Category: Awards

2023 Silva Award Winner: Andrea Schneider

Orienteering USA is proud to announce Andrea Schneider of the Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC) as this year’s winner of the prestigious Silva Award. As OUSA President Clare Durand commented during the presentation of awards at last nights AGM, Andrea is sort of the Susan Lucci of orienteering. She has been nominated for this award on many occasions, but has never been selected to receive the coveted award until now. A well deserved award indeed.

Andrea is recognized for her work with youth and schools in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and with the US Junior Teams and National Junior Program (NJP) as well as serving as the Junior Team Administrator. Andrea has led NJP fundraising efforts at numerous national events mostly through the ubiquitous Junior Team sandwich sales. Planning, shopping, preparing, and distributing the ordered sandwiches takes significant planning and time and is no trivial task. If she could not be at the event in person, she has arranged for her husband, Vince Laraia, along with her sons, Michael and Thomas, plus other juniors, to seamlessly handle shopping, preparation, and distribution, in her stead.

In the summer of 2022, Andrea was the Team Leader at The World Games 2022 Birmingham in charge of all of the volunteers for the Venue Prep and Finish Teams. She was the Functional Lead for the Finish Team. And she was the sign “wrangler” in charge of moving the signs from place to place for each event. She was also of monumental help to Anne Mathews in working with the volunteer team from the TWG staff in getting the scheduling data entered into software used by TWG.

For numerous national events to which juniors have traveled long distances without parents, Andrea has coordinated lodging and transportation—both to/from airports and event venues. This has enabled many juniors to participate in events that they might not have been able to otherwise.

Andrea has handled uniform orders for all of the National teams for several years, working with the supplier, collecting orders, adjusting when minimum quantities of certain items are not reached, and then arranging delivery by multiple means—often with juniors themselves—in order to minimize costs. Andrea and her husband Vince Laraia have frequently hosted NJP members and other junior orienteers at her home. In 2017, she organized, as well as provided, housing for juniors at the 2017 JWOC & WOC Trials, hosted by MNOC. She and her husband Vince Laraia prepared and hosted an event dinner on the first day of the Trials.

Andrea is an accomplished mapper, and processes lidar data so much she is a resource for helping others get started with that difficult task. Andrea has also started a business, I Know My Way, LLC, providing educational orienteering programs to schools and other youth groups. As part of this work, she has used the abundant lidar resources of Minnesota, plus Kartapullautin, to create new maps—most of which could be used at future local events. As a result, Andrea has exposed hundreds of children and teens in both Minnesota and Wisconsin to our sport.

Andrea directs most of the local events for her home orienteering club, MNOC, handling the administrative end, while others—often her sons—plan and set courses. One thankless—and frustrating—task Andrea has taken on—often repeatedly—is requesting payment and other critical responses from JNT and JDT members, including taking orders for team uniforms as mentioned above.

Finally, despite competition from soccer and track, Andrea has managed to raise two (of three) sons who love orienteering and have been members of USA national teams.

2023 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:

  • Captain Rex Settlemoir (USN, ret.), Orienteering Cincinnati (OCIN)
    • Nominated by Mike Minium, OCIN
    • Captain Rex Settlemoir (USN, ret.) is a 1974 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, including duty during the Vietnam War, later serving further as a high school Junior ROTC Instructor.
    • Captain Settlemoir first became involved with Orienteering Cincinnati as a JROTC instructor. He regularly brough his cadets from Greenville High School and Hamilton High School to OCIN events. He advocated for inclusion of the sport of orienteering in the NJROTC curriculum. As the instructor, he also developed a passion for doing courses himself. Later, after retiring from instructing, he became much more involved with doing courses on his own, helping with event organization, and especially helping as the club’s photographer, taking dozens of photos for our website and social media pages at almost every event.
    • Captain Settlemoir almost always arrives at events early, helping to set up the start and finish, assisting with registration, giving instructional sessions for beginners and especially for JROTC and youth groups. Rex’s many photos provide lasting memories to the participants and he even frequently stops to take photos while out competing on his course! He has become a core OCIN volunteer, and is the club’s current Secretary. His organization skills are unmatched, and he keeps meetings on track, and almost always sends draft meeting minutes the day after the meeting.
    • On a national level, Rex has been a consistent and reliable volunteer with OCIN’s Flying Pig National Ranking Meet, helping with registration, starts, equipment transport, and of course photography, as well as whatever needs to be done. Rex has also done photography for neighboring club events, particularly Orienteering Louisville, and he is always ready to step in as a volunteer for anything orienteering-related.
    • Just this past month, Rex served as the primary Event Director for a large JROTC orienteering event with well over 200 starts. Due to several key OCIN volunteers being unavailable, Rex had to organize the few available volunteers effectively to keep up with the arriving cadets, keep the start organized, deal with a rude and verbally abusive JROTC instructor, and still find time to take several dozen of his signature photos! This event assuredly would have been much in chaos without Rex’s leadership, and OCIN has surely benefited from his help many times over at our other events.
  • Petr Hartman, Delaware Valley Orienteering Association (DVOA)
    • Nominated by Sandy Fillebrown, DVOA
    • Petr Hartman has been an exceptional volunteer for DVOA for many years. His work has been partly behind the scenes but it has been crucial to our national event program. Over the years he has scouted terrain; prepared base maps; field-checked and updated maps; and set and vetted courses for both local and national events. Most recently, he was the course setter for day 2 of our NRE in 2022 at Coventry Woods and he will be the chief vetter for the recently sanctioned SML event in 2024 at Nay Aug Park and Merli-Sarnoski Park.
    • Petr is a dedicated and outstanding volunteer. For his contribution to OUSA by supporting
    • many of DVOA’s national events, he will receive the Golden Service Award.
  • Matthew Robbins, Orienteering Cincinnati (OCIN)
    • Nominated by Bruce Moore, OLOU/Nash-O
    • As a BOD member of Nash-O I would like to submit my nomination for Matthew Robbins (OCIN) for the years of service he has put in not only with the local club (OCIN) but with other regional clubs as well. Matthew regularly helps with OCIN events and other events, especially in the technology area. He can often be found at the download station at the Flying Pig every year.
    • Matthew has also served on the National Board of Directors where he brings expertise with Juniors, Event Management, Technology, and Mapping. Matthew taught several mapping seminars in LiDAR processing for OUSA. He is also the number one person to support the Golden Service awards and encourage clubs to use this system to recognize their volunteers – both old and new.
  • Steve Durand, Los Angeles Orienteering Club (LAOC)
    • Nominated by LAOC Board
    • Steven is an LAOC member who has served as club treasurer for a number of years. In this capacity, he handled financial dealings for the 2022 OUSA Nationals. In 2017 Steven was the course setter for the OUSA Relay Championships hosted by LAOC at Camp Scherman. While most of Steven’s volunteer contributions have been behind the scenes, his willingness to help out with LAOC’s larger events and keep our finances in order have enabled LAOC to maintain a healthy schedule and have the financial resources to host NREs.

2023 OUSA Presidents Awards

  • Michelle Kastner (COC)
    • Michelle Kastner is recognized for her work with the Cascade Orienteering Club Youth League (WIOL), her work with Juniors, and her assistance with the Junior Team (JWOC and WUOC). She was instrumental in rebuilding the Winter League and WIOL after the COVID pandemic and is always looking for ways to improve the experience and training for the Juniors. The WIOL is one of the largest contributors of athletes to the OUSA National Team Junior Squad.
    • Michelle has traveled with the US junior teams to JWOC and WUOC, as chaperone, official photographer at all races, and has provided critical logistical support. She even fronted the competition entry fee for the entire junior team so they could compete in the 2022 WUOC sprint.
    • OUSA appreciates her tireless dedication to the Junior Program both locally and Nationally.
  • Gavin Wyatt-Mair (BAOC)
    • Gavin Wyatt-Mair is recognized for his persistence and hardwork directing the 2023 CalOFest and events leading up to it. CalOFest was Gavin’s vision to build a large orienteering festival around two high-level international events on consecutive weekends: the North American Orienteering Championships (NAOC) and the World Rogaining Championships (WRC). Overall, CalOFest included ten events (5 National Ranking Events, 3 NAOC World Ranking Events + relay, and the WRC), bringing together nearly 800 orienteers and rogainers from 29 countries. Gavin’s tireless, hands-on leadership and endless enthusiasm were absolutely pivotal to the success of CalOFest. Gavin assembled the leadership team, led them through countless hours of detailed planning, and himself contributed hours of his time to mapping, course setting, equipment transport, and many other thankless tasks.
    • This is even more impressive when considered in the context of the pandemic. CalOFest faced numerous challenges, starting with the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the event to be postponed twice. The event was initially scheduled for 2020 but was first postponed to 2021 and later to 2023 due to the pandemic. What started as a 2-year project in 2018 turned into a 5-year project, during which Gavin took on the additional responsibility of organizing the U.S. Orienteering Championships twice: 2019 at Big Basin in the Bay Area and 2021 at Lake Tahoe. He also organized the 2021 U.S. Rogaining Championships. Gavin’s leadership in organizing these events provided valuable experience for the CalOFest team in preparing for a large multi-day event.
    • All three events were successful and served to move the National schedule in OUSA forward. Gavin’s efforts are greatly appreciated.
  • Nathan Ohrwaschel (DVOA)
    • Nathan (Nate) Ohrwaschel is recognized for his long-term board service as the OUSA liaison to our Insurance broker. Nate joined the board in 2017, when OUSA was still trying adapt to life without staff. He took on the task of handling insurance issues for the Federation. In this position, he works with our insurance broker every year to renew the insurance policies and he handles questions and issues that arise from the clubs. Nate’s largest challenge came in 2021, when our standard policy would no longer cover Mountain Bike events. Nate worked tirelessly with the broker to find a way to cover Mountain Bike events for that year and to work with the board and clubs on how to handle the funding for the extra policy. Nate has just been reelected to the board for another three year term. We appreciate his continuing service and look forward to working with him into the future.

Nominations sought for 2023 Silva & Golden Service Awards

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Orienteering USA will be held virtually on Tuesday, September 19th, 2023. One of the highlights of the AGM is the announcement of the annual Silva & Golden Service awards to recognize individuals who have contributed to our sport both at the national and club level. Nominations are now being accepted for both of these prestigious awards and are due by Sunday, September 10th.

Photo of 2022 Silva Award winner Cristina Luis receiving her award at the 2022 OUSA Nationals.

2023 Wilson Character through Competition Awards Announced

Philadelphia, PA — The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, proudly announce two winners of our 2023 Character through Competition Awards. Alex Merka of Mt. Airy, Maryland and Ben Brady of Maple Valley, Washington have been chosen to receive this $1,000 award, which honors the memory of our friend and family member, Iain Wilson. The awards seek to amplify the energy and commitment young orienteers bring to our sport and community.  While we are delighted when our awardees are successful in local and even international competition, in a broader sense we hope to encourage the kind of character that communicates to others the joy of competing as a shared endeavor.   

Alex has been orienteering since, as a toddler, she was old enough to hold a map. Taking advantage of Quantico Orienteering Club’s (QOC) junior training opportunities, she developed skills so that two decades later she was selected to represent the United States at the international level. In addition to being a fierce competitor she is also described as an enthusiastic volunteer who is always ready to help others.

Franklin Fish, President of QOC writes, “what impresses me the most about Alex is her willingness to help out our club whenever and wherever she is needed, usually without being asked.” This was on display when Alex taught orienteering to groups of middle schoolers last summer and when she created a campus map for a local school’s PE and after-school programs. This combination of ambition and selflessness is the kind of character that the committee is thrilled to support.

Like Alex, Ben started orienteering early in life and in the Northwest, where he embraced the exceptional training and competition programs available through Cascade Orienteering Club (COC) and Tahoma Orienteering in Maple Valley. He has used this platform to build his skills while mentoring up-and-coming young athletes.

Chris Cooper, Head Coach of Tahoma Orienteering Club writes, “He is one of a kind. He achieves success at the highest level but is willing to help those around him…. I have never had the opportunity to coach someone who is such a well—rounded and grounded human being.” Ben’s own words capture his enthusiasm for the sport, “The ability to race against my friends, run in unknown terrain and have fun throughout the process is something that only orienteering competition can bring.”

Ben and his teammates recently gave back by spending a week mapping Fisk State Park for future COC programs. Ben represents the second time that a parent-child pair has received Wilson Awards. His mother, Sherri Brady, spearheaded a 2017 Wilson Community Growth Grant in partnership with Tahoma Middle School’s PE program. Many of its participants have gone on to compete at the high school and national level.

The committee seeks individuals who have the willingness and ability to see beyond their own individual ambition and spread the spirit that brightens their lives and the lives of those around them.  We feel their enthusiasm for the outdoors, for running, for navigation, and for their fellow competitors sets an example for all of us.

Looking back on ten years of awards, Iain’s sister, Kate Wilson writes, “I am delighted at the inclusiveness of the award.  When I first went orienteering in the 1980s there were very few women.  To my surprise I saw that we have made awards to eleven women and six men.  This says great things about orienteering as a sport for everyone – looks as if I‘d better get my boys out in the woods so they can catch up.”

Applications for the 2024 Wilson Awards will be accepted later this fall. Additional information can be found at  https://orienteeringusa.org/about/recognition/#wilson.

Official Press Release (PDF Version of this post)

Photo credits: Evalin Brautigam (1 & 3), Clinton Morse for Orienteering USA (2 & 4)

2023 Iain Wilson Community Growth Grant Winners Announced

The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, are proud to announce the
winners of the 2023 Iain Wilson Community Growth Grant. The $1,000 grant has been awarded to two
deserving programs that will use the funds to initiate and expand their orienteering programs.

The first recipient of the grant is the Los Angeles Orienteering Club’s (LAOC) newly formed Youth Development Team. In its first year, the team will utilize this grant and matching funds to assist team members with preparing for and attending training camp and participating in events beyond the local Los Angeles region.

Team members will be supported by parents and LAOC members providing additional training opportunities and transportation to events. LAOC seeks to develop youth ambassadors for the sport who will spread enthusiasm to a larger group of potential young orienteers. The program will be headed by John Phillips, with a supporting committee of board members to assist with training.

The second recipient is the Southold Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (NJROTC) in Long Island. This unit includes cadets from Southold, Mattituck and Greenport High Schools in Eastern Long Island and is led by Captain Timothy McAllister, a retired Captain in the United States Navy.

The grant will be used to initiate an orienteering team for the unit and provide 198 cadets access to orienteering skills and classroom instruction. 100 cadets will participate in “hands-on” orienteering competitions and an additional 25 cadets will be able to attend NJROTC regional competitions.

Additionally, funding will be used to initiate a permanent orienteering course at a local park and host the NJROTC Area 4 Championships next fall. McAllister’s goal is for the team to increase interest in orienteering, leadership, teamwork, and STEM-related careers.

Read more in the Official Press Release

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.

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

2022 Iain Wilson Award Applications

Iain “Dawg” Wilson was an accomplished orienteer who represented the USA in the World Cup in Norway and Denmark, in the Swiss Alps for the World Student Champs, and in the Scottish 6 Days. Although his life was cut tragically short in 2008, his legacy survives through the annual Iain Wilson Character Through Competition Award and Wilson Community Growth Grants.

Now entering its ninth year, the $1,000 Iain Wilson Character Through Competition Award is now accepting applications. This award recognizes junior athletes who demonstrate a competitive spirit, friendship and qualities that leave others feeling good about the world. Funds may be used to support travel and training opportunities.

Applications for the $1,000 Wilson Community Growth Grant are now being accepted. This grant helps to “develop and implement programs aimed at expanding access to orienteering for youth.” Applicants of all ages partner with an Orienteering USA-affilitated club, OrienteeringUSA or a registered nonprofit organization, which will disburse and administer funds. Funds may be used for equipment, transportation and other appropriate uses.

Applications are now being accepted for both awards and will be open through March 31st, 2022. More information about both awards can be found on the Recognition page and includes links to both online and downloadable applications.

Please contact Marc at iainwilsonaward@nullcomcast.net for additional details. Contributions may be tax-deductible and are administered by Orienteering USA.

2021 Wilson Community Growth Grant winners San Benito NJROTC

2021 OUSA Presidents Awards

Clare Durand, current Orienteering USA President, announced three recipients for this years Presidents Award at the 2021 Annual General Meeting, held last week as an online virtual event for the second consecutive year. This years awards honor members who through local efforts have helped to expand orienteering’s reach while serving as examples of what is possible. The three individuals receiving awards this years are:

  • Boris Granovskiy (GrizO) – Boris has been orienteering since he was young and is a former member of the US National Team. Upon moving to Montana recently, Boris sought to start a new club with his wife Allison Brown. In its first year Grizzly Orienteering has held 13 events, with the largest attracting over 70 participants. Boris and Ali have shown how proper marketing and quick start-up can build a thriving club in a new area.
  • Gord Hunter (SOAR) – Gord began orienteering in Canada many years ago. Upon retirement, he chose to become a snowbird, wintering in Florida. He quickly learned that demand for orienteering among JROTC units was high, so he chose to fill that gap. Gord started the SunCoast Orienteering and Adventure Racing Club in 2012. SOAR has grown to the point of having over 2000 starts annually with maps and courses put together by Gord. He enjoys adopting new technology and exploring new places through mapping them. He has recently enjoyed making many base-maps from LiDAR and will happily help clubs who need such a service.
  • Russ Myer (CRNA) – Russ has worked for many years with disabled veterans through the Capital Region Nordic Alliance in the Albany area. This organization has historically focused on Paralympic winter sports, but they wanted more summer activities and looked to orienteering. As Russ learned more about the sport, he became heavily involved with the Trail-O discipline and the OUSA Trail-O Team. Russ has been instrumental in bringing Trail-O to the populations that it was designed for and introducing many veterans and other challenged athletes to orienteering. CRNA has been the primary producer of Trail-O training and events in the US for a number of years. Russ regularly coordinates with experts from other areas to make events happen, most recently hosting the 2020 OUSA Trail-O Championships in Philadelphia.

Congratulations to all three award recipients and thank you for your service to the sport of orienteering.

2021 Golden Service Awards

Each year Orienteering USA recognizes several individuals that have provided service to the sport of orienteering beyond the club level by playing key roles at National Events, organizing training camps and festivals, serving on boards or committees at the national level and more. This year we award the Golden Service Award to the following individuals. Congratulations to all of you and Thank You for your efforts!

  • Doug Berling (RMOC) – Doug has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Orienteering Club since 1993, and his dedication to orienteering has been foundational to to the club’s ability to successfully host major events. From 2010-2016 he served as RMOC’s Vice-President, using his friendly demeanor to facilitate RMOC’s permit applications with local, state & federal land managers. Doug then stepped into the role of RMOC’s President from 2016 through the present (2021), handling administrative tasks as well as serving in more visible roles when RMOC hosted national events – meet director, course consultant, course vetter, and map printer, to name a few. Doug has also become one of RMOC’s e-punch experts for both hardware & software; has promoted orienteering regionally by teaching beginner workshops at local recreation centers; has created and updated several of RMOC’s maps and coordinates the club’s other mapping projects.  Doug is a model of reliability and a selfless volunteer for RMOC and the orienteering community at large. 

  • Paul Clatterbuck (PTOC) – Paul mapped Shawnee Mission Park for the 2013 US Interscholastic / Intercollegiate Championships and set courses for one of the day of that event which included a forked course design to help discourage interscholastic competitors from following. Paul’s map of Shawnee Mission Park still gets regular use as a permanent course. Paul also led the mapping effort for the Sunflower State Games. The Sunflower Games has included orienteering every year since 2013. He also assisted with the “Possum Trot”, a popular goat-style event that draws competitors from across the midwest annually. The Golden Service Award typically recognizes regional and national activities, but like many recipients, Paul was also very involved locally. In particular, he was an avid mapper and always helped out at local events. He most recently made a map of a newly opened local park and set the courses for an event there. Sadly Paul passed away a couple of months ago. His loss was unexpected and will be felt both locally and regionally. He was a good friend of the sport of orienteering.

  • Jim Hall (COK) – Jim has been a member of COK since the early beginnings of the club and has been on the board for many years. He has been meet director for many local meets and has always been willing to help out wherever there was a need. He has also been instrumental in the organization of A-meets (now NRE’s) by COK where he has held roles as Course Setter and Vetter and has spent countless hours preparing for these meets and to make sure that every control was in the correct place. Jim was a member of the USOF/OUSA board from 2007 to 2010 and for the last few years has been a course consultant for several National Meets.

Orienteering USA would like to extend its gratitude and congratulations to these tireless individuals who have given so much of their time and expertise to the promotion of orienteering in the US. A list of previous Golden Service Award winners can be found on the OrienteeringUSA website.