While most people were relaxing during the Christmas-New Year period the Board of Orienteering Australia was busy dealing with some important and urgent issues.

ACTAS

The ACT Academy of Sport has been Orienteering Australia’s national training centre for a few of years and has become a key component of OA’s High Performance program. The recent budget cuts by the ACT government meant that ACTAS had to review and cut a number of squad sports from its program. Sports were invited to submit applications and to justify their continuance. The exclusion of Orienteering from ACTAS would have been a major setback. A key plank in OA/OACT’s submission was that together they funded a full-time coach. On 24 January 2007, Orienteering received the good news that the ACT Minister for Sport had approved the inclusion of Orienteering as a squad sport.

Head Coach

Grant Bluett was the Head Coach who prepared Orienteering’s submission, but during December Grant advised the OA Board that he had decided he wanted a career change and that he was resigning with effect 14 January to start training for his new job. With having a fully funded Head Coach being a key factor in Orienteering retaining Squad status, OA had to move quickly to have another person in place as Head Coach. The Board decided to transfer Gareth Candy to the position on the basis that the vacancy had been advertised just on 12 months previously, Gareth was the next ranked applicant and there was a need to fill the position quickly, so as not to jeopardize Orienteering’s application for ACTAS Squad status.

Executive Officer

With Gareth Candy vacating the EO position, the Board decided to advertise for an EO located in a National Office in Canberra funded by OA and employed on a conventional basis for casual employees. OA needs a proper national office to be a repository for its archives and equipment.  It would be inefficient to keep moving the National Office, with its archives and equipment, aroundAustralia, thus it should be located where the EO could be most effective. OA’s major sponsor is the ASC and OA should continue to have its key administrator based in Canberra to maintain good liaison with the ASC.  Having OA’s two paid officers in the same city has significant benefits. The vacancy will be advertised through State e-bulletins and in The Canberra Times.

Bob Mouatt

President

Orienteering Australia