Month: January 2020

Announcing the 2020 U.S. National Team

The Selection Committee* has named the following athletes to the U.S. Senior National Team:

Elite: Greg Ahlswede, Alison Crocker, Morten Jørgensen, Anton Salmenkylä

Performance: Giacomo Barbone, Eric Bone, Tori Borish, Alison Campbell, Will Enger, Sydney Fisher, Åsne Skram Trømborg

Development: Joseph Barrett, Brigitte Bordelon, Evalin Brautigam, Julia Doubson, Martin Heir, Michael Laraia, Thomas Laraia, Tyra Christopherson

Senior Team selection is based on the following criteria:

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

Congratulations to all the athletes!

*The Selection Committee consists of Peggy Dickison, Cristina Luis, Glen Tryson, and Eric Weyman.

Announcing 2020 U.S. WUOC Team

Congratulations to the following who were selected to represent the U.S. in Smolensk, Russia at WUOC2020, July 14-18:

  • Diana Aleksieva (QOC) – University of Virginia
  • Isabel Bryant (CSU/NEOC) – Wellesley College
  • Tyra Christopherson (COC) – Montana State University
  • Julia Doubson (BAOC) – Amherst College
  • Martin Heir (Fossum IF/Norway) – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Michael Laraia (MNOC) – University of Minnesota
  • Thomas Laraia (MNOC) – University of Edinburgh
  • Anthony Riley (DVOA) – Stanford University
  • Danny Riley (alternate) – Cornell University
  • Peter Zakrevski (HVO) – Rutgers University

Thank you Peter, Erin, and Greg! –from the National Junior Program

On behalf of former, current, and future members of Orienteering USA’s National Junior Program and their families, we extend a huge thank you to Peter Gagarin, Erin Schirm, and Greg Ahlswede for their vision, support, expertise, and hard work in establishing and expanding the NJP and taking junior orienteering in the U.S. to the next level.

As we embark on the next stage, we appreciate the strong foundation provided by Erin, Greg, and Peter on which we will continue to build the NJP.

Junior Team Executive Steering Committee

It starts at home!

Roundtable 8pm EST Jan 18, 2020, on Strategic Plan

Help the OUSA Board develop a Strategic Plan for OUSA.

The Board will host a roundtable at the Georgia Navigator Cup to present results from the Strategic Planning Survey and solicit responses from the membership.

Where: Covington Hampton Inn – event hotel meeting room

When: 8:00 pm, Saturday, January 18, 2020

After Saturday’s event, at 8:00 pm Tori Campbell will present the results of a survey we conducted last fall. What! You didn’t get the survey? Well this is your chance to participate because a discussion will follow the presentation. We want your input.

Teleconference info for those unable to attend in person:

Join Hangouts Meet

meet.google.com/owg-ynxb-ajg

Meeting ID

meet.google.com/owg-ynxb-ajg

Phone Numbers

(‪US‬)‪+1 414-622-0109‬

PIN: ‪179 460 696#

New Technology Capabilities for Member Clubs

Orienteering USA is pleased to announce new technology capabilities available for its member clubs.  Due to licensing stipulations, these capabilities are only available for certified nonprofit (501(c)3) clubs.  All of these capabilities are provided for free.  Orienteering USA will assist with setup of the capability.

Capabilities

Subdomain of orienteeringusa.org

Your club can have the option to use their own unique clubacronym.orienteeringusa.org subdomain and point it to their website. (A subdomain is the portion prior to the ‘.orienteeringusa.org’ portion of the URL.) This option can save you from purchasing your own domain or having to pay to add a second address to your existing domain. Some clubs currently use the ‘.us.orienteering.org’ URL for this same.  Shifting to .orienteeringusa.org would keep a better continuity of websites.  (e.g. eventreg.orienteeringusa.org, but ‘eventreg’ would be your club’s acronym)

Google team drive for document storage

A Google team drive is a shared space that allows teams (organizations) to store documents and easily search for them.  It also allows all members to access the drive.  This drive belongs to the entire team instead of an individual as in the personal drive.

Benefits

  • 500GB data storage
  • Club’s self management of access
  • OrienteeringUSA support upon lockout/loss of access
  • Anyone can access any document with appropriate permissions
  • Individual files sharable with anyone
  • File version control is integrated

Limits

  • Only individuals with a google account can modify documents

Google group for group mailing list management (e.g. contact list / group inbox)

A Google group is a group of email addresses that can be used for a specific purpose.  A google group can be configured to act as a group inbox (e.g. where a question is sent to an email address and is then distributed to multiple people instead of one) or as a contact list (e.g. an announcement is sent by a club representative to all those in the club wishing to receive those announcements.

Benefits

  • Club’s self-management of access
  • @orienteeringusa.org group address (not @googlegroups.com)
  • Restrict email addresses that can send out/receive to the contact list
  • OrienteeringUSA support upon lockout/loss of access
  • Individual subscribe/unsubscribe available

Limits

  • Only individuals with a google account can modify the entire distribution list

Google Calendar

Clubs can also manage their own Google Calendars. Share event, meeting and training schedules or whatever is most useful for the club.

Benefits

  • Club’s self management of access
  • Allow anyone to view calendars as desired

Procedure for requesting support

Send an email to tech-committee@nullorienteeringusa.org containing:

  • Subject: Google Workspace for our club
  • contact information of the person or people in the club who will receive admin accounts in the secondary domain.
    • First name, last name, OUSA member email (to receive invitation)

For a subdomain:

  • IP Address of the server, if redirecting to your existing site
  • Or let us know if you’d like to use Google Sites

For Google Groups:

  • Refer to the user documentation for managing groups

Apply for a Wilson Award by February 15

Established to honor the memory of Iain Wilson, up to three $1000 awards will be presented this spring, in the form of travel grants to junior athletes and/or as a grant towards community growth via orienteering. More information and a link to the application forms can be found on our Recognition page.

OUSA Junior National Coach Job Search – CLOSED

NOTE: This position is now closed. The following information is for archival reference purposes only.

Orienteering USA (OUSA) seeks a Junior National Coach for its National Junior Program (NJP). The program is led and administered by the Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC).

General job description

The overarching objectives of the Junior National Coach role are to provide quality coaching and programs for young athletes, and to develop stronger young athletes, committed to orienteering and to forming a strong community of supportive team members.The Junior National Coach will work directly with the athletes in the NJP, as well as with the JTESC pool of coaches and mentors, in order to reach these objectives.

Responsibilities

Assist with review of athlete applications:

  • Work with JTESC in reviewing the NJP Information and application prior to publication for the next program year. *
  • Review submitted applications from athletes regarding performance targets and make recommendations to JTESC about athlete placement. *

Athlete Follow-up:

  • Review athletes’ training plans for the coming season *
  • Assist athletes new to the program in creating and following their training plan
  • Provide feedback
  • Work with all NJP athletes to identify a local coach either from their home club or from the national pool of coaches and mentors.
  • Monitor JNT athletes’ training logs on Attackpoint (AP) and help them find an “AP-mentor,” if necessary
  • Coordinate and distribute exercises from the Training Subscription Service to the athletes and their local coaches
  • Oversee course reviews and/or camps at National Ranking Events and major other camps, either personally or by working with others
  • Attend monthly team conference calls, helping to create better team cohesion and responding to members’ questions

JWOC

  • Lead the JWOC Selection Committee, the petition process, and the JWOC team announcement
  • Set up training calls for the JWOC team and alternates
  • Either travel to JWOC (including the on-location pre-JWOC training) as lead coach or coordinate alternate coaches or mentors to ensure best possible support to the athletes as individuals and as a team
  • work with JTESC to ensure all organizational requirements are met. Remuneration for the pre-JWOC training and JWOC attendance as coach is in addition to the basic compensation

NAOC

  • Either travel to NAOC as the Junior National Coach, or work with alternate coaches or mentors in order to provide the best support to the athletes as individuals and as a team
  • Work on identifying the best team composition
  • Work with JTESC to ensure all organizational requirements are met. Remuneration for NAOC attendance as coach is in addition to the basic compensation.

OUSA/JTESC

Participate as a contributing member of JTESC to the continued growth and improvement of OUSA’s National Junior Program.

* These three tasks have already been completed by outgoing coaches for the start of 2020.

Requirements

  • Have a SafeSport-Trained certificate
  • Coaching experience (experience with athletes between the ages of 13-20 preferred)
  • The successful applicant is expected to use their own computer, cell phone, internet connection, driver’s license, etc., to fulfill the duties of this role.

Desired skills/qualifications

  • Demonstrated high level technical knowledge of orienteering principles
  • Strong orienteering/map reading skills
  • Capable of using mapping and/or course-design software to produce training exercises
  • Experienced with athletic competitions abroad
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills
  • Capable of designing training plans to support physical, technical, and psychological development
  • Capable of tailoring athlete goals and plans to meet individual strengths and needs
  • Demonstrated ability to build a sense of team unity and good sportsmanship
  • Patience and understanding

Remuneration

$5,000.00 February through September 2020.

Expect approximately 40 hours per month, but keep in mind that the workload varies.

Applying for this position

Please send a letter expressing your interest and your background in orienteering and a short résumé of your experience in elite orienteering and coaching to the OUSA Junior Program.

JTESC Announces National Junior Program Athletes

The Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC) is excited to announce the USA Junior National Team and the Junior Development Team athletes for 2020.  

This year will see changes in the National Junior Program as we move to expand the National Junior Program (NJP) support structure for both the athletes and the Junior National Coach (JNC) (to be named), by adding local and regional coaches and mentors who will assist and be guided by the JNC.   Here are the athletes:

2020 Junior National Team

  • Diana Aleksieva,QOC
  • Jessica Colleran, COC
  • Julia Doubson, BAOC
  • Christiane Fletcher, GAOC
  • Bridget Hall, NEOC
  • Keegan Harkavy, NEOC
  • Thomas Laraia, MNOC
  • Kirsten Mayland, DVOA
  • Alexis Merka, QOC
  • Kai Mihata, COC
  • Aidan Minto, ICO
  • Anthony Riley, DVOA
  • David Runde, MNOC / Kristiansand OK (NOR)
  • Emilia Schmidt, QOC / Tampereen Pyrintö (FIN)
  • Adrian Vartia, DVOA / OK Löftan (SWE)  

2020 Junior Development Team (as of 2/1/20)

  • Benjamin Brady, COC
  • Anna Campbell, NEOC
  • Victor Frolenko, DVOA
  • Priscilla Kelley, OCIN
  • Zachary Kuder, QOC
  • Sam Loustaunau
  • Annika Mihata, COC
  • Ethan Powers, OCIN
  • Oriana Riley, DVOA

Please note that we are still accepting applications for the  National Junior Program Junior Development Team (JDT), and will be doing so throughout the year.  

We encourage all juniors, ages 13-20, who run confidently at the Orange level (or above), and want to connect with other young people who love orienteering and take their orienteering to the next level, to join the 2020 JDT.

Guy Olsen JTESC Chair

CLOSED – Communications Manager Wanted

NOTE: This position is now closed. The following information is for archival reference purposes only.

Orienteering USA seeks a part-time at-home contractor to serve as Communications Manager.

Duties to include:

  • Serve as OUSA website content manager
  • Prepare and publish monthly OUSA email newsletter
  • Administer OUSA social media accounts
  • Create content for all OUSA communication outlets
  • Prepare and publish an annual hardcopy magazine for OUSA members
  • Other duties as assigned

Candidates should have a computer with internet access. Experience with website and social media administration, writing, and publishing preferred.

Salary of $800/month plus some travel budget to cover OUSA competitions. 

Please send resume and cover letter via email to Clare Durand, president@nullorienteeringusa.org by January 24, 2020.