Orienteering NSW

Sydney clubs pioneer electronic pay-on-the-day

: Last Updated: Monday, 24 October 2016 13:02

Technology marches on in orienteering - and some of our clubs are now accepting electronic payment on the day.

Big Foot successfully trialled it at Ski-O at Perisher in August and will do so again at Wednesday's SSS at Sydney Olympic Park. (Big Foot are also offering pre-entry via Eventor at last year's prices ($10 for adults) - provided you register by 10am.)

Garingal tested Paywave at Sunday's Southern SSS event at Clovelly and reported no hiccups, and Bold Horizons have been offering e-payment this term in the SOS.

Cashless payment means orienteers don't need to hunt around for money on the day, and offers a vastly reduced cash handling risk for organisers. We encourage all clubs to discuss this payment method with our pioneers listed above.

Dean saddles up for Horse O

: Last Updated: Friday, 21 October 2016 12:10

In the past couple of years ONSW clubs have thought outside the box to conduct Ski-O and wheelchair O - and now one of our members has put on a horse orienteering event.

Dean Williamson, club captain at SHOO, reports...

"I'm not a horse person and I didn't know that horseback orienteering was a thing. After I was asked to set an orienteering activity for the Oaks Horse and Pony Club at Camden Bicentennial Equestrian Centre, I looked it up and found out there's even a horseback orienteering association in the US (Competitive Mounted Orienteering).

"The Pony Club was holding a two-day camp, and wanted orienteering to be one of five activities that up to 50 attendees rotated through.

"I always find it tough setting a course for beginners, and planning for the speed that horses could introduce made it even more interesting.

"We settled on 3 courses - one for children being led by adults, one for independent early teens, and one for late teens and adults who would likely gallop their way through the course. My aim was for the two longer courses to feel like riders were on a back-country adventure, with some longer legs for them to 'open up' their horses and enjoy the ride, while still being challenged at having to find points of easy-to-moderate difficulty. To assist with navigation and the comfort of orienteering for the first time, riders participated in pairs.

"To simplify the event, each control displayed the name of a famous horse which riders wrote on an answer sheet. With nearly 20 controls, I was surprised how quickly I ran out of famous horses. Pegasus, Unicorn (not really horses, technically), The Trojan Horse and the Horse from Snowy River (did he have a name?) all made an appearance. The children's course had a horse-themed sticker sheet, with stickers collected at each control point.

"To my surprise, two senior riders sped through the difficult course in 20 minutes, horses all a-lather. The impressive sight of the horses in full gallop down the Northern hill, map flapping in the lead rider's hand, was a rewarding experience, and really captured how exciting horseback orienteering could be as a sport. The day was a success, with the independent 'roaming' experience of orienteering making it the highlight event for many. The Club is already planning the next event - winning!"

Thanks Dean for this great initiative.

Hat-trick for Rhiannon Prentice at MTBO nationals

: Last Updated: Monday, 17 October 2016 10:22

Newcastle rider Rhiannon Prentice swept all three events in the W16 class at the Australian MTBO champs in Western Australia this weekend.

Robert Prentice (pictured), competing in M60, almost emulated his daughter after two wins on Saturday but had to settle for second place in Sunday's Long Distance race.

Saturday dawned cold, wet and windy for the Sprint at Dwellingup but the weather turned for the better later in the afternoon, much to the setters' and competitors' relief, for the Middle Distance at Marrinup.

Only six ONSW members made the long trek west but their returns were substantial, with winners as follows:

Sprint: Rhiannon Prentice (Newcastle, W16A), Michael Ridley-Smith (Garingal, M40A), Andrew Power (NC, M50A), Robert Prentice (NC, M60A).

Middle: Rhiannon Prentice (Newcastle, W16A), Robert Prentice (NC, M60A).

Long: Rhiannon Prentice (Newcastle, W16A)

Andrew Power was second in the Middle and Long, while Newcastle clubmate Greg Bacon picked up his first medal of the weekend with a third placing in the M60 Long.

Congratulations to all our participants. A reminder that NSW will host the 2017 Australian MTBO Champs from October 7-8 in the Southern Highlands.

Rob Bennett named as NSW Junior Squad coach

: Last Updated: Sunday, 16 October 2016 17:44

Orienteering NSW is delighted to announce that Newcastle's Rob Bennett has been appointed NSW Junior Squad coach for 2017.

At just 24, Rob takes on a crucial task with the added pressure of the Australian championships being held on home turf next year.

"My aim as coach is firstly to create an atmosphere of fun in our team camps and competition that kids look forward to experiencing," said Rob.

"A growth in numbers at squad level will inevitably lead to an improvement to the quality of athlete selected for the team as competition drives improvement.

"My secondary aim is to prepare the kids for competition; through mental, technical and physical training. I plan to create a central forum to improve co-ordination and communication across the squad. The Moodle page will also allow for orienteering news as well as weekly armchair orienteering activities to be sent out to keep them thinking about orienteering.

"I also plan on improving their knowledge of physical training and conditioning as this aspect of the sport is often neglected. This knowledge will arm them with the fitness to reach elite levels if they choose to."

ONSW sincerely thanks Jock Davis (Big Foot) for his huge efforts in coaching the junior squad for the past three years.

Sally Devenish (Western Plains) will remain as squad manager for 2017.

Rob's passion for the role was ignited when he returned to O after a three-year hiauts.

"I took a couple years off from orienteering from around 2013-15, but at the end of 2015 I entered in the Xmas 5 days which was the catalyst I needed to re-enter the sport and give it a proper go. I got flogged in every single race at the 5 days. I was incredibly unfit and my navigation had fallen apart after years of not orienteering at all. I started going out to maps by myself and doing training exercises to improve my navigation with the aim of becoming competitive at the sport."

Coming Events

Welcome to Orienteering NSW

Sydney clubs pioneer electronic pay-on-the-day

Dean saddles up for Horse O

Hat-trick for Rhiannon Prentice at MTBO nationals

Rob Bennett named as NSW Junior Squad coach

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