Latest ONSW News
The 2018 MetrO League welcomes back a cracking old map for this year's interclub competition, which starts on Sunday March 25 at Pennant Hills.
Garingal's Mitchell Park map has been dusted off and will be as eagerly awaited as the new maps of Whalan (WHO) and William Howe Reserve (SHOO).
We will again have close to a record 30 teams entered. Gradings and team numbers are still being decided, and will be advised as soon as they come to hand.
All this year's details will be on the ML web page. We wish all participants an enjoyable season and hope to see lots of Summer Series and SOS runners taking the next step up.
Please pre-enter for each event. The abbreviated MetrO League calendar is:
Mar 25 Pennant Hills
Apr 15 Mitchell Park
May 27 Whalan - new map
June 24 Mt Annan - new map
Jul 22 Lapstone
Aug 26 Lansdowne
State championships will carry double points in a revamped State League scoring system in 2018.
This year's SL calendar has 16 events, with the highlight being the NSW championships (April 21-22) on brand new granite maps in Armidale and the NSW Sprint Champs at UNSW on July 29.
To add greater prestige to all 3 NSW championships, they will offer double points to count toward the Orienteer of the Year badges. Additionally, all finishers will now receive a minimum 10 points per event.
We have again co-sanctioned three SL events with OACT: the season opener at Collector on March 17, and the ACT Sprint and Middle Champs on May 19-20.
Central Coast will host this year's QB III weekend at Clandulla, using maps from the 2009 World Masters Games and 2014 Easter carnival.
All State League events are pre-entry. See the full schedule here.
Orienteering NSW is calling for nominations for the 2018 NSW Schools Team.
Up to 20 high school students - junior boys and girls (15 and under), and senior boys and girls - are selected to compete in the Australian All Schools Championships in individual and relay races.
In 2018, the squad (known as the Carbines) will travel with a manager and coach to South Australia for a week of competition during the September/October school holidays.
Nominations close on March 18. The squad will be announced by July 31 on the ONSW website.
Competing in ALL selection events is expected. These are State Leagues 1-11. Please submit your nomination to NSW selector Hilary Wood. You can view the selection criteria here. Written notification to the Chair of Selectors (Rob Bennett) is required if illness, injury or exceptional circumstances prevent attendance at any race.
The coach for 2018 is Rob Bennett (Newcastle) and the manager will be announced shortly. Rob, Hilary and Jock Davis are the selectors. We thank them for their dedication to this important task.
There is a lot of mountain bike orienteering happening in the first half of 2018.
It's great fun, excellent cross training and an alternative to Foot O if you are not in a position to walk or run.
So that you can plan your calendar, here is our condensed version of what's ahead.
At a major level:
* the first NOL weekend - and the Australian selection trials - are in Creswick, Victoria on March 17-18. Nominations close on Mar 16.
* the annual AUS-NZ Challenge is in Alexandra (south island) on April 25-26. Nominations close on Feb 16.
* the Australian championships are in northern Brisbane on May 19-20.
* the senior and junior world championships are in Austria from August 5-13.
For those interested in nominating, the Orienteering Australia selection criteria can be found halfway down this page.
On a more local level, ACT are putting on a training weekend on Feb 17-18 (see the flyer) and three winter events plus the ACT champs in October.
In NSW, our Newcastle club puts on a monthly Sunday morning event (see the BOSS web page - the next one is this Sunday, February 11), while our NSW champs will be on in mid-October.
Last year, Big Foot's Lucy Mackie became the first NSW orienteer to win a medal at world championship level when she finished second in the Middle Distance MTBO junior champs. What glory lies ahead?
