Applications sought for national MTBO coach and manager

Applications for the 2016-2017 MTBO World Championships Coach & Manager positions are now open and are due by December 4th.  Ideally the coach will be a 2 year appointment but if feasible a 1 year appointment will be considered.  For more information contact Kay Haarsma on 0403565534.
Details are are available as follows.

2016 & 2017 Mountain Bike Orienteering World Championships Team Coach.

Time Period: December 2015 to November 2017.

(2016 WOC in Portugal July 24-30th; 2017 in Lithuania Aug 19-27th)

Job Requirements:

Primary role:

Coach of the combined WMTBOC & JWMTBOC team, with a management role within Australia. (Preference is for this role to be over 2 years but consideration will be given to those only able to coach in 2016)

Other roles:

Conducting and leading training and coaching of the HP squad, liaise and provide technical assistance to both the individual coaches of squad / team members and the athletes themselves to assist in their development as internationally competitive mountain bike orienteers.

Conduct at least one training camp within Australia annually and organise the 7-10 day pre-Championship training camp overseas.

Be a member of the High Performance Management Group and provide leadership nationally on the development of competition, training and infrastructure to support and guide the development of elite MTB orienteering in Australia.

Liaise with the other Australian WMTBOC team official, the OA High Performance Administrator and manager MTBO High Performance with respect to the preparation of WMTBOC Teams.

Provide appropriate information to all potential WMTBOC / JWMTBOC team members, both directly through email, and indirectly through the OA High Performance website, The Australian Orienteer magazine, state email newsletters etc.

Develop an understanding of global current trends and development in mountain bike orienteering coaching and promulgate this information to other Australian coaches.

In conjunction with the MTBO Manager, agree on the specific individual division of responsibilities between yourself and the manager appointed for the World Championships.

Collaborative skills to work with the tour manager and other OA HP officers.

Co-ordination of HP squad / WMTBOC team travel arrangements within and outside Australia.

Collaborate with other coaches about state or national camps.

Maintenance of records of meetings, interviews and conversations appropriate to squad/team activities.

Support the team managers to manage the financial records of squad/team activities.

In conjunction with team managers, arrange for the supply of official uniforms and equipment for the WMTBOC & JWMTBOC National Team in conjunction with the OA High Performance Administrator and Manager MTBO High Performance

SELECTION CRITERIA:

Essential Skills/Experience:

A record of successful individual coaching of mountain bike orienteers.

Relevant experience in coaching, leading or managing orienteering or cycling squads or teams at state, national or international level.

Proven high-level interpersonal skills, especially discretion and tact, that facilitates interaction, cooperation and trust with diverse individuals and organisations.

Ability to apply psychological knowledge and skills to create a comfortable team environment and to maximise individual athlete success through building self-confidence and the ability to perform under pressure.

Well-developed oral and written communication skills including the ability to develop well researched, clear and, concise reports and plans. High level communication strategies to enable all athletes, with varying personalities, to deal positively with the intense demands of competition in a team environment. Collaborative skills to work with the tour management team and other OA HP officers.

Negotiation skills and the capacity for flexibility and adaptability in dealing with challenging environments and complex situations, as necessitated with overseas trip management.

Ability to be reflective, particularly on the impacts of travel, training, competition, interpersonal dynamics and daily events. As a consequence to be proactive in adjusting team plans, communication strategies and support structures to maximise the preparedness of all athletes.

Leadership in modelling and promoting ethical standards required of elite national teams.

Proven organisational and planning skills in tour/team travel management, including planning, budgeting, bookings, communication and team coordination.

Desirable Skills / Experience:

Level 1 or 2 Orienteering Coaching qualifications or an international equivalent and / Level 1 or 2 mountain bike coaching qualifications.

Competent competitive experience in mountain bike orienteering events.

Remuneration: The position is voluntary in its nature.

All expenses will be met for travel to WOC and on the ground costs there.

Some funding is available to support squad & team activities and coach expenses within Australia.

Application Requirements

If you are interested in this position please respond with 2 items:

  1. A brief outline of your skills and experience in relation to the selection criteria. No more than 2 A4 pages.
  2. An outline of your plans for the development of high performance Mountain Bike orienteering in Australia in 2015 and beyond, with specific reference to the improvement of Australia’s international competitiveness in World Championships and contribution to the relevant aspects of the High Performance Strategic Plan. Two pages maximum.

Please Note: The provision of a working with children police check, or evidence of having already undertaken one, (or evidence of having recently undertaken one), to show they are a person of good character as outlined in the Orienteering Australia Member Protection Policy, and the signing of the OA Team Official Code of Conduct will be required by the successful applicants.

Applications and any questions can be directed to Kay Haarsma, Manager, MTBO High Performance.

Email: kayhaarsma@hotmail.com    0883370522 or 0403565534

Applications close COB Friday December 4th

Record field for Australian MTBO Championships this weekend

This weekend the Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships are being held in Victoria based on the spectacular surf coast at Anglesea.   With 187 entrants this is the biggest ever national mtbo event.  There will be about 25 New Zealanders contesting the 8 age classes of the Australia v NZ Challenge and riders from France, Russia and also Britain are racing too.

Both elite classes have big fields including many past WOC team members.  In the men Steven Cusworth, Alex Randall, Grant Lebbink, and Tom Walter will be trying to upstage the current stars, Chris Firman, Steven Todkill & Ricky Thackray.    If Carolyn Jackson, Marquita Gelderman and Thorlene Egerton are to be beaten it is likely to be by foot orienteering star Kathryn Preston.

Victoria’s current sprint Jwoc world champion Angus Robinson has Bendigo boys Nic & Lachlan Cherry, Tim Jackson and Newcastle’s Fergus Mackie all itching to race the champ.  Former WOC silver medallist Emily Walter’s appearance in W40 makes that class now ultra competitive.

There is a warm-up event at the “You Yangs”, near Geelong on Friday afternoon.  Saturday sees the action start with the sprint on the Torquay foreshore, followed by the middle distance at Eumeralla Scout camp, Anglesea in the afternoon.  The long is inland slightly at Bramba on Sunday.

Kay Haarsma

Aussie Success in Swedish Relay

What happens when you put an Aussie (Julian Dent), a Norweigan (Oystein Kvaal Osterbo), an Irishman (Nicolas Simonin), a Finn (Marten Bostrom) and a Swede (Fredrik Bakkman) together?

Winning Team
Winning Team

The winning team for Swedish Orienteering Club– IFK Lindingo SOK in the relay Smalandskavlen which was held on the weekend near Jonkoping, Sweden. This relay for H21 consists of five legs, two at night and then three starting the next morning in daylight. There were teams from all the biggest clubs in Sweden as well as from Norway and Finland entered in this relay. IFK Lindingo has won this event for the past three years.

Apart from Julian being in the winning team this year there is another Australian connection with IFK Lindingo as Bryan Keely and Laurina Neumann who are both living and working in Stockholm are also competing with this club and were in the second team for H21 and D21.

Julian who is focusing on night orienteering was selected to run the first leg which is a mass start leg of approximately 10km with forking. He ran a very steady race (65:19) and was in 6th place 27 seconds down on third place. Olav Lundanes was running first for Halden SK and he was the fastest in a time of 59:25. After the second night leg the Lindingo team was in 9th place, 5:58 minutes down on the leaders OK Denseln. Lindingo took the lead at the end of the first day leg, with Nicolas Simonin being the fastest on this leg to put the team in the lead by 25 seconds. With Marten Bostrom and Fredrik Bakkman on the next two legs the team had two WOC representatives for their country. Marten had a very good run to extend the lead to over 4 minutes to the Finnish club Tampereen Pyrinto. Fredrik after a small problem early managed to hold on for a comfortable win by 3:12 from Malungs who finished 2nd by one second to Tampereen Pyrinto.

Relays are a very important part of the orienteering calendar in Sweden and clubs place a lot of importance on their performances in these relays. As reported earlier in the year the biggest relay of the year in Sweden in Tiomila with close to 300 mens teams of ten runners and 300 womens teams of  five runners. There are no age classes for this relay just men or women teams. Lindingo had a very good performance in this relay also with the team finishing in 4th place after being in the lead after 9 legs. Julian ran the second night leg and the team was in 15th place after his run less than 1 minute behind the leading team. With 10 legs it is crucial that each runner has a steady run and this enabled the Lindingo team to gradually improve their position to be second on leg 8 and first on leg 9.

Two weekends ago the 25 Manna relay was held. This is a relay for all ages in the club and has 25 legs with different distances and different ages and sex running each leg (see table).

25 Manna- legs, length and who can participate

Leg No of Runners Course Length Right to Participate
1 1 7.6km All
2 1 5.1km Woman
3 1 4.3km Woman
4 4 2.5km No W19-39, M15-54
5 4 6.1km All
6 4 4.3km No M17-39
7 4 5.3km All
23 1 3.9km No W19-34, No M15-49
24 1 9.0km All
25 1 6.0km Women

With legs 4-7, four runners run at the same time and their times are all added together to calculate the total team time.

Lindingo won this relay in 2014 and so were hoping for a repeat in 2015. This was not to be, but they did finish in 3rd place only 1:48 down on the winning team after 25 legs. The winning team this year was Halden SK (Norway) and one of the third leg runners was Lizzie Ingham the ex Canberra Cockatoo who is now living and training in Norway with Halden SK one of the strongest clubs in Scandanavia.

Maybe there is something in the structure and approach to relays from Sweden and Finland that Australia could adopt to resurrect the interest in relays in this country.

Strong Australian team for ANZ Challenge at Australian MTBO Championships

The Australian MTBO Championships take place at Anglesea (VIC) on Nov 7-8 with entries closing THIS Monday.  A strong Australian team has been announced to take on the visiting Kiwis in the Aus v NZ Challenge during the Championship carnival. It comprises:

M21    Steven Todkill (NSW)   Ricky Thackray (WA)  Chris Firman (Q)

M40     Craig Steffens (Q)     Colin Kessels (Q)    Hamish Mackie (NSW)

M50     Andrew Power (NSW)  Malcolm Roberts (NSW)  Tony Howes (Q)

M60     Paul Haynes (NSW)    Robert Prentice (NSW)  David Firman (Q)

M70     Leigh Privett (VIC)    Andrew Campbell (Q)   Keith Wade (VIC)

W21    Carolyn Jackson (VIC)  Marina Iskhakova (NSW)  Thorlene Egerton (VIC)

W40    Jenny Enderby (NSW)    Emily Walter (ACT)

W50    Carolyn Matthews (NSW)   Kay Haarsma  (SA)   Julie Sunley (ACT)

The competition is looking very healthy in both elite classes.  In the men there are already 18 competitors.  Former WOC team members racing include Steven Cusworth, Alex Randall & Tom Walter, while there are also several visiting French riders.  Kiwis Marquita Gelderman and Georgia Skelton will make the local women’s elite riders earn their podium positions.

Last weekend there was a strong contingent of interstate riders at the ACT Champs in Canberra.  Elite victories were shared around.   In the men Paul de Jongh (ACT), Steve Todkill (NSW) and Ricky Thackray (WA) all took one victory each in M21.  Ian de Jongh and SA’s Jack Allison shared the spoils in M20.    Carolyn Jackson took 2 wins in W21 in middle & long with Marina Iskhakova winning the sprint for her initial NOL victory.  ACT’s Clare Lonergan was notable with second placings in all three events.

Kay Haarsma

Request for ASC funded projects to increase participation in 2016 and beyond

The Australian Sports Commission is now providing Orienteering Australia with $200,000 per year in funding to increase participation, and this year also provided $80,000 in funding to build capacity to implement the Sporting Schools program for orienteering in primary schools.

A background paper on the funding criteria and request for project submissions from state associations was provided to state associations last month. This is the following: Participation Project Request Bulletin September 2015 (PDF 266kb)

This document includes a template for funding submissions. Clubs wishing to submit project proposals should do so through their state associations. These may be for 2016, for 2017 or for later years. However, preliminary bids for 2016 are required as soon as possible and no later than the end of this month.

Australian MTBO Champs 2015

Now that the Australian Championships Carnival is over, time to focus on the final National Championships for the year – the Australian MTBO Championships, to be held on Victoria’s spectacular Surf Coast on the 6-8 November.

The carnival is also a World Ranking Event for Elites, a round of the World Masters Series, an Australia New Zealand Challenge and the final round of the National MTBO Series.

Sprint, Middle and Long races will be contested with a warm-up event at the You Yangs on Friday afternoon.

The organising team is confident it will be an outstanding and enjoyable championships for all. The spectacularly scenic Surf Coast will provide some wonderful riding opportunities on the three new maps. We are predicting the the Middle race at Anglesea will go down as possibly the best MTBO map in Australia and will truly test your navigation while giving you the opportunity to ride some fantastic trails.

The native coastal forest is a beautiful backdrop when riding these trails, and is such a different experience from the usual Victorian MTBO maps. When added to the spectacular coastal scenery and views, it is sure to be a winner.

The setters have been out testing courses in recent weeks and can report that the trails are in great condition. Tune your bikes for fast and flowing and tune your brains for a navigational challenge.

The events are held just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne airport and about 30 minutes from Jetstar’s Avalon airport.

You can read all about the events, the details and plans in Bulletin 1&2 which can be found on ausmtbochamps.com. This website is the central place for news and information about the championships.

Enter now on Eventor

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Queensland Cyclones win their first senior National League title

The Queensland Cyclones won their first senior team title in the Icebug National Orienteering League when they took out the senior women’s competition in 2015. After a number of near-misses in recent years – notably in 2012, when they lost by a single point after the lead changed hands in the last few controls of the Australian Relays – it once again came down to a winner-take-all fight with the Victorian Nuggets in the last race of the season. Nothing separated Krystal Neumann and Natasha Key on the first leg, but Rachel Effeney set up what turned out to be a winning five-minute lead on the second leg, and they never looked like losing from there.

The Canberra Cockatoos won their fifth successive men’s title. The Victorian Nuggets got within striking distance at times during the final week, but could not quite get close enough and went into the relays needing to beat the Cockatoos by at least three places. That was never likely to happen, and as it happened the Cockatoos came through the field on the second leg of the relays to assure themselves of being the leading state team on the day, giving them a 14-point win.

Both junior titles also came down to the final day; in both cases whoever won on the day out of the Nuggets and the Tassie Foresters would prevail. They were split one apiece, with the Nuggets taking the junior men’s by a large margin and the Foresters equally dominant in the junior women’s.

Final scores from the senior and junior divisions are available.

Victoria win team titles at Australian Championships

Victoria won both of the overall team titles being contested on the final weekend of the Australian Championships carnival. Both are contested across the full range of age classes: the Orienteering Australia Shield at the Australian Long Distance Championships, and the Xanthorrhoea Trophy at the Australian Relays.

Victoria were convincing winners over New South Wales in the OA Shield, but the relays were a closer-run thing, with the Victorians only edging out NSW by two points. The ACT were third and Queensland fourth in both competitions.

Final scores were:

OA Shield: Victoria 77, NSW 48, ACT 44, Queensland 36, Tasmania 25, SA 15, WA 11.

Xanthorrhoea Trophy: Victoria 21, NSW 19, ACT 16, Queensland 13, Tasmania 11, WA 10, SA 9.

Upload your GPX to win

Did you wear a GPS during the recent Australian Orienteering Championships (AOC)?

Do you know that you can upload your GPX files to Eventor?

Did you know that it is possible to replay your run on a map directly from Eventor using thebeatentrack.org?

Orienteering Australia is running a competition over the next 10 days. Every GPX route uploaded to the AOC events before Monday 19 October will go in the draw to win some prizes.

Its easy to participate. Simply log into Eventor, go to the results page and select the “Upload route” option at the top of the page. Select your GPX file (wait a few seconds until it appears) and then click the Upload button. Repeat for each event you participated in – each upload will give you one entry in the draw.

We will post links to each of the events below and on the event information pages so you can compare your routes against your fellow competitors.

So get uploading. Good luck!

TBT example
TBT example