Category: Announcements

Announcements for OUSA

OUSA seeks input on Junior Nationals Club Team proposal

The Orienteering USA Board is considering a proposed rule change to club team eligibility and composition for Junior Nationals in 2025. We conducted a test of two possible team and scoring variations during Junior Nationals in 2024:

  • In the first, orienteers from the same club who were registered in Interscholastic or Intercollegiate categories were eligible to participate on a club team in their category regardless of whether they were also on a school team. 
  • In the second, orienteers from the same club who were registered in Interscholastic or Intercollegiate categories were eligible to participate on a club team spanning all categories regardless of whether they were also on a school team. 

We want your opinion. Please share your thoughts here. See this document for the full report and the experimental scoring results for each variation.

2024 Junior Nationals at Bishops Land

Trail-O Standing Team Applications Now Open

Applications are now open for the TeamUSA Trail Orienteering Standing Team. The application link will stay active for another week until Monday, April 8th.

However, if you are interested in representing US in the trail orienteering European championships (ETOC) in Turku, Finland May 8th -May 12th please fill in your application for the standing team as soon as possible. Preferably this would be done by Monday Apr 1st, as the team size deadline for ETOC in Apr 8th.

Fill out the Team Application here.

Orienteering USA rules stipulate that all National team members must complete SafeSport training.  There is also a link to this training in the application form.

Here is the language in OUSA rules regarding the standing team:

  • G.4.4 The U.S. Trail Orienteering National Team shall be composed of a maximum of 10 applicants from each class who meet the following conditions:
    • a. Have full passport qualifying citizenship for the United States.
    • b. Regular member of Orienteering USA in good standing.
    • c. Agree to be an active part of the team.
    • d. Participate in Team discussions, elections, and fundraisers.
    • e. Agree to represent the USA in International Orienteering Events (if selected and available).
    • f. Subscribe to the Official Team communication channel.
  • G.4.5 The top five highest ranked applicants of each class from each of the PreO and TempO ranking lists shall be automatically selected to the team. Any remaining spots will be filled by the ESC using a combination of the PreO and TempO ranking lists.  In the event that fewer than 10 applicants for the team in a class have a valid ranking, the ESC may, at their discretion, name non-ranked applicants to the team.

As a member of the standing team you are eligible to wear US National team uniform in any US Trail-O event

Sincerely,
Mika Latva-Kokko
Trail-O ESC

Orienteering USA WTOC 2027 Interest Survey

Orienteering USA is currently considering submitting a bid to host the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC) in 2027. We would like to determine whether we have the minimum necessary team to support this event as well as what geographic part of the country is best prepared to host.

Whether you are a veteran trail orienteer or a newcomer to the discipline of Trail Orienteering, we welcome your input. Let us know if you are interested in helping to bring WTOC to the US or have some great ideas of a venue near you that would be ideal for Trail-O by filling out this brief survey. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Photo courtesy Natashza Figiel, WTOC 2022

International Ski Orienteering wraps up season in Estonia

Event writeup courtesy Carl Fey

Several US Ski-orienteers took part in the ski-orienteering races in Haanja, Estonia February 23-25, 2024 which included the World Cup Final, the Open Nordic Junior Meeting in Ski-Orienteering. The World Masters Ski-Orienteering Championships, and some open races for others. The organizers had difficult conditions to deal with as it was +1 to +5C all week and the snow was melting in front of our eyes. Given the difficult conditions, the experienced Estonian organizers did a great job. In recent years Estonia and Latvia are probably the countries which have progressed the most in ski-orienteering with increasing good results and breath.

Veteran Sharon Crawford had her normal strong performances and won good metals in all of the races in D80—sprint, middle, and long. Sharon commented, “The races were very difficult technically. I found the swamps especially challenging. The skiing was fun but really treacherous.” In H55 Carl Fey was 7th in the Sprint, 6th in the long, and 9th in the middle. Carl commented, “these were very difficult races technically in terms of both skiing and orienteering. I especially enjoyed the rolling winding downhill trails through the woods requiring good skiing skills. The organizers did a good job to make choosing the best route choice difficult”

In the Open Nordic Junior Meeting H18 class Erik Fey (USA) was 12th in the sprint and 7th in the medium. In the long he raced in the H16 class which was not part of the Nordic Junior Meeting and won. In the long race Erik arrived at the finish totally soaking wet from his waist down after having skied across a lake which had much standing water on top of it which got sprayed all over him by his skis. After the races Erik commented, “I am really happy with my long race. The medium race was really interesting. In the H14 open class (not part of the Nordic Junior Meeting) Mark Fey (USA) was 5th in the sprint, 3rd in the long, and 2nd in the medium. When asked about the races Mark commented, “It was very exciting to take part in my first international ski-orienteering races. The orienteering was quite difficult. I really liked the fast steep downhills.”

The World Cup did not have any US participants with some US Ski-O team members taking part in the American Birkinbiner ski marathon which occurred in the US at the same time. The sprint races were won by Niklas Ekstrom from Finland and surprise winner Judith Traubaite from Lithuania. The pursuit races were won by Niklas Ekstrom from Finland and Anna Ulvensoen from Norway. In the middle distance the crowd went wild when home favorite Daisy Kudre Schnyder from Estonia won the women’s race. The close race in the men’s class was also exciting with Evert Toivonen finishing just one second ahead of Jorgen Baklid. Norway was excited to win the overall team competition for the 2024 season.

The events ended with the organizers arranging a very nice banquet. Two highlights of the banquet were a ski-o triva quiz which among other things featured a ski-o map from Craftsbury which people had to identify what country it was located in. Most of the participants thought it was located in Norway…. Local dancers also taught participants some Estonian dancing. Sharon Crawford was a popular participant in the dancing where it was uncovered that she had done square dancing as a child.

March Forum: Alternative Course Formats

Are you looking for new ideas to spice up your next local event? Next month’s Orienteering USA forum topic will feature Alternative Course formats and will take place on Tuesday evening, March 12th at 8:30pm EST.

Mary Jones from Orienteer Kansas will present some ideas from their Explorer course which is offered at all of their regular events and is designed as an introduction to orienteering for beginners of all ages. Joseph Huberman from Backwoods Orienteering Klub will discuss the Fox Chase format that is used at some of their events.

We are still looking for a couple more folks to round out the panel so if you have a unique twist on the standard course formats that you’d like to share with the orienteering community, please contact Joseph Huberman @ vpclubs@nullorienteeringusa.org.

Everyone including organizers and participants is encouraged to join the discussion in two weeks on Google Meet at https://meet.google.com/ama-bpex-yrv. You can catch previous monthly forums you may have missed over on the Orienteering USA YouTube Channel.

Orienteer Kansas – New Year’s Day O’ at Rock Haven (via OK Facebook Page)

Announcing the 2024 US National Orienteering Team

The Selection Committee (Peggy Dickison, Eric Weyman, and Matt Smith) is pleased to announce the 2024 US National Orienteering Team.

The committee carefully examined each of the many applications (57) to determine Team readiness and squad placement. Several 2023 Team members chose not to apply this year, a few narrowly missed making the Team, and some new faces have emerged.

Placements were based primarily on the Selection Criteria, weighing OUSA and IOF rankings highest, along with head-to-head competition and other known factors. In general, we were most flexible/inclusive with the Juniors, who we understand are still improving and have less-consistent results; less flexible/inclusive with the Performance Squad; and least flexible/inclusive with the Elite Squad.

With several athletes on the cusp of qualifying for the Team, we expect to add members after the spring season. We are excited to see our team continue to attract excellent athletes. Welcome to four new athletes to the Junior Squad! Be sure to check the full roster with athlete photos, bios and links on the Orienteering USA National Team web page

2024 US National Orienteering Team

  • Elite Squad
    • Greg Ahlswede – DVOA
    • Joseph Barrett – QOC
    • Tori Borish – RMOC
    • Evalin Brautigam – WCOC
    • Alison Campbell – DVOA, STAG (Scotland)
    • Alison Crocker – CROC
    • Thomas Curiger – OK Orion (Jämsjö, Sweden)
    • Sydney Fisher – EMPO
    • Bridget Hall – NEOC
    • Keegan Harkavy – NEOC
    • Anthony Riley – DVOA
    • Danny Riley – NEOC
    • Ricardo Schaniel – Bussola OK (Switzerland)
  • Performance Squad
    • Lily Addicott – GAOC
    • Diana Aleksieva – QOC
    • Eric Bone – COC
    • Julia Doubson – BAOC
    • Thomas Laraia – MNOC, Edinburgh University Orienteering Club
    • Shawn Mather – USMAOC
    • Kirsten Mayland – DVOA
    • Annika Mihata – COC
    • Oriana Riley – DVOA
  • Junior Squad
    • Ben Brady – COC / GrizO
    • Anna Campbell – NEOC
    • Ben Conley – New Member! – Cascade Orienteering Club / Grizzly Orienteering
    • Ben Cooper – COC
    • Ian Dunlap – OLOU
    • Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck – NEOC
    • Ludvig Hagwall – New Member! – Järla Orientering (Stockholm, Sweden)
    • Greta Leonard – COC
    • Alex Merka – QOC
    • Jackson Rupe – COC
    • Emilia Schmidt – QOC
    • Zoe Sibthorp – COC
    • Ava Suhocki – DVOA
    • Paige Suhocki – DVOA
    • Samantha Walker – New Member! – Quantico Orienteering Club
    • Astrid White – New Member! – Grizzly Orienteering / OK Linné (Uppsala, Sweden)
    • Zariah Zosel – COC / GrizO

Monthly Forum #4 – Replay Available

This month’s OUSA monthly forum featured Barb Bryant, from Navigation Games taking a look at the current state of teaching orienteering in schools. We look at a few successes – and failures – from around the country and the world, and do a deep dive into the approach of Navigation Games, a member club of Orienteering USA.

Click the image below to watch the replay or visit the Orienteering YouTube Channel to view previous forums.

https://youtu.be/pqXukkR6fWY

Orienteering USA seeks project proposals

As a volunteer run organization, Orienteering USA recognizes that many of our most important initiatives come from our membership. At meetings held during the Fall of 2023, the OUSA Board of Directors discussed ways to promote individuals and clubs to pursue ‘passion projects’ that further the sport at the local, regional and national level. The board has subsequently adopted a strategic focus to sponsor innovation and improve services in orienteering!

We are looking for projects you want to make happen, but don’t have the funding to support. Projects may be of any scope: local, regional, or even national. At the end of your project, we’ll ask you to report back on how it went, at least to the Board, and possibly to a broader audience (especially if your idea is really successful). 

Some examples of ideas we’d like to see take off:

  •   – Innovative ways to increase participation in your area
  •   – Attend or present about orienteering at a conference or to a group
  •   – Purchase equipment that would expand your organization’s capabilities
  •   – Bring in an expert (or be the expert that OUSA sends out to help people with orienteering)
  •   – Host a training camp
  •   – Publicize a major event
  •   – Put on your first major event
  •   – Make a map you otherwise couldn’t support
  •   …and probably many more we haven’t thought to list yet!

Interested? Fill out the Google Form by following this link:

2024 Iain Wilson Award Applications Now Open

For the past 10 years, the Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, have supported young, developing orienteers through the Iain Wilson Character through Competition Awards for outstanding character in orienteering. The award is intended to assist with the cost of education, training, and travel to local, regional and international orienteering events. For 2023 the Wilson awardees were Ben Brady from Cascade Orienteering Club and Alex Merka from Quantico Orienteering Club. Both athletes were subsequently chosen to compete for TeamUSA at the Junior World Championships in Romania this past July.

Ben writes “Orienteering, especially in the United States, is a difficult sport logistically as often times races will be on opposite ends of the country, and getting valuable orienteering experience in unfamiliar terrain requires many expensive plane flights and hotel accommodations. This fact is made even worse if you want to travel overseas. Through the Iain Wilson Award’s generosity, a large portion of my recent trip to Romania was funded, giving me the support to not only have an incredible orienteering experience, but also to improve my skills in the sport.”

After JWOC concluded, Alex came back to the US briefly to compete in the North American Orienteering Championships for TeamUSA as well as teaming up with her mother to compete in the 24 Hour World Rogaining Championships at Lake Tahoe.
In early August Alex moved to Czechia to study at Charles University and broaden her orienteering opportunities, competing for TeamUSA in the 2nd round of the Orienteering World Cup in Czechia days after arriving there.
Read more about Alex’s adventures since moving to Czechia in this TeamUSA blog post.

Ben and Alex both made excellent use of their ’23 Wilson Awards and applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Character through Competition Award as well as the 2024 Wilson Community Growth Grant which supports programs that bring orienteering to youth around the country.

Online forms as well as printable versions for both programs are available now on the Orienteering USA website. Visit this Application Link to apply today. Applications are due by February 15th, 2024.

Information and press releases on previous award recipients can be found in this document from the OUSA Library.