Latest ONSW News
We have now posted on Eventor the final event information and start lists for this weekend's NSW Schools Championships and State League 10 & 11, to be held in western Sydney.
All competitors for the Saturday sprint races (at UWS Hawkesbury and UWS Werrington) are reminded to be aware of the out-of-bounds symbols/areas on sprint maps.
We are particularly excited at the volume of requests by parents to be taken on a map walk, or to participate in an Enter-on-Day course, so that they can understand the skills their children will be employing during the races.
The weather forecast is good, with temps from 5-20C and a possible light shower each day.
Australian championship organisers have added a fundraising event to this year's carnival in aid of JWOC team member Hannah Goddard who is about to enter a very tough 12 months.
Tasmanian Hannah, who ran for Australia in Norway last month, has just been diagnosed with sarcoma cancer growth at the base of her spine. She'll be having surgery and chemo for the majority of the next year and will have to move to Melbourne.
To assist the Goddard family there will be a sprint event at the Mount Helen Campus in Ballarat on the afternoon of Monday September 28, following the Australian Schools Sprint event that morning.
JWOC manager Karen Blatchford from our Newcastle club has kindly put the fundraiser together at short notice. For more details, see the flyer.
We encourage anyone attending the carnival to participate for Hannah.
And we also remind you that entries for the Aus champs close on August 31.
Our regional schools championships wrapped up at St Ives Showground on Monday with a record 199 entries and many new schools enjoying a shimmering winter's day for the Sydney North champs.
It was wonderful to see entries for the first time from Terrigal Primary, Beaumont Road PS (one placegetter), Wakehurst PS, Mosman High (three placegetters), Davidson High (one placegetter) and North Sydney Girls.
Riverside Girls HS retained their trophy for champion high school, as did West Pymble in the primary schools section.
In just five years these champs have grown from 20 entries to nudging 200. The vast majority of these are novices but show some great skills thanks to the introductory coaching they receive before heading out on their courses.
At the pointy end, Garingal members and regular orienteers Kaj Bollerup, Clare Jessup and Tom Kennedy took out three of the moderate courses which took competitors into the bush several times.
Check out the photo album on Facebook, and the results.
A huge thank you must go to Barbara Hill, the organiser on behalf of ONSW, and Andrew Mitchell from North Sydney Boys HS who co-ordinates the entries. We could not run these days without the fantastic pool of volunteer coaches and helpers who ensure the students get a positive introduction to our sport.
In 2015 our total attendance at schools champs/gala days i set to match last year's record of just over 2,000.
Next up are the NSW schools champs in western Sydney on August 15-16. The Saturday consist of two sprint races around school campuses, and Sunday is a middle distance event in the bush near the freeway. ENTRIES CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5.
While the east coast 'sweltered' in the rare winter warmth of 24 Celsius, two dozen hardy souls took to Perisher for the second annual NSW Ski Orienteering Championships on Sunday.
25 starters braved temperatures around zero (but which felt like about -7C) to take on the three courses set for Big Foot by their resident Swede Patrik Gunnarsson.
South Australian Ben Rattray (he of the Orienteering Australia introductory videos) took out the long course in 2.05.08, less than a minute clear of James Bailie. Mace Neve, a Victorian orienteer living in Canberra, won the medium and Wendy Hughes prevailed in the short novice course.
Garingal's Nicole Sellin was third on the novice course, while clubmate and ONSW junior Duncan Currie (pictured, left) unfortunately was one of several athletes to mispunch - will we soon see a 'Jeff' cartoon based on ski-o?.
OACT's David Poland reports: "Route choice was paramount with rain and the slow snow favouring those good navigators who risked leaving the groomed trails to cut corners and follow the map detail. Several newcomers had a go. Some had never orienteered before, some had never skied before and one had never even seen snow before! It was an exhilarating if rather wet day for all.
We thank Big Foot, Patrik and the Perisher XC week people for allowing us to put on such a pioneering event.
Results are on Eventor.
