Category: Announcements

Announcements for OUSA

OUSA Welcomes New Administrative Specialist

Orienteering USA would like to welcome Shawn Callahan as our new Administrative Specialist. A native of Virginia Beach, VA, he has been involved in the orienteering community for over 20 years with experience as a meet director, mapper and teaching orienteering with a number of clubs.

Shawn is currently the general manager of Adventureworks Wetland Ziplines in Virginia Beach and has held leadership positions in small business, non-profits and outdoor education programs. In these positions he’s put a strong emphasis on youth development and education initiatives.

Shawn starts today (Feb 1st) and will take over for Amy Winston, who will be leaving OUSA at the end of February.

Upcoming OUSA Board Meeting: Feb 8, 8pm EST

The next meeting of the Orienteering USA Board of Directors will be held online via Google Meet on Monday, February 8th from 8pm-10pm EST. Among the topics to be discussed are: Updates and Review of upcoming NRE and Championship events, MTBO events policy for 2021 and review of the 2021 budget. More details and meeting link can be found in the Agenda.

YMP Map of the Month – January 2021

As we head into the new year, Orienteering USA’s Youth Mapping Program (YMP) is moving ahead full steam. At last count there were seventeen (17) new maps in production by 17 different mappers, plus an equal number of remote field checkers serving as ‘eyes on the ground’. And the committee has more map requests queuing up!

This month’s featured Map of the Month is a 1:4000 scale map of the campus of the Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. It was created by YMP mapper Julia Doubson with field checking by BHSU Professor Christine McCart who heads up the Outdoor Education Program on campus. Professor McCart will utilize the new map in her PE 100 Orienteering Course as well as RECR 242 Outdoor Skills class. She also intends to share the map and resources with PE teachers in the local school systems.

If the map looks familiar, its probably because we ran this as our Puzzle Friday feature a few weeks back on New Years Day. You can check out the puzzle of this and other maps in our Puzzle Friday archives

OUSA Seeks Part-time Administrator

1/20/21 – OUSA Administrator position is no longer accepting applications. Thank you for your interest in Orienteering USA.

Orienteering USA seeks a part-time contractor to handle administrative functions. 

Duties to include:

  • Serve as the primary OUSA office contact.
  • Handle deposits, invoices, and check requests and interface with OUSA accountants to ensure processing. Work with Vice-President of Finance to review financial reports and maintain efficient processes.
  • Serve as OUSA membership administrator.
  • Administer the annual club recharter process.
  • Handle Safesport training requests and maintain OUSA Safesport certification database.
  • Provide administrative support to the Board of Directors and committees as necessary, including handling preparations for the Annual General Meeting.
  • Attend board meetings approximately quarterly and phone meetings with the finance team monthly.
  • Other duties as assigned

Candidate will work remotely and should have a computer with internet access and experience using typical office suite software such as Microsoft Word/Excel or Google Docs/Sheets. Basic bookkeeping/accounting knowledge is a plus, as is experience with GSuite and/or NeonCRM.

Starting contract rate of $800/month plus expenses, including travel to board meetings.
Anticipated start date: February 1, 2021

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

Orienteering USA is the national governing body of all orienteering activities in the United States and is a member nation of the International Orienteering Federation. We support over 60 chartered orienteering clubs nationwide. Our mission is to: increase participation in the sport of orienteering (including rogaining/map trekking), teach map reading and navigation skills, promote enjoyment of, and respect for, the environment, and establish world-class competitive excellence within our national team programs.

In Memoriam: Ed Hicks

It is with great sadness that we write that Ed Hicks, owner of Orienteering Unlimited, passed away on Jan. 1, 2021. Ed was a major advocate for the sport of orienteering over many decades and spearheaded the production of hundreds of maps of parks, camps, school grounds, conference and nature centers across the United States. His cheerful presence will be sorely missed.

If you would like to support Ed’s wish of growing the sport of orienteering, contributions can be made to the Orienteering USA Youth Mapping Program. This program aims to develop school maps and thereby promote the sport.

View his obituary which includes memorial donation information. You can also view and share your own remembrances of Ed over on the Attackpoint website.

OUSA Board Welcomes Faye Doria

At its meeting on Monday, December 21st, the Orienteering USA Board of Directors voted unanimously to elect Faye Doria to fill an open position on its board. Faye will fill the remaining one year of a three year term in the position previously held by Susan Grandjean who stepped down this fall. Faye has been an active orienteer with Up North Orienteers (UNO) and the New England Orienteering Club (NEOC) for over 20 years both as a competitor and volunteering as course setter, meet director and registrar at many meets over the years at both the local and national level.

Recently retired, Faye also brings a lifetime of experience in financial services to the board including 30+ years as a personal financial planner, tax planning and preparation, financial support for healthcare non-profit and two years serving her local community as town treasurer. I am sure OUSA’s financial committee will find her expertise invaluable.

You can read Faye’s complete candidate bio from the OUSA library here.

2021 US Nationals Postponed.

Orienteering Cincinnati (OCIN) will be postponing the 2021 OUSA Nationals originally scheduled to be held at the Flying Pig on March 19-21, 2021. At this time, it is unlikely that we would be able to use at least one of the parks, and we cannot be reasonably certain that people from around the country would be able to travel to and from the Cincinnati area without restrictions. OCIN is presently discussing specific options and expects to have an update about this postponement by early January.

Puzzle Friday: Oak Ridge NRE

Today’s puzzle takes us to the National Ranking Event at held Oak Ridge in the Prince William Forest Park in Virginia this past weekend. Thanks to Quantico Orienteering Club for hosting the event and providing the media used to create the puzzle. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Board Meeting Rescheduled

The Orienteering USA board meeting previously announced for December 14 has been rescheduled to December 21 to allow more time for preparation of the annual budget proposal. Details are available on the Agenda.