Latest ONSW News
The year is rapidly closing, which means it's time to renew your membership - or join one of our friendly clubs.
Members receive discounted entry fees, a subscription to the quarterly Australian Orienteer magazine, and a range of other benefits - not to mention the collegiality of being a member of a club.
By renewing or joining now you will be entitled to members' rates for the rest of 2018 and all of 2019.
And in more good news, an upgrade to Eventor means it's now much easier to do that. Family renewals in particular can now be done in a few short steps. See the Eventor guide at the bottom of the membership web page (linked in blue above) for details.
Each year at Easter there is a big national carnival, with more than 800 orienteers travelling across the country.
Next year it's Western Australia's turn to host. Early bird entries (attracting a discount) close this Sunday (Dec 16) - so enter now and save!
There are events on all four days of the Easter weekend (April 19-22), followed by a social score course event on Anzac Day, then the Australian Sprint and Middle Champs on April 26-27.
With 7 quality orienteering experiences in just 9 days, you can be assured of a great range of terrains and events.
See the carnival website for full details.
Meanwhile, it's Adelaide's turn to host a sprint weekend in the New Year - from January 25-28.
Organisers are offering four days and five sprint races in detailed urban and forest terrain open to all competitors. The event is being organised by the national orienteering squads as part of a training camp in Adelaide.
Come and compete against Australia’s best or simply enjoy some fun summer holiday orienteering. Short, medium, and long courses available, with moderate to hard navigation, including a night race. Entries will be open soon.
Sunday's opener to the West Sydney orienteering series was a showcase in how to maximise all the available parkland when setting a course.
Upjohn Park in Rydalmere is a great area for introductory events, with enough traps around the creeks to catch the unwary.
Changes in direction require careful thinking to ensure the right bearing is taken, and creek crossings are at the whim of water levels and vegetation thickness.
Pictured here is the short line course.
The score course of 24 controls (no planning time allowed) was 5km by optimal route yet had barely 500m of road/footpath running if you chose to stay on the grass.
We were delighted to see newcomers attracted by our social media advertising and 76 entries in total - despite forecasts of temps well above 30C.
Thanks to setter Janet Morris and the WHO club for a great start to the series. This weekend we are at Prince Alfred Square in Parramatta for some riverside recreation, with Lyn Malmgron and SHOO in charge.
Our Newcastle club is a powerhouse on the Australian orienteering scene and wrapped up another successful year with their annual presentations on Sunday.
Prizes of a perpetual trophy and rain jacket for performances across the whole bush season went to Rob Bennett (Men, pictured) and Jenny Enderby (Women).
Congratulations also to the NOY winners: Rob Bennett (Hard Long), Glenn Burgess (Hard Medium), Rudi Landsiedel (Hard Short), Graeme Taplin (Moderate Long), Erika Enderby (Moderate Short), Warren Quilty (Easy) and Maya Kelly (Very Easy).
Newcastle retained the ONSW Interclub Trophy based on State League results, and Jenny won the prestigious Orienteering Australia Silva Medal.
Meanwhile, Waggaroos held their presentations on Saturday, with a very cute short line course (see the FB post here) around the Davey property.
Host Debbie Davey was awarded Wagga's course setter of the year.
And James McQuillan has been crowned as WHO's club champion for 2018. Over the past 12 months James has participated in 60 events at all levels from SOS to Summer Series, State League (winning NSW OY M35A), to Australian Championships and has represented NSW.
He was consistently at the top of the results for each event he entered. James is also WHO's highest level event controller and was the course controller for last year’s Australian Schools Championships.
