Barbara Hill of Garingal and a team of local coaches took time out from the busy winter orienteering schedule to run a training session for juniors and their families at South Turramurra on Sunday 12 May.
Barbara had set out two hour training session which covered a number of techniques, allowing beginners to intermediates to be accommodated. The more experienced runners from the NSW Junior Squad were catered for with Stinger elite runners, Andy Hill and Andrew Brown, leading an attack point exercise.
There were a satisfying number of families along, all keen to learn about the sport. Basic training exercises were followed by a course walk to study the local terrain in more detail. South Turramurra is a great choice for coaching as it teams open areas with interesting map features such as fences, power poles, playground and garden areas with easy but exciting bush trails. The areas of 'forest fight' in South Turramurra are a great way to explain why orienteers don't always just follow the red line between controls. The session completed with a star relay giving all the participants a taste of what fast competitive orienteering can be like.
