Category: Announcements

In this message:

1 – Call for volunteers for SafeSport administration
2 – Call for volunteers to serve on a new youth coaching working group
3 – Invitation to a presentation on the American Development Model and youth coaching

Call for SafeSport volunteers

OUSA is seeking Compliance Officers and Administrators for its Safe Sport program. We would like to have more than one of each role, in order to share the burden and ensure coverage. If you are interested in either of these roles, please send email to safesport@nullorienteeringusa.org

Responsibilities of an Administrator:

• Create SafeSport accounts in response to applications
• Track completion of the course
• Determine cost based on the individual’s role with OUSA and orienteering; track payments
• Provide reports to the OUSA Compliance Officers

Responsibilities of a Compliance Officer (who may also be Administrators):

• Proactively determine who needs to take the SafeSport training
• Reach out to those persons with information about how to take the training
• Report quarterly to the President on the number of persons who are out of compliance with the policy
• Implement the consequences for those out of compliance with the policy
• Decide whether to grant waivers based on the content of alternative training, and report to the Board on violations of policy
• Receive reports of violations of the Code, and handle them appropriately

Call for Youth Coaching Working Group volunteers

OUSA is creating a youth coaching working group. The focus of this group will be to generate materials to support the large goal of getting more kids and families involved in the sport through schools, clubs and other youth oriented programs. In order to accomplish this goal there are a few methods that seem to be most effective in attracting more kids to the sport and these are: fun experiences, age-appropriate activities, and good coaching. In 2019 this group will have four goals:

1. Review the current coaching systems, integrate it into current best practice models, define 3 levels of development and have a finished 3-level course by the end of 2019.
2. Put together materials that offer a basic tutorial course to anyone interested in teaching kids which can be widely disseminated to clubs, schools, and organizations interested in starting orienteering.
3. Create, test, and provide a basic kids’ program that clubs can use to introduce the sport widely in their area, which is fun, developmentally appropriate, and game based.
4. Create, test, and provide a basic curriculum that schools can adopt to teach orienteering, linking it to the national standards in both PE and other relevant subject areas, using basic materials that include simple maps and activities that don’t require expensive equipment.

Please note that most of this work will be accomplished by drawing from the large amount of information and current resources currently available. The main job will be to organize the best materials into a functional format. We are looking for interested people to help this work move forward. The group will start work in January and aim to wrap up by the end of 2019. Please email Erin Schirm, erinschirm@nullgmail.com and vpyouth@nullorienteeringusa.org with interest or to inquire further.

Invitation to online meeting about USOC’s ADM and Youth Coaching

Please join us on Sunday, January 27th at 8:00 pm Eastern time (5:00pm on the west coast), for a one-hour online meeting.

In December, Erin Schirm (Junior Coach and Chair of the Senior Team Executive Steering Committee) and Barb Bryant (Vice President for Youth Initiatives) attended a workshop on the American Development Model and new approaches to youth coaching. We would like to share with you what we learned. We believe that OUSA and its member clubs can benefit enormously from these methods, which are being adopted by sports within the Olympic family and beyond. The emphasis is on keeping kids engaged, forsaking short-term wins for long-term development, age-appropriate activities, and excellent coaching.

You are invited to join us online or by phone on Sunday, January 27th at 8:00 pm EST / 5:00 pm PST. The URL is: https://www.uberconference.com/orienteeringusa