Latest ONSW News

Congratulations to SHOO member John Fitzsimmons who is our ONSW Rookie of the Year for 2021.

John has been an enthusiastic member of SHOO for two years, taking an active part in club events, Metro League and State League. 

This year he won Men’s Open B in the Orienteer of the Year and was SHOO’s leading point scorer in Division 3 of the MetrO League. 

In his first State League on a Hard course he won – at Newcastle for the QBIII carnival. 

This year he has really extended his understanding of the sport, maps and his physical ability. 

You can see the list of previous winners here.

Congratulations to Nea Shingler (Big Foot) who has won the ONSW President's Junior Award for 2021.

In the six months available for competition, Nea made a massive impact. At just 16 years old - and giving away four years to some rivals - she is the Junior Women's National League Champion for 2021 and was selected in the team for the Junior World Orienteering Championships.

In the State League Point Score competition she won W20A. She was also on the verge of winning the Australian Orienteering 3-Days for junior elite women at Easter until an unfortunate error on the last day at Gumble.

Our winner is already an emerging coach, gaining experience as part of the Bold Horizons SOS crew, and helping coach newcomers at the first Moonlight Madness event in April (a fundraiser for the NSW junior squad).

We look forward to seeing many more years of her in the pink skeleton, the two blues, and the green and gold.

You can see the list of previous winners here.

Congratulations to Bush n Beach secretary and NSW junior squad manager Helen O'Callaghan who has won the ONSW President's Award for 2021.

Helen put her hand up at the 2013 meeting to establish the club, and has not brought down it since. She also brought with her husband Tony and her four sons, all of whom have represented NSW at schools level.

When ‘newbies’ turn up to an event, Helen goes out of her way to ensure that they are welcome, that it doesn't matter if they have never orienteered before. She explains the process and the map, and ensures they all (whether they be 7 or 70 years old) understand the concepts.

Then, when all are feeling fully prepared, she sends them off with a smile and a "Have fun" farewell. She is also inspiring. Even when she broke her ankle, Helen was always there at the registration tent offering her advice and assistance.

She is very passionate about getting juniors involved in orienteering. She has held a number of introductory courses, training and events for juniors at schools and over the school holidays (using the Active Kids vouchers). Helen has almost single-handedly contacted schools and offered her services and expertise.

Helen is considered the consummate secretary. Agendas are well prepared, and her minutes are always accurate. She is a motivator and is highly organised. Helen has always done her best to promote the club, and the sport. Not all her ideas have worked (but then, who in promotion can claim 100% success?) yet setbacks do not deter her. There's always another idea to explore.

ONSW Junior Squad

In 2020 Helen was appointed manager of the NSW Junior Squad and she set about doing the job with gusto, developing many initiatives. She has initiated and developed many things for the Juniors including Zoom coaching sessions and an online competition for the juniors to keep them motivated during COVID-19 lockdowns. This included organising a shirt for all NSW juniors to make them feel part of a team and a week-long camp at Easter involving juniors and their families with many fun activities and interesting speakers.

State Orienteering Events

When it came to hosting and organising larger events, such as QB3 and the Easter 3-Days (in conjunction with NTOC), again it was Helen at the forefront. She took these events on with enthusiasm and the events ran like clockwork.

You can see the list of previous winners here.

The NSW junior squad wrapped up another fun year with a training camp near Newcastle at the weekend.

For Johnny Nolan, 14, from Uringa, it was his first junior squad camp.

"I liked that the camp helped improve my navigating skills and it was really fun to be there with everyone else."

For 2022, Johnny plans to move to Hard courses and to use some of his new skills at the Christmas 5-Days... and to definitely go to more of the junior camps!

A massive thank you to junior squad coach Bjorn Mella for hosting everyone on his property at the weekend, manager Helen O'Callaghan for all her organising, and all the parents who helped throughout the year.

Here's hoping the kids will get to go to the Australian champs in 2022 - where they will defend the trophy they won in Wagga in 2019.