National recognition of contributions to orienteering

The OA Service Awards and Hall of Fame

DAVID HOGG –OA Awards and Trophies Manager

As regular orienteers appreciate, much work goes into the organisation of orienteering events and keeping the sport functioning in other ways. Most of this effort is on a voluntary basis, many orienteers have been contributing for a long time, and many state associations and clubs have ways of recognising such efforts.

At the national level, Orienteering Australia recognises outstanding contributions in several ways. In doing so, it relies on the orienteering population at large to assist by nominating worthy recipients for its service awards and for induction into the OA Hall of Fame. The following article provides some historical background on these awards and advice to encourage nominations for the future.

History of OA Service Awards

The process of recognising contributions to Australian orienteering began in 1983 when, to mark its fiftieth anniversary, the Silva Compass company in Sweden donated a trophy to each national orienteering federation for presentation to a person who had contributed in a most deserving manner to the development of orienteering in their country. This trophy was a bronze miniature of the statue of an orienteer that stands outside the Silva factory in Stockholm. This perpetual trophy was first awarded in 1984, to Ted Wester, the retiring president, former treasurer and a key figure in Australia’s successful WOC85 bid. From then on, the award has been made annually to individuals to recognise their services at the national and state levels. In addition, for many years Silva provided medallions, also depicting the orienteer statue, as personal mementos for the recipients of the award. Men and women from all state associations have been recipients of the award. Their range of services has extended to many aspects of orienteering development, including administration, event management and coaching. This Silva Award is significant in that it began the process of the Orienteering Federation of Australia formally recognising orienteers for their exceptional contributions to Australian orienteering.

A further award donated by Silva was received in 1995. This also depicted the orienteer statue, but in glass. The OFA decided to present this award to recognise services to orienteering coaching in Australia. The Silva Award for Services to Orienteering Coaching was first presented in 1996, shared between Peta Whitford and Kay Haarsma. Coaches from all state associations have subsequently been recognised with that award, in some cases for their contributions at the national level, but often at the state association or club level.

In 2009 the David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management was instigated by Orienteering Australia. The inaugural award was made to Ron Pallas, the main organiser for the 2007 Junior World Orienteering Championships held near Dubbo, New South Wales. In contrast to the other service awards, this award did not involve a perpetual trophy, but the winners received specially struck medals. At one stage, the supply of medals was exhausted and a bronze plaque mounted on rosewood was presented instead but, from 2023, medals have been reintroduced.

One of the conditions of the three service awards is that a particular award is not made more than once to the same person, although some people have received the coaching or event management award in addition to receiving the main Silva Award. The past winners of the three service awards are listed in the Awards section of the OA website. This is an impressive ‘Who’s who’ from Australia’s orienteering history, but there are other names which could be added, ranging from the distant past to recent years. To do so requires help from the wider orienteering community, as described below.

Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame

At the 2013 Annual Conference, Orienteering Australia established its Hall of Fame as a further form of recognition for outstanding competitive achievements at the international level or outstanding contributions to the development of orienteering at the national or international level. A Selection Committee chaired by Michael Dowling was appointed at the 2014 Annual General Meeting, criteria for nominations were prepared and nominations were invited through state associations. The Hall of Fame provides for Athlete Members recognised for their competitive achievements at the highest level of competition and General Members recognised for their contributions to Australian orienteering through administration, event management, mapping and coaching. The initial inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2016 were Grant Bluett and Jenny Bourne (Athlete Members) and Tom Andrews, David Hogg, Barry McCrae and Alex Tarr (General Members). The induction took place at the annual OA Dinner, held during the Australian 3-Days Carnival.

In 2017, there was no Australian 3-Days event at Easter because of the World Masters Orienteering Championships and Oceania Championships in New Zealand, and hence no OA Dinner or Hall of Fame induction. Since 2018, inductions have taken place every year. See the table for a full list of current inductees.

Orienteering Australia Hall Of Fame Inductees

Year Athlete Division

2016 Grant Bluett

Jenny Bourne

2018 Hermann Wehner

2019 Geoff Lawford

2020 Hanny Allston

2021 Warren Key Christine Marshall

2022 Jo Allison

Adrian Jackson

Carolyn Jackson

2023 Tracy Marsh

*Deceased at time of induction

General Division

Tom Andrews

David Hogg

Barry McCrae

Alex Tarr

Eric Andrews*

John Brammall*

Bob Mouatt

Hugh Cameron

Peta Whitford

Kathy Liley

Ron Pallas

Dave Lotty

Jim Russell

Michael Dowling

Rob Simson*

Nick Dent

Don Young

How the awards system works

The service awards and Hall of Fame inductions are determined each year by the OA Awards Committee, which is appointed by the OA Board. The current members of the Awards Committee are Bruce Arthur (Chair, Vic.), Clare Hawthorne (Board representative, Tas.), Jenny Bourne (ACT), Greg Barbour (NSW) and Robin Uppill (SA). The Committee reflects gender balance and broad state representation, but its members are not appointed as state representatives, and review all nominations based on merit, not state affiliations. The composition of the Awards Committee is reviewed every two years, with members eligible to serve for a maximum of four terms (eight years).

The nomination procedures for awards are described in the OA Operational Manual, which is on the OA website. Nominations for service awards are made through state associations, but clubs or individuals can propose nominations through their state associations and prepare supporting documentation. Nominations for Hall of Fame inductions can be made by anyone, but are likely to carry more weight if supported by a state association. Nominees do not have to belong to the state association that nominates them.

The eligibility criteria for consideration for the awards are as follows:

Silva Award for Services to Orienteering. Has rendered meritorious services to the sport of orienteering at club, state association and national/international level over a period of many years.

Silva Award for Services to Orienteering Coaching. Has rendered meritorious coaching services to the sport of orienteering at club, state association and national/international level over a period of many years.

David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management. Has rendered meritorious services to the staging of orienteering events at club, state association and national/international level over a period of many years.

Hall of Fame Athlete Division. Excellence of achievement at the highest international level in senior and masters competition, namely World Orienteering Championships, World Cup, World Games and World Masters Orienteering Championships, in foot and mountain bike orienteering.

Hall of Fame General Division. Demonstrated outstanding highlevel achievement from personal effort or initiative over many years at the international or national level to the development of orienteering in one or more of the fields of administration, event management, mapping or coaching.

An important distinction between Hall of Fame induction and other service awards is that, while the service awards may be based on contributions at the international, national, state or club level, Hall of Fame inductions are based on performance or service at the international or national level.

Submitting a nomination

Nominations can be made at any time in accordance with the conditions in the OA Operational Manual, but close on 14 January each year, with the awards announced and presented during the Australian 3-Days Carnival. If you are considering nominating someone for an award, the following advice is provided:

1. First check the OA website for past winners to ensure that the nominee has not received that award previously.

2. Check the criteria for the award to satisfy yourself that the nominee meets those criteria.

3. Advise your state association of your suggested nomination, and check that the association is not already proposing someone else for that award.

4. Work with the state association to prepare the nomination in accordance with the conditions in the OA Operational Manual. Present the nomination in a way that emphasises the nominee’s contributions to the core criteria for the award, rather than necessarily all their contributions to orienteering.

5. Submit the completed nomination through the state association to the OA Awards and Trophies Manager dhogg1943@gmail.com with a copy to the OA General Manager ( gm@orienteering.asn.au ) by the due date (14 January unless otherwise advised). David Hogg is the current Awards and Trophies Manager and is available to provide advice regarding nominations, including checking OA/OFA records to confirm supporting information, if required.

If your nomination is unsuccessful, don’t feel too disappointed. There are sometimes several nominations for the one award, and lack of success does not imply that the nominee is not a worthy candidate. An unsuccessful nomination can be resubmitted the following year with updating if appropriate.

In the case of the Hall of Fame General Division, for which there is a maximum of two inductions per year, unsuccessful nominations are automatically carried through for up to three years, if the nominator agrees. Unsuccessful nominations for the Hall of Fame Athlete Division, for which there is no annual limit on numbers, are unlikely to be reconsidered unless there is significant additional supporting information.

Nominations for 2024 are now open, providing the opportunity for them to be discussed among orienteering colleagues at the Australian Championships Carnival, or at other events leading up to the end of the year.

Interview with Daniel Stott

(Project Manager: Learn to Orienteer, E-Learning)

It was a shock not running through lush NZ forests where fallen branches just disintegrate under your feet but instead having the Australian dry scratchy branches and large grass seeds. The wonderful intricate contour details of the goldmining areas just beyond Melbourne make up for the scratches though!

Congratulations on becoming the project manager of Learn to Orienteer and e-learning. What does the new role involve?

Thankyou! I am delighted to be involved in helping newcomers into orienteering. As our daughter went through primary school, she learnt new sports through programs like NetSetGo, but orienteering only had a little bit of teaching and advice and more ‘learn as you go’… and there was even less education for my wife.

Brodie Nankervis, Martin Kozma and I created and ran a Learn to Orienteer program in-between the Covid lockdowns. This helped my family and a lovely group of other families in similar situations to systematically learn how to orienteer.

Daniel Stott is developing a new Learn to Orienteer program to teach beginners the fundamental orienteering skills. He is also creating e-learning modules for the new coaching accreditations. These will be hosted on the Orienteering Learning Centre website, which will be launched very soon.

How did you get started in orienteering over in New Zealand, and how was the change when you came to Australia?

I grew up in New Zealand where the high school athletics coach took us to the local orienteering school champs. I suppose I got hooked on orienteering through the guise of a ‘cross country training day’! Over 20 years later my family is involved and I’m now helping to introduce others to orienteering.

I now have the opportunity to expand this so all states can help teach newcomers. I’m working with a steering committee to create a specific program that newcomers can attend over a number of weeks to learn the fundamental skills of orienteering, and then connect with a club. We want the program to be fun, active, social and open to all ages.

You are a qualified and experienced teacher. Do you have an education philosophy in relation to orienteering?

When I started teaching, I lost the class’s attention whenever I rambled on using lots of words. Children (and adults) love joining in with the learning and feel part of the education journey. The Learn to Orienteer program will have a major focus on the participants learning a specific skill in an experiential way. Regarding the elearning, I’m in the process of turning textbook style pdfs into engaging modules; trying to make them as practical as possible.

You have a young family, what do you think keeps your family interested in orienteering?

Yeah, it is a tough one! There are lots of great sports and activities to participate in.

The long-term participation issue keeps coming up around Australia as I do research for Learn to Orienteer. Because orienteering involves driving great distances it requires dedication from the adults in the family. Therefore, we are aiming for this program to include and equip everyone, especially the adults.

There have been times when my wife and daughter haven’t been so enthusiastic about orienteering, and I struggled to understand why. I came to realise it wasn’t that they disliked the sport, but my approach of packing a bunch of bananas and a loaf of bread and taking them to a remote location to do something physically and mentally challenging is not everyone’s idea of fun. I have adapted. Be it understanding that my daughter likes orienteering because of friendships, and even if she does a course with her friend… not running, but chatting… it is good. Or incorporating other family experiences into the orienteering trip, like stopping at a town and exploring the history or finding nice food.