Newcastle wrap up winter season
- Last Updated: Monday, 06 December 2021 15:11
Newcastle presented their Orienteer of the Year awards following Sunday's final bush event on a new map at Kitchener.
The cool La Nina system allowed Newcastle to put on two bush events after lockdown ended, meaning they finished with the usual full complement of seven events.
Congratulations to overall series winners Jenny Enderby and Stephen Craig (pictured).
A big thank you to all the setters, controllers, organisers, results people and the many other helpers who make this club one of the biggest and best in Australia.
We look forward to Newcastle hosting us for a State League in March 2022.
Congratulations also to these category winners:
Very Easy: Baxter Peel
Easy: Karen Morante
Moderate Short: Lucy Most
Moderate Long: Graeme Taplin
Hard Short: Carolyn Matthews
Hard Medium: Erika Enderby
Hard Long: Stephen Craig
Bennelong Northside win Club of the Year
- Last Updated: Monday, 06 December 2021 10:19
It was a double celebration on Friday night as Bennelong Northside were awarded Club of the Year at their 50th anniversary dinner.
Australia's first constituted club formed in December 1971, and around 80 people were at Balgowlah RSL to celebrate the milestone.
Little did the attendees know they were also taking out the Club of the Year award for the first time since it was introduced in 1994.
Pictured here is Bennelong president Terry Bluett receiving the perpetual trophy from ONSW president Robyn Pallas.
Bennelong co-hosted a superb Easter carnival at Orange and Molong, with demanding courses on challenging Gumble terrain, and a brilliant new granite map - Noah's Ark Ridge.
They had to do all the leg work (extensive landowner negotiations, setting, checking and tagging sites etc) twice due to covid interruptions.
The 50th dinner brought together many past presidents. Founding members of BOO and NOSH (clubs which merged to form Bennelong Northside) told how they started in orienteering and what has kept them in the sport for so long.
A big thank you to dinner organisers Linda Mandin and Katherine Cameron, to MC Julian Ledger, to Sharon Lambert for tracking down past members, Peter Hopper for collating the history, and Janet Dawkins for the fascinating historical display.
The rest of the ONSW major awards will be handed out during the Xmas 5-Days carnival in the Southern Highlands.
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.
