Latest ONSW News
ONSW is proud to announce the opening of our first permanent course available by smartphone - at Bicentennial Park in Sydney Olympic Park. And it's free!
All courses start from Waterview Café. You can do them old-school with a hard copy of the map and instructions, or with the MapRun app developed by Queensland orienteer Peter Effeney.
Participants have the choice of:
* 2 score courses
* 6 line courses
* 2 courses that are wheelchair-friendly
The courses range from 1km to 5.3km and suit beginners all the way up to experienced orienteers looking for a navigational challenge outside regular competition.
When you finish each course you can upload your times, splits and routes to the server - then compare your results with friends.
The Bicentennial Park permanent course is the culmination of 18 months work. ONSW thanks Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Sydney Olympic Park Bike Hire, Peter Effeney, Pacific Solutions and the Australian Sports Commission for their co-operation on this project.
See our permanent course web page for information on all our courses. You can print a map from our website, pick up a copy at the bike hire shop, or go paperless and just use the app.
We hope to launch two more Sydney courses by app later this year. Stay tuned for more details.
Our Finnish scholar Konsta Vanhanen has announced details of training programs he is offering this weekend in Sydney.
Konsta has already seen a fair chunk of NSW since arriving in September and is about to see more - so this is a great chance for Sydneysiders to make use of his experience and expertise.
These sessions are open to everyone, and we thank Konsta for investing this time and effort.
Sat Jan 20: junior training in the morning at West Pymble's Bicentennial Park at 9am. There will be an individual sprint and after a short recovery break a sprint relay. It's mainly for the NSW Junior Squad, but he's happy for all juniors (or adults too) who are interested.
Sun Jan 21: a course-setting talk for all people interested, at the ONSW office at Olympic Park at 2pm. It will go for about 2 hours, then everyone can smoothly move to the Sprint Series at Macquarie Hospital (starts from 5-6pm). The idea is Konsta will have heaps of leg/map examples of courses and provide tips on how to make a good and challenging course.
"This would be good for everyone who plans to do some course setting in the future, or who has done it few times but would like to get maybe some ideas to improve," he says.
"Often, by moving just a few controls you can make a course much more interesting."
Mon Jan 22: Crimson Hill (end of Eton Road, Lindfield). Arrive at 5.45pm for a 6pm start. The first 45 minutes will be some o-skill sessions, then short technical o-loops and in the end again a few o-skill things. Approximately 2 hours all up.
Entries are now open for the annual O'Shea 2-Days carnival on March 10-11.
Our Central Coast club is debuting a new map at Mt Penang Gardens, along with the much-loved bush of Rumbalara.
All events are less than an hour from northern Sydney.
While it has a great social atmosphere (and some participants dress up in wacky matching outfits), the prizes - fruit cakes decorated with spearmint leaf lollies (see pic, left) - are keenly sought after.
The carnival is is mainly for pairs, but single entries are welcome, too. There are three events in 18 hours, as follows:
* a Saturday afternoon relay at Rumbalara
* a Saturday evening event at Mt Penang Gardens. Only one member of each pair needs to run the night sector, but both may run.
* a Sunday morning Pairs Score event at Mt Penang Gardens. Each pair splits the controls up between them, aiming to finish together.
The flyer has all the information. Entries close on March 7 via Eventor. Enter on Day is limited. If you are entering solo, organisers will find you a partner.
The Women's Orienteering Weekend (WOW) is an annual camp for women to build their navigation skills in a supportive environment.
It's for women of all ages who:
* wish to make the jump from street and park events to bush orienteering
* are keen to learn or improve their off-track navigation and orienteering skills
* are experienced in the bush but wish to brush up on some skills or get in some practice before the winter season
Entries for the 2018 weekend, to be held in the Southern Highlands on March 3-4, are now open.
Information is available here. We recommend booking early as this weekend always sells out and generates a lot of interest from women outside orienteering.
It's great networking, great camaraderie and a lot of fun. Thanks to our partner Bold Horizons for putting this on again.
