Category: US Team

The JWOC selection committee is excited to announce the athletes who have been chosen to compete in the 2020 Junior World Championships. We realize that the world situation with COVID 19 means that the champs may or may not happen and that the timing may be sub-optimal for athletes especially who live in the US because the postponed date falls right in the middle of the fall school semester. Even so we have decided to choose a team in case there is an opportunity for our athletes to represent the US at the world champs. We understand that selected athletes may not be able to attend and that the team size could potentially be reduced due to the current situation. In this case the team coach will have the final say in giving alternates in the designated order a chance to step up based on his evaluation of where they are at leading up to the championships.

This year was quite a hard decision for the selection committee because we had almost no recent high level racing data and most of the head to head racing data came from last summer or spring. The committee used the petition process rubric as a guideline to support their decision making. The committee prioritized current physical fitness levels by way of recent 3k time trials, training volume and consistency from training logs, previous race experience, and overall competitive experience. As always the last spots and alternate positions are very tough to decide, particularly given the circumstances of this year. We deeply regret that all the athletes didn’t get the chance they usually would to prove their ability at trials races. The selection committee is nevertheless pleased to announce the follow teams and alternates.

Men:
– Keegan Harkavy
– Thomas Laraia
– Aidan Minto
– Anthony Riley
– David Runde
– Adrian Vartia
Alternate: Kai Mihata 

Women:
– Diana Aleksieva
– Julia Doubson
– Bridget Hall
– Kirsten Mayland
– Alexis Merka
– Emilia Schmidt
Alternates: Annika Mihata, Christiane Fletcher, Jessica Colleran

Thank you to all the athletes who tried out and for all the hard work. We encourage everyone to keep working hard; you never know when the breakthroughs will come.

Best of luck. Sincerely

The JWOC Selection Committee of Jon Torrance, Greg Ahlswede, Erin Schirm

The USA Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC) is excited to welcome and introduce to you our new Junior National Coach, Oskar Andrén!  Oskar is a 25 year-old Swedish elite orienteer, with some impressive results, and continuing ambitions for his own orienteering career.  He is currently living in Trondheim, Norway, where he is studying Science of Human Movement at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Last year, representing the Swedish National Team, he ran his first World Cup races in China, achieving 36th place in the Sprint, and 45th in the Middle.  Other 2019 results included the Norwegian champs (Sprint 4th, Middle 5th, and Long 16th), and the Swedish champs (Sprint 4th, Sprint Relay 2nd, and Relay 5th).  Oskar also had success during his junior years:  He made the podium three times at the 2014 Junior European Cup (JEC): Sprint gold, Long silver, and Relay silver.

Oskar has almost 4 years of prior experience coaching younger orienteering athletes.  He worked one year at the orienteering high school in Hallsberg, Sweden, and, has worked 2.5 years (so far) at the Orienteering high school in Trondheim.  Beside coaching at the schools, he helped organize training camps for the Norwegian junior national team and was a team leader at the 2019 JEC in France. 

Oskar’s own words to National Junior Program (NJP) members… “My ambitions for this job [are] to combine my knowledge, experience and ideas together with the experience that previous coaches had, [and] to help inspire you into being as good as you can be.”

Please join JTESC in saying…
Välkommen Oskar!

NOTE: This position is now closed. The following information is for archival reference purposes only.

Orienteering USA (OUSA) seeks a Junior National Coach for its National Junior Program (NJP). The program is led and administered by the Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC).

General job description

The overarching objectives of the Junior National Coach role are to provide quality coaching and programs for young athletes, and to develop stronger young athletes, committed to orienteering and to forming a strong community of supportive team members.The Junior National Coach will work directly with the athletes in the NJP, as well as with the JTESC pool of coaches and mentors, in order to reach these objectives.

Responsibilities

Assist with review of athlete applications:

• Work with JTESC in reviewing the NJP Information and application prior to publication for the next program year. *
• Review submitted applications from athletes regarding performance targets and make recommendations to JTESC about athlete placement. *

Athlete Follow-up:

• Review athletes’ training plans for the coming season *
• Assist athletes new to the program in creating and following their training plan
• Provide feedback
• Work with all NJP athletes to identify a local coach either from their home club or from the national pool of coaches and mentors.
• Monitor JNT athletes’ training logs on Attackpoint (AP) and help them find an “AP-mentor,” if necessary
• Coordinate and distribute exercises from the Training Subscription Service to the athletes and their local coaches
• Oversee course reviews and/or camps at National Ranking Events and major other camps, either personally or by working with others
• Attend monthly team conference calls, helping to create better team cohesion and responding to members’ questions

JWOC

• Lead the JWOC Selection Committee, the petition process, and the JWOC team announcement
• Set up training calls for the JWOC team and alternates
• Either travel to JWOC (including the on-location pre-JWOC training) as lead coach or coordinate alternate coaches or mentors to ensure best possible support to the athletes as individuals and as a team
• work with JTESC to ensure all organizational requirements are met. Remuneration for the pre-JWOC training and JWOC attendance as coach is in addition to the basic compensation

NAOC

• Either travel to NAOC as the Junior National Coach, or work with alternate coaches or mentors in order to provide the best support to the athletes as individuals and as a team
• Work on identifying the best team composition
• Work with JTESC to ensure all organizational requirements are met. Remuneration for NAOC attendance as coach is in addition to the basic compensation.

OUSA/JTESC

Participate as a contributing member of JTESC to the continued growth and improvement of OUSA’s National Junior Program.

* These three tasks have already been completed by outgoing coaches for the start of 2020.

Requirements

• Have a SafeSport-Trained certificate
• Coaching experience (experience with athletes between the ages of 13-20 preferred)
• The successful applicant is expected to use their own computer, cell phone, internet connection, driver’s license, etc., to fulfill the duties of this role.

Desired skills/qualifications

• Demonstrated high level technical knowledge of orienteering principles
• Strong orienteering/map reading skills
• Capable of using mapping and/or course-design software to produce training exercises
• Experienced with athletic competitions abroad
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Capable of designing training plans to support physical, technical, and psychological development
• Capable of tailoring athlete goals and plans to meet individual strengths and needs
• Demonstrated ability to build a sense of team unity and good sportsmanship
• Patience and understanding

Remuneration

$5,000.00 February through September 2020.

Expect approximately 40 hours per month, but keep in mind that the workload varies.

Applying for this position

Please send a letter expressing your interest and your background in orienteering and a short résumé of your experience in elite orienteering and coaching to the OUSA Junior Program.