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Congratulations To All Athletes Selected in the National High Performance Squads

Orienteering Australia National Squads have been selected by the High Performance coaches from the athlete squad nominations submitted to date. Athletes who have applied to be part of the squad structure have been assessed on their performances during 2015. This has given the selectors benchmarks of achievement for each athlete which have been used to place athletes into the squad that is at their level of performance. Membership of the Targeted Talented Athlete Squad is by invitation only, based on performance analysis from major national events in 2015. This group will be announced shortly. The High Performance Team would like to thank all squad nominees for the thought and time that has gone into their performance reviews as part of the individual nomination process.

Processes around squad selection can be found here

The squads are:

Elite High Performance Squad (EHPS)

High Performance Squad (HPS)

National Development Squad (NDS)

Australian Junior Development Squad (AJDS)

Targeted Talented Athlete Squad (TTAS)

As a member of an OA National Squad each athlete must:

• Create a Profile on the Orienteering Australia Athlete Management Platform (AMP). New squad members will receive an invitation to be a member of the AMP. This profile is to include- age, phone, email address, postal address, coaches name and contact, IOF ID, link to training log, athlete biography, photo.
• Maintain an Athlete Log– contact with squad coach
• Complete Race Analysis (under Evaluations) for all major events
• Prepare an Event Schedule for 2016/17 
• Complete a Wellness Test at least once a month and log any illness or injury
• Regularly log on to AMP to check documents as all communication with athletes will be via AMP.

Congratulations to all the listed athletes on becoming a member of one of the OA National Squads for 2015. The HP Coaches look forward to working with you all to further develop your orienteering and helping you to achieve your orienteering goals. In particular we congratulate and welcome new squad members to the Australian High Performance Program. If you have recently been selected for the first time, you will receive an invitation to AMP in the next few days.

The first squad camp is at the Australian Institute of sport coinciding with the Canberra sprint weekend to be held Jan 22nd-26^th. Initial details about this coming camp are available in the December High Performance News and further information will released in the next few weeks. Those new to the squads could you please confirm you attendance at the sprint Canberra training camp through this form.

Squads lists are found in the link below:

OA National Squads 2016 (December, 2015)

Lance Read
Orienteering Australia Director of High Performance

It has been brought to our attention that the Previous JWOC criteria were released with insufficient lead time to meet legal requirements. To meet these requirements, the JWOC selection criteria have been reviewed and amended. The previous JWOC selection criteria are superseded by the attached criteria that provide for 3 selection rounds as agreed at the recent 2015 OA Conference. Athletes will note that the previous 2015 Australian Championship events are no longer selection races. The selection races and selection criteria are outlined in the following attachment and will be used to select the 2016 Australian JWOC team. Athletes who have previously nominated will be considered for selection under the selection criteria below. If you wish to apply for JWOC selection and are not a member of a Australian High Performance Squad you will need to also apply to become a squad member.

Under these revised Selection Criteria for JWOC 2016 to be held in Engadin, Switzerland 9th- 15th July will be selected.

JWOC 2016 Selection Criteria

All National Squad members who are eligible to nominate have been sent an email from the Athlete Management Platform (AMP). Online nomination

JWOC 2016 Athlete Nomination Form  (Note JWOC Nominations extended to 20th of January for those who have not previously applied)

A link is also available on AMP under Resources: Selection Criteria. Nomination must be received by the 10th January 2016. Athletes who have previously applied are not required to resubmit an application.

All interested Athletes and their coaches and parents are requested to read through the Selection Criteria as there are significant changes from previous years.

To apply to become a member of a national squad please see here.

Lance Read
OA Director High Performance

OA High Performance News

December 2015

1. National Squads 2016– thank you to all those athletes who have completed the nomination forms and have taken the time to provide event analysis of your 2015 performances. This information will certainly provide the coaches with much valuable information on you the athletes. This process of squad membership is a continuous one so it is still possible to make a nomination. Online form

http://goo.gl/forms/TYK0zIrx2S

Selectors will be announcing the OA National High Performance Squads early next week.

Reminder that squad membership requires each athlete to submit the following

• Training plans– Oct- Dec 2015 and Jan-March 2016
• Competition Plans 2016
• 3km time trial by end of 2015

These are to be sent to me using AMP and please place the Training Plans into Resources- Training Plans and the Competition Plans into Resources-Competition Plans. Thank you to all those who have already done this.

2. Sprint Canberra– to all those athletes who indicated on the Squad Nomination form that they are attending the Sprint Training Camp Jan 22nd-26^th, the following information will help your planning.

The camp will start on Friday 22^nd at the AIS (6:00pm) and will conclude with the final event of Sprint Canberra on Tuesday 26^th (12:00). All accommodation (full board) will be at the AIS. The cost of the accommodation will be subsidized by both OA funding for National Squads and also any money made from the Sprint Canberra events. Athletes will be responsible for their own travel expenses. I encourage you to approach both your State association and club to help you with your travel expenses. Any help I can be with this just ask.

There will be 5 sprint events that you will compete in during the camp. These events are on Eventor

http://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/3245

We require all athletes who are attending the training camp to enter themselves in all these events and pay your entry fee. This will then be deducted from your camp expenses after the events. We are hoping to attract a large number of other orienteers to these events so please spread the word as much as possible. Especially invite your coach to attend.

I will set up an online registration form for the training camp so that you can confirm your attendance and your travel details.

3. IOF Athletes Licence.

For all those athletes who represent Australia at the World Orienteering Championships and World Cup events during 2016 you will need to obtain an IOF Athletes Licence. See the link

http://orienteering.org/athletes-licence/

The cost of the licence which will be valid for one year will be 30EUR.

Nick Dent

OA Head Coach

Orienteering Australia has established a High Performance Squad structure in line with the FTEM Pathways model. There are five squads that are currently established. They are Elite HP Squad (EHPS), High Performance Squad (HPS), National Development Squad (NDS), Australian Junior Development Squad (AJDS) and the Targeted Talented Athletes Squad (TTAS). If you are a current member of one of these squads or you are currently competing at the senior or junior elite level and want to become a member of a squad for 2016 you need to complete the online application form by 8th November 2015. The HP Coaches will consider the applications and squads will be announced by the end of November 2015. Orienteers who are turning 16 years of age in 2016 and have demonstrated talent at National and Sate level during 2015 will be invited to become members of the Targeted Talented Athlete Squad.

Membership of an OA High Performance Squad is necessary in order for an athlete to nominate for selection in any National team to be selected during 2016- WOC, World Cup, WUOC, Bushrangers, JWOC.

The performance of athletes in the squads will be tracked and monitored for coaching purposes. Athletes whose life circumstances change, and can no longer fully commit to training and competition activities, can deselect themselves from the squad. Athletes should deselect themselves in writing. Should an athlete deselect themselves from the HP squads, they are welcome to renominate for the HP squads at a time in the future when they can recommit themselves to orienteering training and competition. This could be years into the future. This selection and deselection policy recognises the non linear development of most athlete pathways. While consistent long term commitment to training and competition are key elements to ongoing improvement, this policy balances the reality that life events have on the ability to commit to orienteering at the top level. Therefore, there will be no penalty for athletes who deselect themselves from the squad and in subsequent years seek to renominate for the OA squads.

Squad membership will require the athlete to submit Training Plans for Oct-Dec 2015, Jan-March 2016 and April-Sept 2016, Competition Calendar 2016 and submit times for 3km with date, location and person verifying to Squad coach by the end of 2015 and also sometime during Jan-March 2016.

HP Squads 2016 Nomination Form

Nick Dent

OA Head Coach