2022 Membership is open
- Last Updated: Friday, 03 December 2021 15:32
December is here - which means it's time to renew your membership for 2022 - or join one of our friendly clubs.
You can now gift someone a membership! Got a friend who has enjoyed a few events? Want to keep a junior in the sport? Give them a 2022 membership! Click here to sign them up.
Family membership is no longer an option, but there is a cap on how much families pay. The family deal covers 2 adults and 2 children living at home. Any further children living at home are free.
Junior membership is no more than $5.
Members receive discounted entry fees, a subscription to the quarterly Australian Orienteer magazine (opt-in for hard copy is still available) and a range of other benefits - not to mention the collegiality of being a member of a club.
Current members must renew by December 31 or Eventor will add the non-member levy to each entry fee.
If you are not a member but are thinking of joining a club in 2022, you can get the rest of 2021 for free - and access member rates from the moment you join.
Click on the blue links for the benefits of membership, a list of our clubs, how to join, and how to renew.
Introducing the Bluebottles, our NSW Junior Squad
- Last Updated: Monday, 29 November 2021 19:54
Our junior development squad has a new name and logo - the Bluebottles - as they prepare for their annual pre-Christmas camp.
The squad is the gateway to the NSW Schools Team and eventually our elite National League team, the Stingers.
The Bluebottles name, logo and new T-shirt design were all driven by the junior squad which is always on the lookout for new recruits.
Squad members must be at least in Year 6, and either already doing Moderate courses or looking to move up to Moderate level (where you learn to go cross-country).
The squad is a great chance for junior orienteers to make new friends, develop their skills and travel around the state.
Camp costs are kept down by camping or staying in bunk accommodation, and everyone pitches in for food.
"We love having parents help at our camps, and we encourage them to have a go at the activities as well," said Bluebottles manager Helen O'Callaghan.
"There is a such a good, fun atmosphere in the squad and the kids have a fantastic time."
The next Bluebottles camp is from December 18-20 near Newcastle. Entries are open in Eventor.
For all enquiries, please contact Helen via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
ONSW Board member Andrew Power
- Last Updated: Friday, 26 November 2021 10:55
Meet your Board member.
This is the ninth and final in a weekly series where we introduce you to the people entrusted to run our sport in NSW.
Board member Andrew Power (Newcastle). Joined the Board 2015.
Years of rugby – and its inevitable knee injuries – have turned Andrew Power’s occasional dalliances in foot orienteering into a passion for the mountain bike format.
Andrew did some orienteering at school and was pretty handy, but it was not until 1985 – when at uni with current clubmate Glenn Burgess – that he competed in his first Newcastle event. Rugby prevailed, though, and Andrew’s O days were sparse.
He became a more regular competitor in 2007, and in 2009 discovered you could do orienteering on a bike as well. While Andrew won the Newcastle OY a couple of times in the Hard Medium category, he soon found he was more competitive in MTBO than Foot O.
And that’s where he has made a huge impact:
• travelling to most states in Australia and NZ to compete in MTBO
• winning the Australian MTBO series in M50 four times
• helping the Australian team win the Aus-NZ MTBO challenge a few times
• he’s currently chair of the new Australian MTBO commission
• Australian team manager for the most recent Aus-NZ challenge
Andrew has been Newcastle president for about 10 years, and on the ONSW board for 6 years - joining when it was short on numbers.
His aim at the time was to represent clubs outside of the Sydney area and to increase the profile of MTBO in NSW with the board, executive and foot orienteers.
Andrew is a Level 2 controller and has set and controlled local Newcastle events, organised and controlled State League foot events, and organised, set and controlled a number of state and national MTBO events. He’s controller for next year’s Australian MTBO champs.
He’s an electrical engineer by training with experience working in Australia, UK and SE Asia. He has worked as a senior manager in a large organisation for many years and has experience in interacting with and reporting to senior executives and boards.
We should also mention that time Andrew captained “Australia” in the Vietnam cricket competition in 2000. It was the first time in 10 years “Australia” lost the best-of-three final of the DHL Rolling Shield. Read about it here.
