Latest ONSW News
The NSW Juniors have had a fantastic 2012 with some of the best results achieved in recent years. This is due to their own hard work, the time and effort put in by the managers, Karen and Russell Blatchford, and expertise of their coach, Nick Dent. However all of this would not have been possible without the backing of the NSW orienteering community at large and they are very appreciative of all the support they have been given during 2012.
Significant financial support has come from ONSW and from stalwart supporters, the Carbines who increased their contribution this year, from Big Foot Orienteers who generously donated some of the SL1/2 entry fees to the NSW juniors and Newcastle Club who permitted us to use their maps to set courses and run the Xmas 5 days which was profitable for us. Apart from that we have been fundraising at all the State League events through catering and raffles and we have received enormous support from the orienteering community. So if you have ever bought a raffle ticket, a cake or a burger from our fundraising ventures then this certificate of appreciation is partly yours.
Thank you for giving us such wonderful opportunities. NSW Juniors
State League orienteers will be well aware of the problems with State Leagues 1 & 2 at Snow Hills this year which were rained off in March, postponed until October and finally washed out and cancelled. Fated State League 1&2 organiser Mark Shingler writes:
'We were finally able to access the property last weekend and retrieve the control stands and flags we had left in place after the deluge. The forest was looking fantastic with a display of wild flowers not seen for years - why couldn't it have been like this last month? The sub-junior members of ACT Blue Sparks and NSW Wildfires were able to experience the area through the training session Jock Davis & David Poland/Toni Brown organised on Saturday.
Andy Simpson, President of Big Foot passed on his thanks to the disappointed but patient members of the orienteering community.
'Many thanks to all of you who indicated they were happy to donate their entry fee to the junior squads. Your generosity has allowed us to give $3,500 to the NSW squad and $2,000 to the ACT squad, the split being in line with the entries. The club was happy that something positive came out of what was a very frustrating exercise for all of us. Some club members spent over 30 hours just driving to and from the area in the course of the year, never mind the work they did on the event itself.
With this extra funding we should see some exciting performances from our juniors in the year ahead!
At least that is what anyone who was tempted into the higher point scoring controls will have discovered at the latest Central Coast event this Sunday. Paul's determination to make sure winners earned their points meant that key controls were located at the top of rather useful hills. It proved very enticing for those with strong leg muscles, the ambitious or perhaps those who didn't read the contour detail as well as they might have. Karen Blatchford was the biggest scorer overall so clearly had a good workout but whatever the final scores, all enjoyed the lovely shady park overlooking beautiful Brisbane Waters where the start and finish were located.
There were new faces in the near 40 strong field with a number of new Central Coast club members running. The club are hoping to see everyone again next week 2 December at Rowan Park, Lake Haven, where it will be the turn of Hilary Wood to set the course. Once again the start is close to the water so participants can take advantage of a refreshing post-run swim. More details of next week's event can be found on the Central Coast website
The NSW Wildfires were invited to join in with the ACT Blue Sparks camping trip and what a fantastic weekend it was! With nearly 60 people along, including 6 families from NSW this was a big increase in the numbers from last year's camp. Clearly the word is getting around about the fun to be had together on this annual camp run by Toni Brown and David Poland.
Starting out with a training session on Saturday morning with Jock Davis (Big Foot) on the Snow Hills maps the under 12's from both States learnt about how to read complex mine diggings. Older orienteers also took advantage of the session; Australian Internationals Mace Neve and Lachlan Dow, Australian Junior International Ollie Poland and NZ International Lizzie Ingham as well as some of the NSW Junior Squad were out enjoying the training too.
Lunch was back at the private bush block owned by the Polands followed by a dip in their pristine but chilly waterhole. David Poland had set up a series of training exercises around the main site to practice map thumbing skills, how to understand map legends and IOF descriptions, and even how to draw a map where a series of unusual objects were masquerading as map symbols. A BBQ supper and a thrilling night 'O' event with roaming controls and flashlight spotters finished up the day with the children happy to crawl into their tents early, ready for a 7am start the next day.
Sunday was more technical training followed by an extensive hour long rogaine set by Noah Poland and the Miller brothers, Patrick and Tristan around the bush block. The adults were as keen to get out into the field for a run as the children, and careful planning was needed to make sure that some of the younger teams didn't show up the more experienced orienteers and rogainers. Matt Hill and Ian Jones showed the way picking up all the controls in the hour, with NSW team consisting of future champions, Ewan Shingler, Sophie Jones, Callum Davis and Georgia Jones getting all but three in a stunning display of wily planning and pure speed. Everyone's score was evened up at the finish with the final control, set right in the middle of the waterhole, which scored a massive 10,000 points for all those hot and dusty runners who fancied a dip. Toni magically produced icecreams for all - yes, adults as well!
Many thanks to the Poland family for their generous invitation, to Jock Davis for his training session and to all the ACT youngsters (special mention Zac Needham) who helped to lead the individual training activities over the weekend. The date has already been set for next year 23/24 November 2013 - put it in your diary and don't miss out next time!
