OACT 50 YEARS

ACT Orienteers Celebrate 50 Years of Orienteering History

One Wednesday last May, about 80 past and present orienteers took part in the 50th Anniversary celebrations of regular orienteering in the ACT. Those attending included ten past or current ACTOA/OACT Presidents, and several others who were prominent in the early history of ACT orienteering.

56 participants went on one of the “Flashback” courses on Black Mountain Reserve, where the inaugural event was conducted on 16 May 1971. They enjoyed the experience of searching for red‑and‑white plastic bucket controls, using a black‑and‑white map oriented to true north (not magnetic north) and showing contours, vehicle tracks, some watercourses and not much else. Participants also spent time studying the historical display, catching up with past orienteering friends whom they may not have seen for many years, and sampling one of the 50th Anniversary biscuits (Covid‑safe instead of a cake), baked by Carol Harding.

Bob Mouatt.

Bert Elson.

David Jenkins. Bryant Allen.

Hugh Moore.

Map display.

WOC 1985. Maurice Ongania & Anne Sawkins.

Replica early control. Maurice Ongania & David Hogg.

John Scown in retro O-top.

John Sutton.

David lives a full life loving the ‘sport for life’

By Nick Overall (Canberra City Times) June 15, 2021

ORIENTEERING has often been coined as “a sport for life” and for David Hogg, the man who brought it to Canberra 50 years ago, that title couldn’t be more fitting. He’s an Australian championships winner, the inaugural president of the Orienteering Federation Australia and still a competitor himself at 78, and on the 50th anniversary of the sport’s presence here in Canberra David says he’s proud to see how far it’s come. “At our first ever event in 1971 we had about 20 people. Today we have over 400 people turn up,” he says. Originally created in the late 1800’s for military training, Orienteering sees competitors navigating terrain as quickly as possible with only a map, compass and their intuition to guide them. Charting a course from Scandinavia, the sport arrived in Australia in 1969 and David, a Melbourne University student and keen outdoorsman, was excited to attend the country’s first Orienteering event. “I enjoyed it straight away, so when I moved to Canberra in 1971, I wanted to bring it with me,” he says. “One of the geography lecturers at the Canberra College of Advanced Education [now University of Canberra], was quite interested. He found a map of Black Mountain which I redrew as an orienteering map.” Canberra’s first Orienteering event would see about 20 participants traversing Black Mountain, which at the time did not feature the iconic tower atop its summit. “In those days Parkes Way wasn’t built, either, it was just a minor road going along the base of the mountain,” says David. “We went up the road, over near the top of the mountain and back down and around to where we started.” From there David and his friends would continue to organise Orienteering events and by 1980 he says hundreds of people were regularly turning up to compete. It was certainly helped by Canberra’s “bush capital” status, with the mountains, forests, parks and nature reserves offering abundant space that David says were great for orienteering. “We used Majura, the Stromlo forests and Kowen forests near Queanbeyan, Mount Ainslie, and the Namadgi National Park, too,” he says. “In ‘74 we hosted the Australian Championships in Pierces Creek Forest and in ‘77 it was hosted at Orroral Crossing. It went from an event every now and again to every month, and then to every fortnight as it grew in popularity.” Now, with a passionate and plentiful following, Canberra orienteering celebrated its 50th anniversary with a re-creation of the first event on Black Mountain. In recent years Orienteering has also made its way from the bush to the streets, with an alternative variation that David says has allowed many beginners and less physically able people to get involved. Despite all of his tireless efforts to promote the sport, they never slowed down David’s own competitive orienteering. He was a part of the first Australian team to travel overseas to NZ for a dual country challenge that the visiting team won with confidence. In 1994 David took out the Australian championship, in 1996 he won the Asia-Pacific championships in Hong Kong, in 2008 he was inducted into the ACT Sports Hall of Fame and in 2021 he’s still competing. “These days if I get in the top 10 I’m generally happy,” he says. For David, the magic is in the mental challenge. “It’s amazing how fast elite runners can go through rough terrain, up and down steep hills, jumping gullies and logs and at the same time reading their map as they go,” he says. Today, the sport has spread throughout every State in Australia and David believes there’s a strong future for it yet. “When you think about a young person navigating bushland on their own they really learn to think independently and make decisions and that builds a lot of confidence,” he says. “But at the same time Orienteering has five-year age brackets that go all the way up to over 90.” “It really is a sport for life.”

David Hogg… “At our first ever event in 1971 we had about 20 people. Today we have over 400 people turn up.” Photo: Nick Overall. 1972 - The first Australian orienteering team to travel overseas (to NZ) including David Hogg (left), Alex Tarr (centre) and Tom Andrews (right).

ACT Orienteering celebrate 50th year golden jubilee

By Brent Worsley (Canberra Times)

When David Hogg started orienteering in Canberra 50 years ago, he was sent into the bush with a hefty compass and a hand-drawn map. As the sport readies to celebrate its 50th year golden jubilee in the capital, Hogg is shocked at how much orienteering has changed. Oversized compasses have been replaced with a light-weight thumb attachment, while maps are digitised by computers and include everything from contour lines to termite mounds. “It has been very satisfying to see Orienteering grow, I have certainly enjoyed watching how it has developed and particularly how people have joined in,” Hogg said.

Orienteering veterans David Hogg and Bob Mouatt watch on as Matt and Grace Crane run past. Photo: Nick Overall.

Hogg was president of the Orienteering Federation Australia based in Melbourne in 1970 and when he moved to Canberra in 1971, introduced the capital to the sport. He tracked down a map of Black Mountain from a geography lecturer and re-drew it to use it for orienteering purposes. With the help of some donated compasses and word of mouth, 21 competitors competed in the first Orienteering event in Canberra on May 16, 1971. Half a century later, 430 orienteers contested a golden jubilee event at Broulee. As the popularity of Orienteering has grown year to year the sport has had to evolve to keep up with the demand, and develop with the newly available technology. “The new technology has made it certainly a lot easier to organise in many ways,” Hogg said. “It has made it a more exact sport in terms of the navigation required and for most people made it more enjoyable.” Orienteering ACT board member Bob Mouatt is equally amazed at the sport’s growth during his 44-year involvement in Canberra. “It was all manual originally, I organised my first event in 1978, everything was manual - we had to type things up in typewriters and now everything is electronic,” Mouatt said. One thing that hasn’t changed is Mouatt’s love and passion for Orienteering, and he played a large role in organising the Broulee event. “We were only expecting we would get 200 to 250. When we started to see the entries climb over 300 and go up to 430, we were taken by surprise,” Mouatt said. “Even though I’m 82 and I’ve got osteoarthritis in my ankle, I’ve had a total knee replacement, and a hip replacement, I still manage to get out there. I love the challenge.” Grace Crane, a Canberra Cockatoo and Australia representative, fell in love with the sport at a young age. “I got into Orienteering in late primary school when there was a twilight series on a Wednesday after school, I went along to those and got hooked really quickly,” Crane said. Crane represented Tasmania before moving to Canberra, and has represented Australia for almost 20 years winning multiple titles. She also holds the accolade for achieving the best result by an Australian relay team at the Orienteering World Championships, when they finished fourth in 2006.