Category: Announcements

Announcements for OUSA

OUSA Clubs Present at a PE Teachers Conference

On November 5th and 6th, 2022 two Orienteering USA clubs, Navigation Games (NavGames) and Quantico Orienteering Club (QOC), teamed up to present workshops at the annual convention for Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (VAHPERD).

The convention was attended by several hundred teachers and others involved in PE education. We were invited to present by Austin Kulp, the president of VAHPERD, who previously had a map made through Orienteering USA’s Youth Mapping Program for his school. 

Barb Bryant shared the Youth Mapping Program (YMP), which is an OUSA program to get good orienteering maps made for schools and other youth-serving organizations, and to help teachers with ideas for how to use them.

Navigation Games presented its school lesson plans for elementary and high school students. We set up our fun Geometric Animal-O activity indoors for the attendees to try out. There was a lot of laughter as they scurried about the conference room trying to find the right animal control. We also had SPORTident courses and Poison Score-O in a tiny park across the street from the conference venue. Andrea Schneider of OUSA’s YMP created a base map on short notice, and Barb created the map remotely using Google Street View. Several people took advantage of the spectacular fall weather to enjoy the outdoor courses. 

Don Fish from Quantico Orienteering Club gave examples of how the club works with local schools, and invited the teachers to attend a QOC meet. He also asked them to get in touch with him if they want advice or collaboration on getting started. Don feels strongly that we need to bring more young people into the sport, because many of us orienteers are getting older! 

The participants were enthusiastic about the possibility of including the demonstrated activities in their teaching. 

We’d like to encourage clubs to connect with their state’s PE conference. We’d be happy to give advice for a fun and informative session. We created a companion website for our presentations; feel free to take anything you find useful! The website includes the slide presentations that we went through at the beginning of our 50-minute sessions.

This post was authored by Navigation Games president Barbara Bryant. If your club has news items of general interest to Orienteering USA clubs and members, please contact us at webmaster@nullorienteeringusa.org.

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.

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.

2022 Wilson Awards Announced

Aubree Winters (COC/Tahoma)

The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, proudly announces Aubree Winters as the winner of the 2022 Iain Wilson Character Through Competition Award. This $1,000 award honors the memory of Iain Wilson by recognizing young athletes whose efforts demonstrate character through their commitment to growth and improvement in the sport as well as their contribution to the orienteering community through service and teamwork. Aubree is a native of Tahoma, Washington and member of the Cascade Orienteering Club. She becomes the seventeenth young orienteer to receive this award which offsets training and travel expenses.

Aubree came to orienteering in high school after joining her cross country team which helped her acknowledge that running wasn’t so bad after all (the Wilson Award’s supporters are members of Iain’s college cross country team so this makes us very happy!). She has quickly developed her running and navigation skills and aspires for more. Aubree’s enthusiasm is evident when she talks about the rapid growth and development she is experiencing, “To this day, I’m still learning, improving, and having a blast!” Looking to her future, Aubree is just as passionate about attracting others to the sport as she is in advancing up the ranks and competing at the National and International levels. Aubree’s application was noteworthy in that she spoke to the lessons she is learning from the sport and her coach which affect her beyond competition. She writes,  “Through orienteering, I know that if I metaphorically fall down, I can always stand up and try again.”

Aubree is catching people’s attention and positively impacting those around her. Aubree’s coach, John Brady, writes glowingly about her character, noting the number of young people she has attracted and recruited to the sport, the care and affection she shows her teammates, and her passion for bettering herself as an orienteer. Award committee co-chair Marc Balcer writes, “The committee is thrilled to recognize athletes such as Aubree, whose passion and motivation rekindles the memory of our  dear friend, Iain Wilson, who exemplified these qualities throughout his life.” 

Scout Troop 90 from San Juan Island in Washington State

The Wilson Awards also announce Scout Troop 90 on San Juan Island in Washington State as the winner of the $1,000 2022 Wilson Community Growth Grant. Scout Troop 90 operates a 15-acre property named Camp Bogardus. Funding is being used to develop two new orienteering courses on the island, a 2km course with signage during the summer of 2022, and a longer 25km course by spring of 2023. Funds also subsidize the acquisition of compasses, map reproduction, surveying, control/waypoint markers and card punches. 

Camp Bogardus serves numerous local organizations and hosts over 250 scouts from near and far each summer, with plans to host orienteering meets to extend their reach. As scout leader Eric Stone shared, “Camp Bogardus, was established in 1985 for the benefit of local island Scouts, as a non-profit trust, so that it would remain independent of national scouting financial constraints. This independent status has allowed the property to remain dedicated to youth and allowed it to prosper as one of only three tent camping sites on San Juan Island.” The new courses will take advantage of the scenic and unique terrain and the impact of the grant should be profound both to those already connected with the camp and those who will soon travel there for orienteering and recreation.

The Wilson Community Growth Grant honors the memory of long-time Orienteer, Iain Wilson. The committee is pleased to see the efforts of Eric Stone and the volunteers and supporters of Scout Troop 90 working to expand the sport with the creation of these two new courses. As a licensed Professional Land Surveyor and San Juan County’s Chief Surveyor, Stone leaves us with no doubt that the courses will have exquisite attention to detail and longevity. Anthony Belber, a college running teammate of Iain’s noted, “Iain has a passion and zest for traveling to scenic spots. He would be thrilled that this grant is going to bring more people to a beautiful corner of our country. What a lovely way to develop navigation skills and bask in the natural surroundings.” 

Applications for the 2023 Wilson Awards are being accepted now through February 1, 2023 and can be found at  www.orienteeringusa.org/about/recognition/.

Official Press Releases: Aubree Winters & Scout Troop 90

2022 Silva Award Winner: Cristina Luis

Cristina Luis of the Tucson Orienteering Club (TSN) is the recipient of this year’s Silva Award, given annually to an orienteer who has given exceptional service to orienteering over the past five years. Cristina has been involved in orienteering at many levels in the US for well over 5 years, most recently culminating in her role as Competition Manager for The World Games, bringing international orienteering back to the US for the first time in over 25 years. The games were a huge success due to the tireless efforts and managerial acumen that Cristina brought to the role.

Beginning in 2018 she was the liaison between Orienteering USA, the Birmingham Organizing Committee (BOC), the Vulcan Orienteering Club (VOC) and the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). For four years, she navigated the competing demands of many different stakeholders allowing the rest of the volunteer team members to focus on their specific tasks. No matter what the issue, she tackled problems and found solutions, inspiring the rest of the team to do the same. Through the sporadic emails and phone calls at the beginning of the process, to the biweekly, then weekly and finally daily Zoom calls, she kept the team focused and moving forward.

Cristina poses with World Games Livestream Announcer Boris Granovskiy at Oak Mountain.
Photo courtesy Peggy Dickison.

Most of the team had responsibilities that were limited in scope to some specific area (like course setting or starts or logistics or volunteer coordination); Cristina oversaw all of it. In addition to the usual aspects of directing a large orienteering event, the multi-sport nature of this international event meant she had to deal with many non-orienteering specific details such as athlete accreditation, IOF official accommodations, integrating TV coverage with different sports, negotiating with police departments, and the list goes on. But as she dealt with all of that, she also kept the orienteering specific parts of the competition front and center to provide the highest quality experience to the international elite orienteers who came to Birmingham to compete. She was the epitome of a good leader, knowing when to leave people to do their jobs and when to get involved to make sure everything was running smoothly.

While Cristina’s substantial efforts in organizing the World Games orienteering competitions were clearly ample justification for this years award, we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge a few of Cristina’s other contributions to our sport over the years. She is one of the primary organizers of the popular weeklong Southwest Spring Week orienteering festival held each winter in Arizona since 2018, she served on the US Team Executive Steering Committee from 2012-16 (serving twice as team leader) and served on the OUSA Board of Directors from 2007-2010 including a stint as VP Competition.

The 2022 Silva Award was presented to Cristina at the Orienteering USA Annual General Meeting held online on September 29th, 2022.

2022 President’s Awards

The accolades for Cristina were not limited to the Silva Award however. At each year’s Annual General Meeting, the president gives out a number of President’s Awards and this year’s awards included actual competition medals from The World Games. The Bronze Medal was presented to the Vulcan Orienteering Club who provided nearly half the volunteer manpower required to make the orienteering competitions the world class events that they were.

The Silver Medal was presented to Anne Mathews of VOC for her extraordinary efforts as Volunteer Coordinator for The World Games (see below) and the Gold Medal was presented to Cristina Luis for being the catalyst that allowed The World Games to become the first class events that they were. A president’s award was also given to Clinton Morse for his efforts over the past two years as National Communication Manager for OUSA.

2022 Golden Service Awards

The AGM is also the opportunity to recognize those individuals who have provided exceptional service to the sport of orienteering that extends beyond the local club level by presenting them with Orienteering USA Golden Service Awards. The recipients of this year’s Golden Service Awards are:

  • Anne Mathews (VOC) – Anne, vice president of VOC, agreed early on in the planning process for The World Games to serve as Assistant Competition Manager and local representative in Birmingham for the orienteering competitions.
    • Among Anne’s many, many duties were the recruitment, training and organizing of the over 70 volunteers who were not part of the core Team Officials group. These volunteers (many had multiple roles) were assigned to teams including control watching, course marshaling, starts, quarantine, finish, venue prep and much more.
    • Anne also served as equipment manager for the games developing equipment lists, procuring equipment and supplies and coordinating their delivery and setup at the three different orienteering venues.
    • Anne secured dedicated work spaces in Birmingham to allow the team, many of whom flew in from around the country, to operate efficiently to bring the games to fruition.
    • Anne worked closely with course consultant Jon Campbell to identify a local printer and ensure that competition maps were prepared to the high international quality standards required.
  • Greg Fasig (OCIN) – Greg was involved with OCIN for about 10 years and certainly left his mark on the club although he is no longer in the Cincinnati area. Greg served as OCIN president for 6 years and volunteered countless hours to grow club membership delving into operational aspects like encouraging the club to procure additional electronic timing equipment, initiating a new competitive racing series, improving registration processes and developing a mission and vision statement for the club. Under his leadership OCIN produced new club uniforms, expanded their catalog of maps, redesigned the club website and began marketing through social media.
  • Tom Overbaugh (DVOA) – Tom Overbaugh has been a mainstay of DVOA for over 40 years. He has served as the President, Vice President, and Trustee at various times. Over the years he has scouted terrain; field-checked and updated maps; event directed; and set courses for many, many local events. He has played major roles in most of DVOA’s National Ranking events over the past 20 years including:
    • 2000 US Champs – Registrar
    • 2003 Return to the Water Gap – Course Setter Day 2
    • 2005 Fair Hill Long Champs – Course Setter
    • 2008 Chasing the Star Sprint – Course Vetter
    • 2009 Fair Hill O Marathon – Event Director/Course Setter
    • 2012 NAOC at the Water Gap – Director of Course Setting (all three days)
    • 2014 Mason-Dixon Classic – Course Setter Day 2
    • 2021 Back to the Woods – Course Setter for Sprint & Middle
  • Shinichi Shimizu (COO) – Shin is a course setter and mapper for both the Central Ohio Orienteers club as well as OCIN. His courses are always well thought out and challenging at the upper levels, while beginner friendly and encouraging at the white and yellow levels. This year Shin set the Friday middle courses at the 2022 Flying Pig NRE. He also traveled to Alabama and was a volunteer at The World Games in July. He helped out with control watching, both in the woods and at the two sprints, as well as helping out with a variety of set-up tasks.

Orienteering USA extends congratulations and its sincere thanks to all the individuals recognized this year for your continuing efforts to develop and promote the sport of orienteering here in the US.

TeamUSA welcomes Thomas Curiger to the National Team

The Executive Steering Committee is excited to announce the addition of Thomas Curiger to the Elite Squad of the National Team. Thomas is a dual Swiss-US citizen, living in Switzerland. His clubs are OLC Kapreolo (Zurich) and OK Orion (Jämsjö, Sweden). He began orienteering at age 8 and ten years later was called up to the Swiss Junior Team winning gold in the sprint and relay, and silver in the middle and long at JWOC in 2016. He competed at the 2017 World Cup in Latvia and 2018 World Cup in Czechia as a member of the Swiss Elite Squad before dropping off of the National Team in 2019.

Thomas will make his TeamUSA debut at this weekend’s World Cup Round 3 races in Davos, Switzerland. Joining Thomas at the World Cup races will be Elite Squad members Greg Ahlswede and Ricardo Schaniel.

Welcome aboard Thomas and good luck to all our TeamUSA athletes in Davos!

Photo of Thomas enroute to Middle Distance Gold at JWOC 2016.

JWOC ’22 – Part Deux – Return to the Forest

Back in July, Orienteering USA sent a strong team to Portugal to compete in the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC). Most of the 10-person squad arrived early and got in a week of quality training under very hot conditions. Unfortunately, conditions were so extreme that Portugual closed all forest access across the country, forcing the organizers to pivot and essentially create a ‘sprint-JWOC’ for all the athletes who trained so hard. At that time, the decision was made not to hold formal closing ceremonies, but to postpone the forest races until later in the fall after the danger of fires was gone.

The TeamUSA Executive Steering Committee is now excited to announce the team that will return to Portugal this November to finish what they started. Due to school commitments, many of the team members from July can not attend the forest races. Of the original 10 athletes, four will be returning: Lily Addicott (GAOC), Anna Campbell (NEOC), Alex Merka (QOC) and Holden Sopoti (USMAOC). Joining them will be Oriana Riley (DVOA) who was originally selected as an alternate for the original team, and Emilia Schmidt (QOC) who was selected to compete on the 2020 JWOC Team, but due to the cancellation of JWOC ’20 to the pandemic was unable to compete.

Emilia also brings along her personal coach, Kari Jussila,, who has agreed to be the coach for the US Team. Jussila is the general manager of the elite team for Tampereen Pyrintö – a well-known & regarded Finnish multi-sport club – and has about 50 years of experience in orienteering. Coaches Evalin Brautigam and Thomas Laraia, who coached the team in July, will remain as backup coaches and assist the team remotely, but are unable to attend the competition. Also accompanying the team will be parents Tuija Schmidt and Angelica Riley.

Links to the Original JWOC Team Announcement and the JWOC ’22 (Part One) Event Recap.

Call for Nominations: 2022 Silva and Golden Service Award

The 2022 Annual General Meeting of Orienteering USA will be held online Thursday night, September 29. One of the highlights of the AGM is the naming of the recipient of the Silva Award.

The Silva Award is given annually to an orienteer who has demonstrated outstanding service to orienteering in the United States over the past five years. The essential quality of every winner has been service to promoting and sustaining orienteering, to making the sport work in this country, and in helping to build the organizations needed to make orienteering successful.

The AGM will also include the announcement of the OUSA Golden Service awards recognizing those individuals who have provided exceptional service to the sport of orienteering that extends beyond the local club level.

Nominations for both awards are being solicited between now and August 28th.  Full eligibility criteria and lists of past award winners can be found in the attached announcements.  Nominations for both awards should be emailed to Susan DeWitt (skdewitt@nullsnet.net) by August 28th.

Full Silva Award Announcement: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b6RhQ-bJXHxShxo5Ndu_V3Fga7YWJiO1/view?usp=sharing

Full Golden Service Award Announcement: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y5WV-7R_GwT9Mbeyl61G8Y17To-D2SZC/view?usp=sharing

Team USA to Compete in World Trail Orienteering Championships 2022

Orienteering USA is pleased to announce the team competing in World Trail Orienteering Championships in Jelenia Gora, Poland, July 19th-23rd. The team is a mixture of youth and experience. The most experienced members of the team are David Irving (SDO), Sharon Crawford (RMOC), and Clare Durand (LAOC), whereas the newest team member, junior Jarmo Latva-Kokko (Age 16 from NEOC) is participating in his very first WTOC.

David is likely our biggest hope for strong placement in the paralympic category, but Jarmo is looking to turn some heads especially in the timed Temp-O event. He is already ranked 4th in the US in Temp-O and his performance in the Philadelphia training camp this May was impressive. Clare and Sharon bring lots of WTOC experience to the team and are hoping to improve on their personal best. Bob and Karen have less experience in competing in WTOC, but have done well in recent US ranking events. The team is looking to improve from past WTOC performances. Three of the selected team members were unable to go to Poland this year, but hopefully will participate in future.

Selected team:

Open:

  • Clare Durand (LAOC)
  • Sharon Crawford (RMOC)
  • Karen Dennis (SDO)
  • Bob Cooley (BAOC)
  • Jarmo Latva-Kokko (NEOC) Junior

Paralympic:

  • David Irving (SDO)
  • Daniel Heimgartner (CRNA) unable to attend
  • Lee Kuxhaus (CRNA) unable to attend
  • Julius Schram (CRNA) unable to attend