Month: June 2020

2020 JWOC Team Announced

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The JWOC selection committee is excited to announce the athletes who have been chosen to compete in the 2020 Junior World Championships. We realize that the world situation with COVID 19 means that the champs may or may not happen and that the timing may be sub-optimal for athletes especially who live in the US because the postponed date falls right in the middle of the fall school semester. Even so we have decided to choose a team in case there is an opportunity for our athletes to represent the US at the world champs. We understand that selected athletes may not be able to attend and that the team size could potentially be reduced due to the current situation. In this case the team coach will have the final say in giving alternates in the designated order a chance to step up based on his evaluation of where they are at leading up to the championships.

This year was quite a hard decision for the selection committee because we had almost no recent high level racing data and most of the head to head racing data came from last summer or spring. The committee used the petition process rubric as a guideline to support their decision making. The committee prioritized current physical fitness levels by way of recent 3k time trials, training volume and consistency from training logs, previous race experience, and overall competitive experience. As always the last spots and alternate positions are very tough to decide, particularly given the circumstances of this year. We deeply regret that all the athletes didn’t get the chance they usually would to prove their ability at trials races. The selection committee is nevertheless pleased to announce the follow teams and alternates.

Men:
– Keegan Harkavy
– Thomas Laraia
– Aidan Minto
– Anthony Riley
– David Runde
– Adrian Vartia
Alternate: Kai Mihata 

Women:
– Diana Aleksieva
– Julia Doubson
– Bridget Hall
– Kirsten Mayland
– Alexis Merka
– Emilia Schmidt
Alternates: Annika Mihata, Christiane Fletcher, Jessica Colleran

Thank you to all the athletes who tried out and for all the hard work. We encourage everyone to keep working hard; you never know when the breakthroughs will come.

Best of luck. Sincerely

The JWOC Selection Committee of Jon Torrance, Greg Ahlswede, Erin Schirm

OUSA SARS-COV2 Task Force

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Orienteering USA is setting up a task force to formulate national recommendations for how to minimize the risk of SARS-COV2 transmission during local and National Ranking Events.  The task force will be chaired by OUSA VPs Joseph Huberman and Jon Torrance.  Any OUSA member with significant experience organizing orienteering events can serve on the committee but it would be particularly helpful if someone with expertise in infection control is willing to step forward.

If you are interested in serving on the task force, email Joseph & Jon (vpclubs@nullorienteeringusa.org & vpcompetition@nullorienteeringusa.org) no later than Wednesday, June 10.

OUSA Youth Mapping Program

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Hello OUSA clubs & affiliates,

The Youth Mapping Program (YMP) Committee would like to call your attention to this relatively new national outreach grant program to help match mappers with schools and other youth nonprofit organizations who want to create small sized maps for orienteering teaching purposes. This is an excellent twofold way to grow orienteering in your community through
schools and other non-profit youth based programs, while supporting your mappers, extending the reach of projects available for hire. Applications for mappers and schools are at the bottom of this message.

Announced last year on the OUSA website, already 20 + organizations have requested a map and a short list of mappers have applied. The first round of matching and grant funding was awarded in January 2020, as a small test sample of the program. We are now ready to expand this program, continuing to review applicants for matching and funding on a quarterly basis. Our next round will be awarded this summer.

Mappers do not need to physically go to the site to create a map, but by using online resources and cartography software, will work with a designated representative from the youth organization as “eyes on the ground” to get the terrain physically checked over. The mapper will work with an OUSA YMP consultant to ensure the map meets the published guidelines. Schools and youth organizations will be requested to define the areas and size they want mapped, from school grounds to local parks. They will be assisted with any questions by this committee regarding suitability and scope of the project. We hope to get as many small teaching maps into the hands of youth and educators as possible through this program.

Please pass this message along to any and all that you feel would benefit from this program. Orienteering clubs, please reach out to invite all members, particularly those with children or ties to schools to get involved locally with outreach to promote this national, grant assisted Youth Mapping Program. Applications are ongoing, with a June 30th deadline to be considered for Round 2.

To learn about this opportunity, please go to this link. Grant Rubric information for map project suitability is listed in the side menu. Note: Link updated 8 January 2021

Mappers who would like to join the program should apply here.
Schools and youth organizations who would like a map to help teach orienteering should apply here.

Eileen Breseman, YMP Committee Member
YMPCommittee@nullorienteeringusa.org

Updated OUSA Abuse and Misconduct Policy

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The federal SafeSport Act of 2017 requires organizations that participate in interstate or international amateur athletic competitions and whose membership includes any adult who is in regular contact with an amateur athlete who is a minor, to have a policy on abuse and misconduct. In a virtual meeting on June 1st, the Orienteering USA board of directors approved updates to the organizational policy that addresses potential abuse and misconduct in our sport.

The full policy can be viewed here.