Orienteering NSW

Coming Events

map	Sat 2 Nov 9:30 am SOS 3 - Middle Cove Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School, 5A Glenroy Ave, Middle Cove

map	Sat 2 Nov 10:00 am Illawarra Map Running Series - Spring #3 Croome Sporting Complex John O Dwyer Oval within Croome Sporting Complex - use the northern entrance from Croome Road - most direct access to Oval.

map	Sun 3 Nov 4:00 pm River and Bay Series #2 - Randwick Over the Rainbow, Randwick

map	Wed 6 Nov 4:30 pm 2024/25 Sydney Summer Series #5 - Lindfield Primula Oval, Lindfield.

map	Wed 6 Nov 5:00 pm Newcastle Summer Street Series #4 - Blackalls Park Blackalls Park

map	Thu 7 Nov 5:00 pm Summer series #1 72 Ross Street

map	Fri 8 Nov 5:30 pm Goldseekers Park #2 - Gosling Creek Gosling Creek

map	Sat 9 Nov 9:30 am SOS 4

map	Sat 9 Nov 10:00 am Illawarra Map Running Series - Spring #4 Unanderra Lindsay Maynes Park, cnr Princes Highway & Factory Rd, Unanderra

map	Sun 10 Nov 9:00 am Central Coast Summer Series 1 - Shelly Beach Naomi Honey Reserve, Shelly Beach Rd, Shelly Beach

Congratulations to the Shingler siblings Nea and Ewan (Big Foot) for their wins in the junior NOL Sprint at CSU Orange on Good Friday.

Nea is still only 15 and hence young enough to run W16A or W18E but instead stepped up to smash W20E by almost two minutes on a warm afternoon to start the 2021 national Easter carnival. Ewan pipped Queensland's Reinbott brothers in M20E by 24 seconds.

Making it a very good Friday, mum Paula anchored the third leg to give them the win in the Family Relay!

The other NSW place-getter in the NOL races was Sam Woolford (Bush n Beach), 2nd in M18E.

In the senior elite class (21E), Victoria swept the men's race - with each runner managing under 4 minutes per km - while ACT veteran Shannon Jones won the women's.

The intricate buildings and plethora of out-of-bounds garden beds made for fine navigation at times, and the gradual climb over much of the campus also tested the legs.

In the public races, Barbara Hill (Garingal) won the Women's Long and Lisa Grant (GO) was third, Linda Sesta (Uringa) was second in the Women's Middle and Gayle Quantock (Newcastle) third, and Vanessa Freeman (BF) won the Women's Easy.

We wrapped up season 30 of the Sydney Summer Series at Chatswood Bowling Club on Wednesday with the tremendous news that our 100,000th score has been recorded!

Who would have thought, from humble beginnings in late 1991 as a bit of a laugh in the "non-bush" months, that this seed would grow into a fertile forest of foraging by foot?!

Alas, all good things must come to an end and we announce with a heavy heart that SSS founder and co-ordinator Ross Barr is retiring after 30 years of calendar planning and epic blog posting.

The orienteering community owes Ross more than we can possibly repay. The SSS is a major contributor to ONSW and club coffers, and an important entry point to our sport.

The SSS Cup for most points across the 26 events went to Melissa Thomas (Bennelong) who scored a perfect 2600. Mel also took out the Open Women class, while UK newcomer Simon Murphy (Uringa) won Open Men.

The SSS special award went to Andrew Wisniewski (Big Foot) for his redesign of the SSS website.

We christened five new maps and had more than 600 unique participants in 2020-21.

A big thank you to course setter Ted Woodley, Garingal, the bowling club, and all the volunteers who made this a hugely successful season.

But most of all - thank you Ross.

Support the NSW Junior Squad by (1) buying tickets in the Easter Egg Raffle.

The raffle will be drawn at approximately 1pm at Sunday's event at Gumble. There will be several prizes.

Online: via Eventor (listed on Sat Apr 3). The minimum spend is $10 for 5 tickets. Additional tickets are $2 each. Online purchasing closes 6pm Easter Saturday.
In person: $2 each at an event (SSS finale + Easter) right up until draw time.

If you are unable to attend the draw, or are buying for someone who loves chocolate - you will be notified of their win. Distance is no barrier to supporting our Junior Squad!

(2) attending Moonlight Madness 1 at Glebe on Wed Apr 21. This casual series runs on the same format as the Sydney Summer Series but with a start window of 5.30-7pm - so you'll need a torch or headlamp.

Proceeds from the event will go to the junior squad.

ONSW is delighted to announce our new NSW Junior Squad coach is Bjorn Mella from our Newcastle club.

Bjorn represented Norway internationally as a junior before injuries put a stop to his competitive career.

After years of sporadic orienteering he has been a regular orienteer after moving to Newcastle in 2000. He has a particular interest in beating the fitter and faster runners when the orienteering and terrain gets difficult.

He is the father of current NSW Schools team member Oskar (both pictured), and has a younger son Tommy also active in the sport.

Bjorn started orienteering as a 10-year-old when orienteering was at its peak of popularity in Norway. He has medals from junior championships in Norway.

The main focus as a coach will be on improving the orienteering skill of our juniors as well as building a social environment that is welcoming and supportive.

"I spent my years as a junior in an environment that offered great opportunities and support for those of us with high ambitions within orienteering. More importantly those years were spend in a great social environment with fun and friendship around competition and camps," recalled Bjorn.

"I hope that with Helen O'Callaghan and Jenny Enderby we can provide that sense of fun, friendship and support to the all junior orienteers in NSW."

We wish Bjorn all the best as he seeks to defend the Australian schools title won in 2019.

Orienteering NSW thanks Rob Bennett for his huge for his efforts in the role over the past few years.

A reminder to all secondary students that nominations for the 2021 NSW Schools team close on April 14.

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