Month: November 2022

2023 JWOC Team Selection Criteria Announced

The 2023 Junior World Orienteering Championships will take place from July 1-9, 2023 in Baia Mare, Romania. An official pre-JWOC training will be hosted the week prior to the championships, with the US Team intending to participate for at least a portion of it. Orienteering USA’s JWOC Selection Committee will choose up to six young male and six young female athletes to represent the USA at JWOC ’23.

As we return to more normal post-pandemic customs, this year will see a return to a full Team Trials selection event for the 2023 team. The 2023 JWOC Selection committee has coordinated with the organizers of the 2023 Orienteering USA Nationals / Flying Pig XXV to include the 2023 JWOC Team Trials. The event will take place the weekend of March 24-26, 2023 in Kentucky/Ohio and will consist of three races (M/F-20): Sprint, Middle & Long. The latter two are scheduled to be at Carter Caves in Kentucky and the sprint venue has not yet been announced but will be located nearby.

The full JWOC Team Selection Criteria document has now been uploaded to the Orienteering USA Library.

Note to Petitioners: Petitioners who can not attend the Team Trials will still be required to register for the Team Trials as Non-Compete and fill in the declaration page. Petitioning information will be collected through EventReg during registration – whether competing in the trials races, or entering as Non-Compete.

Interested athletes can view Bulletin 2.1 from the JWOC ’23 organizers for more information.

What do you know about SafeSport?

SafeSport helps leaders establish an inclusive environment that makes everyone feel safe and welcome.

What would it be like if everyone who tried orienteering felt welcome, included, challenged, but most of all, safe? Chances are, your organization has already deliberately thought through how to make this happen through registration, newcomer instruction, course design, results, and more. If you haven’t, you should. And if you have, now’s a great time to review your practices.

November is SafeSport campaign month in OrienteeringUSA.  We’re approaching club recharter, which requires you to identify someone to take the SafeSport Trained course and ensure your club is aware of requirements to protect minors under federal law. But it’s so much more than that. SafeSport also helps us structure our interactions so no one can abuse a situation of power over another, regardless of age or ability.  We’re largely a sport run by volunteers, and we need to look out for each other.  SafeSport training will help your leaders recognize and properly react to situations that could be problematic, and it helps us all establish the inclusive environment we need to conduct our sport safely.

SafeSport training is free to OUSA members. Those in key roles must take the 90-minute SafeSport Trained full course every 3 years. But there are also a range of much shorter courses tailored to specific audiences, such as youth, parents, and volunteers. See the OUSA website for more information and to sign up. Let’s all do our part to make orienteering appropriately challenging, inclusive, and enjoyable for everyone!

Not convinced, yet?  Consider this: if minors cross state lines to attend your orienteering event, the federal SafeSport Act applies to you. You need to know what that means for your organization.

2022 Orienteering USA Nationals Event Recap

November 11-13, 2022

  • Host: Los Angeles Orienteering Club
  • Venues
    • Sprint: Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA
    • Middle: Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, Aqua Dulce, CA
    • Long: Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, CA
  • Event Director: Clare Durand
    • Registrar: Allan Pincus
    • Sprint Course Setter: Scott Schmitz
    • Middle Course Setter: Bruce Garbaccio
    • Long Course Setter: Kim Pincus
    • Course Consultant: Jim Hall
  • Event Website

Misc Links

Fri, Nov 11, 2022 – Sprint @ Pierce College

Sat, Nov 12, 2022 – Middle @ Vasquez Rocks

Sun, Nov 13, 2022 – Long @ Red Rocks Canyon

Intercollegiate 2023 Eligibility Waiver

At the regularly scheduled Orienteering USA Board of Directors meeting held on Monday, November 7, 2022, a proposal concerning eligibility requirements for the Intercollegiate competition at the upcoming Junior Nationals was presented by Boris Granovskiy of Grizzly Orienteering Club. The current eligibility requirements, as found in the OUSA Rules of Competition, are as follows:

A.35.3.1 – To be eligible to compete in an Intercollegiate class the competitor must meet the following two requirements:
  1. Be a full-time college or university student.
  2. (Undergraduate or graduate as defined by the college or university) 
  3. Be less than 28 years old as of December 31 of the current year.

By reasoning of students incurring delays in their personal educational progress imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic putting them beyond the age cutoff of 28, it was proposed that the age limit be raised to 30. A motion was made, discussed and passed by the board allowing a one year waiver to Rule A.35.3.1.c to raise the eligibility age limit to be less than 30 years old for the competition year 2023. This effectively applies to the upcoming Georgia Navigator Cup / Junior Nationals to be held in Georgia in mid-January.

Registration for the Junior Nationals will open on December 1st, 2022.

JWOC ’22 Part B Event Recap

November 4-6, 2022

The Forest races scheduled for JWOC ’22 back in July were cancelled when forest access throughout the entire country of Portugal was shut-down due to extreme fire danger. Event organizers pivoted and put together a great Sprint JWOC in its place and elected to defer the forest races until November.

Unfortunately, due to school and other commitments, many members of the originally selected squad from July were unable to return to Portugal a second time to complete the JWOC competition but TeamUSA was still able to send a 7-person contingent this time around.

Returning members from the July squad included Alexis Merka, Anna Campbell, Bridget Hall, Lily Addicott and Holden Sopoti as the lone representative for the men. Oriana Riley, originally an alternate selection for the July team was added to the squad. Rounding out the TeamUSA squad was Emilia Schmidt who was selected for the 2020 JWOC Team but was unable to compete due to cancellation of the event in 2020 by the pandemic.

Be sure to check out the post-JWOC blog post by TeamUSA member Lily Addicott to find out more about our team’s adventures in Portugal.

Tip: To view images at full size, right-click and “open image in new tab”. You may also copy image and view in an image editor of your choice. Higher resolution images are available for promotional use by clubs, contact webmaster@nullorienteeringusa.org for more information.

Fri Nov 4, 2022 – Middle @ Quinta das Lameiras

Click for larger map

Sat Nov 5, 2022 – Relay @ Quinta das Lameiras

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Sun Nov 6, 2022 – Long @ Carapito & Eirado

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Photo credits: Michael Schmidt, Angelica Riley, Lily Addicott, Kell Sønnichsen, Susana Luzir, Carlos Viana Rodrigues, Município Aguiar da Beira