Latest ONSW News
Meet your Board member.
This is the first in a weekly series where we introduce you to the people entrusted to run our sport in NSW.
President Robyn Pallas (Central Coast). Joined the Board 2020.
The junior squad catering tent that you see at State League events was the brainchild of current president Robyn Pallas in the 1990s as a way of raising funds to help pay some of the considerable costs of sending the NSW schools team away each year.
So, when daughter Naomi made it into the schools team, Robyn sprang into action.
It is just one of the many volunteer contributions she has made to orienteering since her first event in 1984 on the Central Coast.
Going as a family to that first event – with a 2- and a 4-year-old in tow – she decided from that day that this was the sport for her.
“Robyn and Hugh Cameron were members of Central Coast then and Robyn became an excellent mentor. I am now a life member and longest serving member of Central Coast Orienteers,” said Robyn.
She has orienteered nationally and internationally, including competing in 11 World Masters. She was part of the organising committee for the 2009 World Masters Games in NSW, organising the opening and closing ceremonies. She has also been president of Central Coast Orienteers.
Competitively, her career highlight was being selected as a member of the Australian team to compete in New Zealand in the W35 age class after winning the Australian champs that year.
Outside orienteering, Robyn has been a member of the Zonta Club of Central Coast for six years, four of these as a committee chair. (Zonta is a charity organisation supporting women and girls across the world.) She was secretary for two years and represented the club at the Zonta International conference in Brisbane 2019.
All while carving out a career in education spanning nearly 40 years. First as a primary school teacher in Crookwell and ending up on the Central Coast. Robyn soon moved on to specialist positions in school and then to executive positions across schools. This led to the final 25 years of her career in consultancy work for the Department of Education from Sydney to Newcastle. This work involved training and mentoring teachers.
Last year, Robyn felt the time was right to contribute to the running of ONSW as she had recently retired. She saw this as an opportunity to give back to the sport she loves through its management.
Meet your Board member.
This is the fifth in a weekly series where we introduce you to the people entrusted to run our sport in NSW.
Technical Director Rod Parkin (Bennelong Northside). Joined the Board 2020.
Rod wasted no time making his mark on our sport by becoming Australian Junior Men’s champion in 1973.
At the time he was in senior high school and heavily into outdoor activities. One of his teachers had heard about orienteering (then very much in its infancy in Australia) and suggested he try it.
Rod’s first event was at “Camp Coutts” just south of Waterfall in July 1972. It was run on a hand-drawn black-and-white map at 1:25,000 with very little detail. Imagine that!
As befits a sporting career nearing the half-century mark, Rod can’t single out a highlight but says he’s had many very satisfying times with orienteering.
His contribution to the sport extends well beyond being pretty handy with a map.
He has been on the Bennelong committee for quite a few years, including a number of years as Treasurer.
Rod is a Level 2 Controller and has been both Planner and Organiser for quite a few events, including at State and National level – most recently he set Day 1 at Easter this year in the rock of the new map Noah’s Ark Ridge.
Rod was asked to consider coming onto the Board because of his vast experience and the need to replace retiring directors. He was quickly convinced of the idea and is now our Technical Director.
He has been a director/owner of a few small-medium incorporated businesses and has held prominent positions in (smallish) publicly listed multi-national companies.
Rod’s also an SES volunteer. With that comes various levels of training in First Aid, storm damage, height safety, rescue, and chainsaw use. He has particular responsibility for the business administration of the North Sydney unit.
More than 200 happy orienteers celebrated a return to community sport over the weekend with runs in three different terrains.
On Saturday morning, the Bold Horizons crew put on a cracking 5km sprint at Hyde Park in the Sydney CBD.
Junior world championship selection Ewan Shingler (Big Foot) blitzed the fast, flat course in just under 19 minutes! Younger sister Nea, who was also picked for JWOC, was the fastest woman in 22m22s.
In Port Macquarie, our newest club resumed operations with hilly line courses on their Tacking Point map. The Hogs' IT guru James Stevenson was quickest on the Long course and Torgrim Soeyland fastest on the Moderate.
We noticed an entry on the Easy course called "Team Happy dragged away from devices" - we can all relate to that!
And outside Orange, Goldseekers had their final winter bush event for 2021 at Ophir South.
They start their sprint twilight series this Friday at Elephant Park.
The NSW championships are going ahead for fully vaccinated people on November 20-21 after the state government relaxed restrictions on community sport following the long Delta Covid outbreak.
We are delighted that our Uringa and Central Coast clubs will get to see their work come to fruition on maps north of Lithgow that we have not been on for eight years.
Entries have now reopened, and close on Sunday November 7.
Please note there will be no enter-on-day or string course.
The landscape is dominated by large pagoda rock outcrops inter mingled with spur gully. Thank you to Rob Vincent for updating both maps following the fires and the recent regrowth.
These will be our last two State League events for 2021.
