making him the longest serving officer for OFA/ Orienteering Australia. In his early years with OFA, he chaired its Mapping Committee and later became Fixture Coordinator. He received the OFA Silva Award for Services to Orienteering in 1991. Coming from a background in athletics, Dave has always been a successful competitor, being a member of the Australian team to the World Championships in Denmark in 1974 and a team member in several Australia – New Zealand Challenges. He has won several Australian Championships in his age class and numerous State Championships. Congratulations Dave. Jim Russell (VIC): Jim is inducted in recognition for his outstanding contributions to all aspects of the sport in Australia. Jim has been involved in Orienteering for about 40 years and apart from the first five when he was heavily involved in competition he has been involved on the organisation side consistently. Jim has had an enormously successful coaching record, including as WOC team coach in 2017, 2018, team manager/assistant coach in 2019 and Women’s team coach in 2004 and 2005, where Hanny Allston broke through for a podium finish in the JWOC Long Distance race. Jim was also JWOC coach from 1996-1999, where highlights were top results for Jo Allison and a bronze medal for Troy de Haas, and later was joint coach for JWOC 2007 in Dubbo, coaching Simon Uppill and Vanessa Round to outstanding results. Among Jim’s many other notable coaching contributions are his role as OA Head Coach from 2016-2020 and his work in developing and implementing the process for accreditation of Orienteering coaches. Jim served on the VOA Board for many years, and as VOA Vice President from 1995 to 1998. Similarly Jim has consistently participated on the Bendigo Orienteers committee (including three years as president and currently serving as VicePresident). Jim has been involved in the running of countless events at National, State and local level. In particular, he has become known for single-handedly organising the annual Bendigo ToDay event at the start of each season, which has now been held 14 times. Another particularly large organisational feat was his role as Carnival Director for the Bushrangers 09 Australian Orienteering Championships. Jim has also played a significant part in the increased participation of people in Central Victoria in Orienteering through the development of Space Racing and the success of ‘his’ schools and students at the Victorian Primary Schools Championship - it is a great credit to him. Jim has always wanted to put on the best event possible for the competitors and spectators. He has been a driving force behind the sport’s use of technology in Victoria and Australia, promoting the use of SPORTident and O-Lynx touch, having screens displaying real time results at the Melbourne Sprint & Autumn Bush series, plus every MSW carnival that has been run. Jim also introduced the excellent Pretex paper for mapprinting to Australia. Jim is often the invisible hand behind the things that get done. Without being asked to, and without other people being aware of what he is doing. The things that need to get done, will be done, ready for an event. High profile contributions get their own recognition but the behind the scenes things often do not. This is what everyone remarks on when they’re asked about Jim. It is all the unsung organising, mentoring, and stepping into gaps, often without needing to be asked, that make him worthy of induction. Congratulations Jim.
Blair also announced the following awards:
Silva Award for Services
to Orienteering Coaching: Rachel West.
Rachel West (WA):
Rachel is an elite orienteer in her own right, having represented the Nomads, Bushrangers and Australia (in W35 and W40) and in 2019 was the top-ranked female orienteer in her age class, yet she has given time and put considerable thought into providing quality coaching in WA since she became an accredited coach in 1994. Her efforts have been designed to improve skills in, and enjoyment of, orienteering for OWA members in general and elite and junior athletes in particular. More recently she has developed and run courses for beginners as a way of introducing a wider range of people to our sport. Rachel has undoubtedly been the most active coach in WA in recent years and she is thoroughly deserving of the Silva Award for Services to Coaching. Congratulations Rachel.
Silva Award for Services to Orienteering:
Michael Hubbert (VIC): The longstanding editor of The Australian Orienteer, Mike has made significant contributions to Australian orienteering at the national level over three periods. The first period was in 1969-70 when Orienteering began its path towards becoming a national sport in Australia. Mike was the event secretary for the Upper Beaconsfield event in August 1969 that began this path, and competed in the event, finishing eighth out of 33 starters. In early 1970, he was involved with Tom Andrews, David Hogg and Ron Frederick in establishing the Victorian Orienteering Association and the Orienteering Federation of Australia. Had he not been heading overseas shortly after the inaugural meeting of those bodies, he would have been the logical choice for Secretary. Returning to Australia around the end of 1972, Mike resumed an active role in Victorian orienteering. His second period of involvement at the national level began in June 1975 when he was elected Secretary of the Orienteering Federation of Australia, holding that position until 1981. That period covered the later years when State Associations were being established throughout Australia and were affiliating with the OFA. One off Mike’s challenges, on behalf of the OFA Executive, was coordinating liaison with all of the State Associations, which was managed largely through a series of OFA Council Bulletins. During that period, he worked with the OFA President, David Hogg, in starting work on the first OFA Development Plan. It was Mike’s initiative earlier in 1976 that started action on the bid to host the 1985 World Orienteering Championships in Australia. He worked with Tom Andrews, Ted Wester and Alex Tarr to develop the bid documentation and, in July 1980, attended the IOF Congress in Germany to promote the bid which was accepted. The hosting of WOC85 proved to be one of the most important events in the development of Australian orienteering. Mike’s third period of significant contribution began in mid2004 when he took over the role of Editor of The Australian Orienteer from Ian Baker. Continuing to work with Peter Cusworth, Mike maintained the high quality of the magazine in a role which has continued to the present time. Throughout Mike’s orienteering career, spanning more than 50 years, he has also been an important contributor at the State Association and club level. As a member of Victoria’s first specialist Orienteering club, Red Kangaroos, in December 1974 he organised an evening event at Blackburn Lake in the east of Melbourne that was to set the pattern for Melbourne’s series of Park-Street orienteering events. He was the cartographer for the first coloured map used for an Australian Championships in Victoria (Tallarook State Forest in 1975). These are just a couple of further examples of Mike’s ongoing commitment to Orienteering in Australia at all levels.
Blair Trewin presents Michael Hubbert with the Silva Award for Services to Orienteering. Congratulations to all these people for their services to Orienteering in Australia.
COVID Postponements
With COVID still raging in Europe several countries have questioned whether to send teams to major championship events such as WOC, JWOC and the World Cup. Orienteering Australia has decided not to send teams to the 2021 MTBOC and JWMTBOC scheduled to be held in Finland from 8th June. And, Orienteering Australia will not be sending athletes to JWOC 2021, scheduled for July, due to ongoing travel restrictions and the COVID-19 situation in Turkey. Similarly, OA has decided not to send Australian based athletes to WOC 2021 in Czech Republic in early July. JWOC 2021 has now been postponed to September 5 - 10, so OA may reconsider the decision depending on circumstances. Orienteering NZ and Orienteering Canada have already decided not to send teams to the 2021 WOC and JWOC events unless they are postponed to later in the year, at which point Canada may reconsider.
Other Events:
O-RINGEN 2021 in Uppsala, Sweden, has been postponed to 2022.
