Month: February 2019

2019 Texas Junior Orienteering Camp

Looking to take your junior orienteering skills to the next level? TJOC is your summer break destination. This intensive 6-day skills-based orienteering training camp is specifically designed for 13–19-year-old orienteers with orange-level course skills and above.

NTOA again hosts this year’s training camp from June 2–7, 2019, and all training, lodging, and meals take place in the air-conditioned spaces at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch in Bridgeport, TX.

Camp cost is $300 for junior participants and $100 for adult leaders.

Many of the best youth orienteers in the nation have graduated from TJOC. Join future champions at TJOC 2019!

Registration is open now! Sign up today!

Contact TJOC Director, Lt Col William Malpass, at wmalpass@nullpasadenaisd.org or visit the TJOC website at hoc.us.orienteering.org/texas-junior-orienteering-camp-2019 for more information.

Vote for 2018 Orienteer of the Year Awards!

Voting is now open for 2018 OUSA Competitive Awards. The Competitive Award Program’s goals are to recognize and reward outstanding competitive accomplishments by U.S. orienteers at the end of every year.

The awards:

  • Orienteer of the Year is awarded to the best USA orienteer in 2018, based on results at national and international events.
  • Junior Orienteer of the Year is awarded to the best USA orienteer no older than 20 in 2018, based on results at national and international events.
  • Comet of the Year is awarded to the most improved USA orienteer in 2018, based on results at national and international events.
  • Orienteering Team of the Year is awarded to the best USA national or club orienteering team in 2018, based on results at national and international events.

Vote here today! Voting closed February 25th. You can see the lists of previous award winners here.

The winners will be selected by the Awards Committee. Results of the voting will be a major factor in determining winners. Winners of the individual awards will receive grants for travel to orienteering races and training camps. In certain cases, honorable mention will be made for deserving athletes.

– Boris Granovskiy
for the Awards Committee

World Orienteering Day 2019

World Orienteering Day 2019 is May 15-21.  Will your club “Be Part of Something Bigger”? Has your club scheduled its events yet?  School calendars are quickly filling up with activities for May, so you will want to contact your local schools to set a date for an event. 

While WOD emphasizes events for school children, all ages are welcome to join in. Officially, any event within that week can be considered a WOD event, but in the U.S., we are going to include all of May for hosting your WOD event(s). For an event to qualify, it must be registered at the WOD website and have basic participant data provided shortly after the event is held.

WOD, with its worldwide participation, is an ideal way to get people to try our sport. The international slogan, “Be Part of Something Bigger,“ is something that most people, especially children, can get excited about. They can see on the webpage www.worldorienteeringday.com, and on social media that the number of events is growing as their local event date draws near, and they will know that they are part of that huge number if their school is participating. Afterward, they may get the satisfaction of knowing they helped set a new record for the number of people participating in this event around the world. Posts appear regularly on Facebook and Instagram.

As your 2019 WOD Coordinator, I am encouraging you to set some dates as soon as you are able to get as many children as possible doing orienteering in your area for World Orienteering Day.  There is a thread on AttackPointwhere you can get and share ideas about what you can do. Keep it simple; try something new using orienteering games like Maze-O, Animal-O, MOBO, Photo-O or a schoolyard sprint. Any activity that involves orienteering is encouraged. Indoor games or outdoor games are encouraged—anything that gets kids (and adults) having fun finding controls.

So contact your local school, scout troop, homeschool group, nature center, or other group which will be delighted to have your club show up for the day and treat their kids to a fun learning experience.  For more information go to the WOD website, above, or contact me via email.  Let’s work together to make this the best World Orienteering Day yet!

–Mary Jo Childs

2019 U.S. National Orienteering Team Announced

We are excited to announce the U.S. National Orienteering Team members for 2019:

Elite:

Greg Ahlswede, Giacomo Barbone, Eric Bone, Tori Borish, Alison Crocker, Morten Jørgensen, Jordan Laughlin, Anton Salmenkyla

Performance:

Alison Campbell, Will Enger, Sydney Fisher

Development:

Brigitte Bordelon, Siri Christopherson, Tyra Christopherson, Martin Heir, Michael Laraia, Asne Tromborg

According to OUSA Rules of Competition section G.1.6.2, Senior Team selection is based on:

a. The results of national and international competition.
b. Dedication to the sport of Orienteering.
c. Demonstration of sporting attitude.

From the OUSA website, Criteria for Selection to the Senior Team:

Selection is based on those who submitted Athlete Agreements, indicating their desire to be named to the Sr. Team. From that pool, National meet and international M/F-21+ performances during the preceding year were used to divide the members into Elite, Performance and Development teams.

  • Senior Elite Team — athletes who consistently produce top-level U.S. results in F21/M21.
  • Senior Performance Team — athletes who frequently produce strong U.S. results in F21/M21, at or near the level of the Elite Team.
  • Senior Development Team — athletes who have demonstrated potential to reach Performance/Elite level with further training and experience.