Latest ONSW News
West Pymble teen Lucy Mackie has ridden a fantastic Middle Distance race to finish fifth at the MTBO junior world championship in Valongo do Vouga, Portugal.
Younger brother Fergus, just 15, came 15th in M20. Coincidentally each was 5 minutes off the winner's time in their age class in temperatures in the low 30s. The Big Foot siblings are the first NSW orienteers to compete at a junior world MTBO championship.
In Monday's Sprint opener in Cantanhede, riders battled through oppressive 40C heat. Fergus was only two minutes off the winner; his time of 22m35s enough for 17th place out of 48 in a tightly packed field on the 8.1km course.
Lucy, 18, was well off the pace on her 6.1km course to finish 22nd in 26m14s. The Czech winner flew around in 14m12s. Check out all the maps.
The remaining events are the Long distance on Friday and Relay on Saturday.
Rookies Hugo Boersma and Clyde McGhee have been added to the NSW Schools team for the Australian championships in Queensland in late September.
Hugo (Garingal) will make his NSW debut in the senior boys competition while Year 7 student Clyde (Bennelong Northside, pictured) is a reserve for the junior boys team.
We congratulate them on their selection and wish them all the best at the Aus champs.
The event website has all the details of the carnival.
Behind the scenes Orienteering NSW does a lot of development work in schools, either independently or as part of the federal government's Sporting Schools program.
For example, on Sydney's northern beaches in Term 2 we have just finished 10 weeks at Mimosa PS (120 kids) and 8 weeks at Balgowlah North PS (80 kids, and where co-coach Tracy Marsh attended).
Both programs (2 x 5 weeks and 2 x 4 weeks) used activities from the OK-GO kit developed by ONSW and finished with solo races around the school putting into practice everything the students had learned.
The students and teachers love orienteering - it's engaging, educational, outdoors and great exercise. Many times our coaches or the teachers overheard kids say: "Orienteering is the best!"
We hope to see some of these kids at next month's Sydney North schools championships at St Ives Showground.
Thanks to all our wonderful coaches and Johnny Petersen who looked after SI, and the schools for their enthusiasm.
This year our NSW schools champs are in the Lansdowne area on August 27-28. The weekend is hosted by Uringa and staged in conjunction with State Leagues 9 and 10.
Entries are now open, with this reminder:
* all students entering the NSW schools champs must do so via Trybooking
* all non-students entering the State League events must do so via Eventor
* you may enter Saturday, or Sunday, or both days
Please note that Saturday consists of two sprints: at Garrison Point and nearby UWS Bankstown. Times will be added to calculate the winners in each class. Presentations will be held straight after.
Sunday's Middle Distance event is also close by, at Mirrambeena Regional Park. Non-orienteers should refer to the information sheet for descriptions of courses; it contains links to map examples.
Parents of competing students again have the opportunity to go on a map walk with a coach, or try a free course and compare their route with their child.
Entries close August 19.