Author: craigf

Orienteering Australia is seeking expressions of interest to produce online information and training guides for street and park, bush, sprint and mountain bike orienteering. These projects are being funded by the ASC grant to increase participation in orienteering.

These guides will build on beginner training information already found on the OA, state and club websites, and be a complementary package to videos being produced during 2011 on how to do street and park, bush, sprint and mountain bike orienteering. The training guides will be targeted at:

• Beginners (walkers, runners and mountain bikers) to give them advance knowledge before their first event and some rudimentary skills to allow their first few events to be positive experiences
• Building up skills as further engagement occurs
• Teachers keen to start an orienteering program in their schools with a resource
• Level 1 coaches to provide a resource to share with beginners they are coaching
• Scout and guide leaders to show their troops what orienteering is about before they bring the troops to participate in club orienteering events

The guides should include

• Overview of orienteering and formats of orienteering events
• Overview of the orienteering map (various formats)
• Basic orienteering skills necessary for the above groups for the various formats
• The guides will be written in plain English and packaged attractively with photos, sample maps and illustrations as appropriate.

Each manual will be in PDF format for ease of download and printing. Copyright will allow download and use by individuals, schools or clubs but not for reproduction for sale. An Orienteering Australia reference group will assist authors by reviewing drafts. The target for completion of the project is December 2011.

Expressions of interest should include information on the coaching background of the applicant, writing experience, and which discipline(s) the applicant will be documenting. Applicants should provide quotes firstly to complete a draft and secondly to finalise after feedback from the reference group.

Expressions of interest should be forwarded to John Harding, Executive Officer, Orienteering Australia (ph 0427 107 033) email orienteering@netspeed.com.au by 19 April 2011.

Grace Crane (nee Elson) competed successfully in the British sprint and middle distance championships last weekend.
After placing 2nd in the sprint heats she had to be satisfied with 5th in the final. Hollie Orr won in 14.33 with Grace recording 15.10.
In the middle event Claire Ward won in 29.41 with Grace 2nd in 31.16 in a strong field.
These events were British team selection races for WOC, Nordic Champs and the Euromeeting and the women’s field had 46 starters.

Results available from http://www.sportident.co.uk/results/2011/BritishSprintMiddle/

Route gadget available from the Southdowns Orienteers website

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and Australian Government Office for Women are looking to develop the next generation of female leaders in sport by offering the 2011-12 Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women (SLGSfW).

Substantial funding for organisations and individuals is available, with applications now open.  Applications close on 29 April 2011.

Women from all areas and levels of the Australian sports community are encouraged to apply, including women involved in sport as managers, administrators, coaches, officials, and women in sport governance and media/communications.

For more information about the 2011-12 SLGSfW, please visit ausport.gov.au/women or call 02 6214 1111.

Orienteering Australia is seeking applications to undertake a consultancy project to define the requirements for an integrated website and supporting digital communication technologies for Orienteering Australia and State Associations, and consider options for the implementation of these requirements.  The options may involve complete redevelopment of a new website(s), additions of new functionality to the current web site(s), or a maintenance of the status quo with improved management processes.

The application should include details and background of the applicant(s), proposed cost of the project, and a project schedule to produce a draft report by 15 July and final report by 15 September 2011.

The project should include a phase to refer preliminary findings to a sub-committee nominated by the Orienteering Australian Board. The plan will include:

1. Background and overview of current website and digital communications of Orienteering Australia and state associations.

2. Document and prioritise the current and future functional requirements of an integrated national-state website and digital communications system e.g. ability to manage news, event calendars, members area etc.  This may include a Gap Analysis i.e. document current functionality from the current national, state and linked sites (e.g. the Results System, Route Gadget, Blogs etc) and what is lacking.

3. Document the non-functional requirements, e.g. items such as customisable layout and styles, and ability to apply different security levels to management of content.

4. Document state-specific requirements that may not be applicable to a national website, e.g. state-specific online membership systems.

5. Implementation requirements of migrating to a new system. This would cover design of site structure, design of graphics, building of a new site, training of new content managers, migration of existing content, testing.  This would be high level and technology independent at this stage.

6. Operational requirements for the website and linked digital communications media, e.g. content editor, system administrator.

7. Recommendations and priorities e.g. maintain or enhance the status quo, develop a new site system based on specific technologies (or technological options), what features should be included in the new site system.

8. If redevelopment is a recommendation, include a high level project plan (tasks, effort and costs).

For enquiries contact the Executive Officer (ph 0427 107 033) at orienteering@netspeed.com.au. Applications close with the Executive Officer, Orienteering Australia, PO Box 284, Mitchell ACT 2911 on 18 April 2011.

Orienteering Australia is pleased to announce that High Performance Operations and Promotions Manager Rob Preston has been appointed to the additional position of Orienteering Australia Website Communications Manager.

Preston (pictured winning Sunday’s Silva National Orienteering League Long Distance event on Mt Ainslie in Canberra) will primarily be responsible for website maintenance and documentation, coordinating news bulletins on the OA website and social media, and production of a regular OA Enews bulletin.

There are also many event photographs on the OA Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/OrienteeringAustralia

Join the OA Facebook page now to get the latest news, photo reports, and reminders about events coming up.

The Senior Selection Panel would like to announce the 2011 Elite Squad.

* denotes High Performance Group

Congratulations to the squad and good luck for the 2011 season.

 WOC Selection Criteria. 2011WOCSelectionCriteria.pdf

This document sets out selection arrangements for the following elite Australian orienteering teams in 2011:

–   World Orienteering Championships (13-20 August, Savoie Grand Revard, France)

–   Bushrangers challenge (likely to be first weekend in June in NZ and the Oceania carnival in Australia in September/October)

–      World Cup races

They reflect input from Australian and overseas-based elite athletes; coaches, experience from past selection processes and general selection guidelines published by the Australian Sports Commission. They also reflect Orienteering Australia’s rules.

Please read this document carefully it provides detailed advice on how to get selected in the respective teams.

Orienteering Australia is seeking expressions of interest to fill a part-time position of Website Communications Manager responsible for the following tasks:

1. OA website maintenance: reviewing and updating content, archiving old content, creating new pages as required, refreshing photographic displays.
2. Updating the SocialFx user manual for the OA website and maintaining a Question and Answer log of queries resolved by the OA website users group.
3. Coordinate posting of news stories on the OA website of major events (international, national and state).
4. Production of regular editions of a national ENews bulletin.
5. Facebook and Twitter site notices and linkages back to the OA website, and review and coordination of YouTube and Flickr content as required.
6. Editing and approving articles submitted for posting, as required.
7. Advising new contributors on how to submit articles and the approval process.
8. Assisting the Events Committee in maintaining the Event Calendar and adding links to event websites for events on the calendar.
9. Maintaining cross-promotional website links with relevant organisations in fields including rogaining, adventure racing, mountain biking and running.
10. Editing and loading paid advertising as required.

The position requires very good coordination, liaison, writing and IT skills in the areas of modern media. Demonstrated ability in website maintenance and/or SocialFx will be an advantage. The position is part-time, one day a week and will be reviewed after 12 months. Expressions of interest should be sent to the Executive Officer (ph 0427 107 033) at orienteering@netspeed.com.au by 11 March.

Anyone wishing to be considered for selection in the Australian Team for this year’s Mountain Bike Orienteering World Championships to be held in Italy (Senior and Junior) must send the following information to Peta Whitford (selection chair) prior to 1 March 2011.

Name: ____________

· Will you attending Selection Trials April 9th and 10th , Daylesford, Victoria (YES / NO)

· do you have leave available to you for the trip overseas (YES / NO)

· do you have access to finances for the trip (YES / NO)

· do you have a current passport (YES / NO)

· are you an Australian Citizen (YES / NO)

Please add any other comments which are relevant.

The April selection area in Victoria is relatively hilly with little or no single tk, so fitness rather than tech riding skills are likely to be a priority.
Things to do:
1) Nominate for Australian team selection NOW (before March 1) to Peta Whitford (selection chair) piwhitford@bigpond.com. Nominate if you have the slightest inkling to be in the team.
Name
Response
(yes or No)
· Will you attending Selection Trials
April 9th and 10th , Daylesford, Victoria
· do you have leave available to you for the trip overseas
· do you have access to finances for the trip
· do you have a current passport
· are you an Australian Citizen
Please add any other comments which are relevant.

2) Enter event thru the Victorian Orienteering website
3) Arrange accommodation – note that some places in Daylesford allow only 2 nights bookings only
4) Book flights / arrange car pools

Time Specificity = remember to practice hard training or O / xc / road races of the middle and long distance winning times.

Route choice specificity and training = Route Gadjet http://www.vicorienteering.asn.au/mtbo/
Look at the bush mtbo events this year and in the 2010 and 2009 results page and click on those with route gadjet to see maps and courses. Do some couch / indoor training study. There is a Vic mtbo event nearby on March 13 on the previously mapped area of Korweinguboora, so look at the map on route gadjet after that date.

Trials location: Korweinguboora area (south from Daylesford)
New MTBO map by Andrew Slattery based on Cyclic Navigator Map “Adrian” used in 2009.
The “Adrian” map is on the VOA website for your perusal – it was 1:40,000 i think)
Long scale 1:20 000, 10m contours, A3 size Practice looking at these scales & contour interval (specificity again)
Middle scale 1:15 000, 10m contours, A4 size

Saturday 9 April – Long Distance race Start times from 11am
Sunday 10 April – Middle Distance race Start times from 10am

Terrain: Eucalypt and pine forest with some large clearings; predominantly 4WD forest and old logging tracks in the eucalypt; grid of tracks in the pine plantations with some marshy areas along the creeks

Classes and Courses Long Course /Distance / Climb Middle Course /Distance / Climb
Course 1: M21-E 37km / 600m 22km / 400m

Course 2: M-20E, W21-E, 29km / 470m 18km / 310m
Course 3: W-20E 24km / 450m 16km / 240m

Entry: Enter online HERE or via vicmtbo.com Fees:Long = $30 Adult, $25 Junior Middle = $25 Adult, $20 Junior
Terrain specificity = In case you are looking to arrive early and do some training here is the good oil on maps.
Vic maps relevant and nearby to area.
Bell’s Reef / Bells Reef extended – just south of Daylesford – 2004 WOC area
Wombat station – 2004 map also adjoins Bell’s Reef
Quartz Hill (Castlemaine) which was used last year – but you didnt get into the northern half which is route choice rich.
Muckleford (near Castlemaine – 10kms away at Newbridge)
Fingerpost (near Woodend) but beware as it has 10 m contours. Some of it also has nice singletk
Wheatsheaf (from last year)
Rodoni – older map near Daylesford Brandy Hot also – these overlap.
Creswick
Heath Jamieson lives at Woodend (about 30kms from Daylesford) and may be looking for some training in the lead-up.

If in Ballarat – Canadian forest is more tracked than sel trial area I’d guess. Nerrina also.
Linton, about 30 kms west would be relevant.
MTBO 2011 at a glance – newsletter from organisers

The ninth edition of World MTB-O Championships will be really something you can’t miss. A total of 16 World Champion titles (8 in the top and 8 in the junior classes) will be assigned in the Vicenza province betweeen August 20 and 27. Let’s have a look at what you can expect from MTBO 2011.

Long Distance final
23.08.2011 Marostica – Bassano
The main title. The Marathon on wheels, or, if you prefer, the heavyweight title belt of mtb-orienteering. Expected winning time will be about 85-95 minutes for women and 105-115 minutes for men. Bikers will start from the main square in Marostica, a beautiful medieval walled town, mostly famous for its living chess event and for the local cherry variety. Athletes will pass by the little Cyclist Church in the well-known Rosina track. The finish area will be in Bassano del Grappa, famous for its strong liqueur and the covered bridge. Piazza Libertà (one of the two big squares in Bassano) will crown the new world champions.

Long Distance qualifications
22.08.2011 Bregonze hills
In order to qualify to the Long Distance final, qualification heats will be held in the Bregonze hills, near Thiene. The Long Distance qualifications will start from the main square in Zugliano and finish in Piazza dei Terzi in Chiuppano. Course lenghts will be shortened compared to the final.

Middle Distance
25.08.2011 Pozzolo di Villaga
A very technically demanding course, in a dense track network where map reading skills rather than biking ability will be crucial to the success. The competition is based on interval start with one athlete starting every minute. (mistake I have queried) The winning time is expected around 45-50 minutes for women and 55-60 minutes for men. The Middle Distance arena will be built in the Pozzolo plain, an historic area for the local orienteers. Here foot-orienteering events were held during the 80’s with an old black-and-white map.

Relay
26.08.2011 Alonte
The relay is run by a team of 3 bikers of the same country, each running a course. It employs e mass start with all the countries leaving together the event arena. The average course will last about 40-50 minutes. This will be one of the most spectator-friendly event with start, finish, change zone and public control in piazza Santa Savina in Alonte.

Sprint
27.08.2011 Sossano
A short, fast. adrenaline-filled race which requires high speed and full concentration. Winning times are estimated to be about 20-25 minutes both for women and men. Start and finish will be in the same area with a public control nearby. Sossano was chosen by the organizers for its velodrome, close to a hill: the most of the competition will be visible from the spectators’ area

In Europe in June??

Swedish Association, together with the clubs, Leksand OK and IK Jarl is organizing the first international mountain bike orienteering in Sweden. We look forward to this event and hope that MTBO catches the attention of many Swedes.
As you can see in the attached Bulletin 2, we will allow participants to arrange their accommodations through housing organization www.boirattvik.se.
On one of these alternatives (Stiftsgården), we organizers intend to locate some of the eventscenter. On Stiftsgården will among other things as team-leader meetings as well as companion meals be implemented.
We encourage teams from different countries to stay at Stiftsgården. As places are limited we would like to inform you to already provisionally reserve accommondations at Stiftsgården. Of course, you have full scope to book wherever you want but to be near the EventCenter it is good to book early.
Stiftsgården is the Swedish Church’s camp with several different types of housing and they are familiar with MTB riders! It has great potential for bike wash, and to lock up bikes and more.
For more information and prices on reservations, etc. we recommend you to send email to
Site manager: Bjorn Evbjer, Phone number: 0248-79 78 30, Email: ebbe.evbjer@stiftsgarden.org
Questions about other accommondations, the competitions, etc. you’re welcome to send email to
info@mtbosweden.se
You can also check out our wesite where we put up the latest news concerning MTBO Sweden or to read more about the event
www.mtbosweden.se

Bulletin 1 for World MTB Orienteering Championships 2012 in Veszprem, Hungary has been published. The Bulletin can be found under the ‘Calendar&Results’ section of the IOF website at http://orienteering.org/events/?event_id=46.

Tassie “young gun” riders do well!
Recently three junior Tasmanian riders did exceedingly well in the “Blue Dragon” 100 km mountain bike race near Launceston. This was a two stage race held over two days encompassing very rugged and technical riding.
Tom Goddard and Marc Gluskie were the 5th placed team overall in an extremely strong field of 167 teams and quite close time-wise to third place. Oscar Phillips paired with Jordy Davis to place 14th overall. Teams had to ride and cover the whole distance together.
Older orienteers also did well. Daryl Smith’s team won the over 50 years category and was 23rd overall while Jon McComb and John Whittington were close behind in 28th place.
1st – 4 hrs 56 Peter Hatton, Neil VanDerPloeg
2nd – 5 hrs 21 Sid Tabberlay Ben Bradley
3rd – 5 hrs 35
5th – 5 hrs 46 Tom Goddard, Marc Gluskie
14 – 6 hrs 28 Oscar Phillips, Jordy Davis
23 – 6 hrs 53 Daryl Smith, Grant Dixon
28 – 7 hrs 06 Jon McComb, John Whittington
Full results and reports can be found at: www.wildwheelpromotions.com.au

Last weekend was the Otway Odyssey 15 / 50 / 100km events.
AJ was a close 5th in the 100km with Chris Jongewaard taking yet another win, albeit in muddy conditions.
4hr.22 1st, 4hr.36 AJ. Slowest riders took about 11.30!!!
The faster riders evidently got the best of the conditions with the mud getting deeper as the day progressed.
Having done this event last year I was sad not being there, but work called.
Other results I gleaned from a quick look at 100km results were:
Carolyn Jackson was our fastest O woman and was 2nd in W50, with Thor Egerton placing 4th in W40.
Grant Lebbink was 41st in open with 5.37, Seb Dunne 123rd with 6.39.
John Whittington & Jon McComb tied for 31st in M40 with 6.30, while fellow Taswegian Daryl Smith was 12th in M50.
Tim Jackson was 6th in the 15km U18 dash.

This week are the XC Nationals in SA. Unfortunately all xc events have been progammed for mid-week so they will be racing in front of a crowd of kangaroos and koalas!! Elites race Friday, so look for results then.

Other results -please let me know what you get up to in other events.

NZ Earthquake
One of my mtbo friends there has just emailed that she thought most orienteers were safe from what she has heard.

Kay Haarsma 08 83370522 (up to 10pm SA time)

Orienteering Service of Australia (OSoA) has changed hands.
In December 2010 the OSoA business was sold to SnapFold Australia.
OSoA is continuing to operate as normal and has kept the same web
address www.osoa.com.au and the same phone number (03) 9017 4835. The fax
number (03)9388 1916, however, has changed.

The new owner Ned Macdonald would like to express his thanks to former
owners Darren and Sam Sandford for a smooth hand over and assure all
new and existing customers that the business is fully stocked and raring to go in 2011.

OSoA has recently restocked with MIRY mapboards and SILVA compasses so
many of the out of stocks on the website have now disappeared.

Any clubs with revised or updated map publications for distribution should contact Ned on (03) 9017 4835. Email info@osoa.com.au