Latest ONSW News
Next weekend sees the launch of orienteering in Lismore and Ballina. Six free taster events will be conducted in streets, parks and reserves. They will require only basic navigation and are suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels.
The first weekend set of event runs from Friday 16 November with a late afternoon start, through a Saturday 17 November afternoon event to Sunday 18th November which has a morning event set up near the Aquatic Centre at Alstonville:
Fri Nov 16: Riverbank, Lismore. Visitor Information Centre car park, Molesworth St. Start any time from 4.30-6pm. This event is designed for ages 8-14, but all ages are welcome to try it.
Sat Nov 17: Goonellabah. Kadina Park, Kadina St. Start any time from 4.30-6pm. All ages.
Sun Nov 18: Alstonville. Aquatic Centre, Freeborn Place. Start any time from 9.30-11am. All ages.
Paul Prudhoe, President of ONSW will be on hand and is the contact for this weekend (0418 287 694).
The second weekend follows the same pattern:
Fri Nov 23: Shaws Bay. Pop Denison Park, off Compton Dr. Start any time from 4.30-6pm. All ages.
Sat Nov 24: Lennox Head. Old Mining Road, at Pacific Pde (opp SLSC).Start any time from 4.30-6pm. All ages.
Sun Nov 25: Lake Ainsworth Sport & Rec camp. Start any time from 9.30-11am. This event is designed for ages 8-14, but all ages are welcome to try it.
The contact over this second weekend is Terry Bluett (0425 847 306).
The free weekends are part of Orienteering NSW’s aim to expand its club network into the northern rivers region and have been made possible thanks to funding from the Australian Sports Commission.
Each event will also be a good opportunity for participants to chat with the organisers about orienteering and express interest in joining / running a new club. Any prospective new club will receive mentoring from ONSW including administrative support, equipment, mapping and set-up costs.
Click here to read the Orienteering NSW Press Release.
For more information, please contact ONSW president Paul Prudhoe on 0418 287 694
St Johns Junior School leads the way
The 2012 Armidale Outdoors Schools Orienteering Championships were held at Gara Dam TSR 15km east of Armidale on Friday 2nd November. A near record number of 825 school children from 12 Armidale schools competed in this annual event.
The majority of participants completed the 1 hour score course, trying to visit as many control points as possible within the time limit. The remainder did either the green or orange line course in which they had to complete a set course as quickly as possible.
The mild temperature of the day and gentle breeze provided ideal orienteering conditions while the recent spell of dry weather meant there were few grass seeds. The lack of grass cover also made it very easy to spot the snakes as well as the control points.
The competition for the Primary School Sports Association trophy was very close this year, with St Johns junior school narrowly beating TAS and PLC junior schools. The Primary School trophy is awarded to the highest scoring school on the basis of participation and performance in both line and score courses taking school size into account.
The Annual ONSW Presentation Dinner was held on Saturday 10 November at the Showground in Castle Hill. A new format for the event was the brainchild of Marketing Officer Ian Jessup and with attendance significantly up on 2011 it seemed that preceding the formal dinner with a family friendly orienteering competition was a definite hit.
Full results are available here which include Orienteer of the Year, MetroLeague results, MTBO State and National Titles, DuO winners, and Junior awards. The main awards titles:
Encouragement Award (Cox’s Cup) 2012: Greg Bacon
Awarded to an orienteer who makes efforts to encourage other orienteers by both personal efforts and example
Rookie of the Year 2012: Samantha Howe
Awarded to a new (less than 2 seasons) orienteer showing a high level of competitive achievement
Graham Mitchell Award 2012: Denis Lyons
Awarded to the OY Course Setter of the Year based on the results of a website survey.
NSW Interclub Trophy 2012: Garingal
Awarded to the club with the highest club score in the OY events.
NSW Club of the Year 2012 Uringa
Awarded to a club showing a high level of achievement in promotion, membership, event organisation and competition
President’s Award 2012: Maggie Jones
Awarded by the President to an orienteer making an outstanding contribution to the furtherance of NSW orienteering
The AFL's newest team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, will be having a crack at orienteering TODAY (Saturday) morning at Fred Caterson Reserve, Castle Hill.
This nice little coup for ONSW has been put together at very short notice by our Marketing Officer Ian Jessup in liaison with Giants head of sports science John Quinn. The Giants will go around in teams of 3 on the same course we will use for the informal teams event prior to our presentation night at Castle Hill Showground later today.
Anyone interested in watching the Giants orienteer is welcome to come along - and we would dearly love it if you could take some photos and / or video footage of the footballers in O action.
The Giants will be having a hard fitness session on Field 4 (the most westerly of the fields) at 8am, then will receive a briefing from Ian at about 9.20am before heading out for their O experience around 9.40am. They are doing a 45-minute score course.
WHO elite orienteers Andrew Hill and Lee Coady will run as individuals at the same time to demonstrate the speed with which it is possible to compete as an orienteer.
Any questions please contact Ian Jessup as
