Orienteering USA

The IOF Council has considered the developments around the outbreak of the Corona virus (Covid-19) at a national and international level. The IOF respects and supports the activities undertaken by national and international health authorities in containing the spread of the virus and on lessening the effects on important functions in society and on high risk groups. The IOF would here also like to recognize our national member federations who are fully supporting local decisions in their countries and have taken appropriate actions.

Based upon the current situation where strict participation restrictions are in place in most countries, and where cross border travel is highly restricted, the Council has decided the following:

• All IOF major events which had been planned up to May 31 are cancelled or postponed. This affects the European MTB Orienteering Championships (EMTBOC) in Portugal, the European Trail Orienteering Championships (ETOC) in Finland and the first round of the Orienteering World Cup in Switzerland. The IOF has been working with the respective organisers to see if alternative dates can be found.
• The IOF has approved the organisers request to move the EMTBOC in Portugal to the new dates October 2-7, same location. For ETOC and the World Cup more information will be given once this is known.
• All World Ranking Events planned to be held up to May 31 are also cancelled. Organisers are being contacted by the IOF Office to assess if the events can be re-scheduled for a later date.
• For IOF events to be held in June and July, the Council will continue to monitor the situation and will discuss and decide upon any further effects on these events at its scheduled Council meeting April 3-4. (The meeting will be held digitally) The IOF is already in contact with these organisers regarding contingency planning.
• World Orienteering Day 2020 which was planned to be held in the timeframe May 13-19 is cancelled. The IOF would still encourage planned activities to be held as long as they can be done so in accordance with the recommendations of local and national health authorities, but the IOF will not be registering activities or encouraging mass promotion. World Orienteering Day will come back even stronger in 2021.

In the current situation the IOF recognizes that our events are not the most important issue to be considered but we encourage the global orienteering community to continue to exercise and take part in appropriate local orienteering activities in accordance with local and national health recommendations. Be safe.

Link to IOF

At their emergency meeting tonight, the board passed the following policy:

“OUSA official policy regarding COVID-19 mitigation:

1. Clubs should promote the health, safety and wellness of orienteers and volunteers above all else. Clubs are expected to follow national and local governmental regulations and guidelines. Clubs are strongly discouraged from holding gatherings or traditional events for the immediate future to mitigate the spread of the virus. 

2. Sanctioning of OUSA events and championships scheduled through the end of April 2020 is suspended. Clubs are encouraged to postpone events to a later date and will be given priority and preference for open dates in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. The suspension of sanctioning for additional events will be considered as they approach, based on current conditions.

3. Alternatives to traditional events that implement social isolation and avoid gatherings are encouraged. For example, course maps can be distributed or made available online. Individuals can print maps and run courses on their own without increasing their potential transmission interactions.”

Please note that start fee policies are still in place for alternative events. 

Starts should be totaled for every club-sponsored event which generates a start, finish, results or entries list. For each event use one of the following methods:

• Anyone running a course individually counts as one Start. A group of people running together with one result counts as one Start. Clubs should report the number of Starts by counting them off of the results or start lists.
• Each entry fee received for races held on the same day at the same venue counts as one start.  If separate entry fees are available for separate races, then each race must be counted separately.

The second bulleted method may be used by clubs choosing to offer alternative events for free. Such events would then not incur start fees. If a fee of any sort (including season passes, membership, or a map fee) is required to participate in an event, then it is considered to have an entry fee.
If any clubs are suffering undue financial burden as a result of event cancellations, they are encouraged to reach out to the OUSA Board to mitigate the problem.

Clare Durand President, Orienteering USA

Attention:

With the recent cancellation of the 2020 Junior Nationals the JWOC 2020 team selection will take place by submitting a Type I petition which shall be evaluated using the reviewing rubrics listed in the JWOC Selection Criteria.

The completed Type I petition should include as much of the requested information as possible, and be sent to  ousajuniorprogram@nullorienteeringusa.org by Friday, April 10, 2020.

Type I Petitions include:

• Evidence that the petitioning athlete has run a 3k time trial. Links to results from significant races over the past 12 months, including championships, other national competitions, and/or international competitions. Head-to-head competition against athletes who are also declared JWOC Team candidates should be highlighted.
• Evidence of the petitioning athlete’s training activity during the 3–12 months leading up to JWOC Team Trials. This should include links to training logs, descriptions of training camps attended, and coaches and/or other athletes who could verify that the training submitted is accurate.
• If applicable, a detailed explanation of the petitioning athlete’s situation and how it precluded him/her from participating in one or more JWOC Team Trials races, or four or more rankable races. The explanation should highlight any inconsistencies in training and/or racing that might be relevant to the situation.

Full Announcement

Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Team Trials/Sage Stomp, originally scheduled for May 15-17th in Kelowna, BC, Canada has been canceled.
We appreciate your support of our event, and look forward to seeing you at Orienteering events around North America in the future.
All registrants are having their registration fees refunded.

Due to the continuing situation with COVID-19, the closing of all schools in Washington State from 17 March until 24 April, and related issues , Cascade Orienteering Club is cancelling the Junior National Orienteering Championships 17-19 April 2020.
Cascade Orienteering will refund all registration fees. If you have any questions please contact the Event Director or Registrar.

The Flying Pig / USA Nationals event scheduled for April 3-5 has been postponed due to the developing COVID-19 situation.

Event team will send an email to all registered entrants announcing the postponement and options for refunds. T-shirts/training maps had not yet been ordered or mailed, so a full refund is anticipated.

The St Mary’s College NRE, originally scheduled for March 22nd, has been postponed. Additional details will be forthcoming.

The DVOA Big Woods 2-Day National Meet, originally scheduled for March 21-22, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 situation. Paid registrations will be refunded in full by check within the next month.

Since this is a postponement and not a cancellation, the embargoes of French Creek North & Coventry Woods remain in effect.

Attention:

All junior athletes registered or who may still register to participate in the JWOC 2020 Team Trials races that are part of the Junior Nationals.

The Cascade Orienteering Club (COC) Contingency Plan for COVID-19 response includes following the Washington state and local health plans regarding hosting any events. The COC board is further exploring postponement alternatives should the virus spread to the point that state or local officials shut down the Junior Nationals for the currently scheduled time.

Should the Junior Nationals be postponed, the JWOC 2020 team selection will not be postponed. Additionally, if the Junior Nationals are not postponed, there may be athletes affected by travel or quarantine restrictions and/or personal concern that traveling to the Junior Nationals will put their families and communities at risk. In all of these circumstances, team selection will be done by evaluation of Type I petitions using the reviewing rubrics listed in the JWOC Selection Criteria. 

For that reason, JTESC encourages all juniors intending to try out for the JWOC 2020 team to submit a Type I petition (missing JWOC Team Trials races, and any long-term issues) which can be used on short notice if the meet is postponed or a decision not to travel is made. 

Any junior registered to participate in the Team Trials, may give “Covid-19 Contingency Petition” as reason for the petition.  The completed Type I petition should include as much of the requested information as possible, and be sent to  ousajuniorprogram@nullorienteeringusa.org by Friday, April 10, 2020 (this is the deadline for all Type I petitions).

Type I Petitions include:

• Evidence that the petitioning athlete has run a 3k time trial. Links to results from significant races over the past 12 months, including championships, other national competitions, and/or international competitions. Head-to-head competition against athletes who are also declared JWOC Team candidates should be highlighted.
• Evidence of the petitioning athlete’s training activity during the 3–12 months leading up to JWOC Team Trials. This should include links to training logs, descriptions of training camps attended, and coaches and/or other athletes who could verify that the training submitted is accurate.
• If applicable, a detailed explanation of the petitioning athlete’s situation and how it precluded him/her from participating in one or more JWOC Team Trials races, or four or more rankable races. The explanation should highlight any inconsistencies in training and/or racing that might be relevant to the situation.

OUSA is pleased to announce that Clinton Morse will be taking the position of National Communications Manager. Clinton will be taking over OUSA’s website and social media content, as well as our email newsletter.

The emails webmaster@nullorienteeringusa.org and newsletter@nullorienteeringusa.org will be transitioning to Clinton shortly.

We also express huge thanks to those volunteers who have been handling these areas recently. Janet Tryson has been maintaining our website content for the past 14.5 years, and Boris Granovskiy and Allison Brown have compiled and edited the newsletter for the last three years.

Many thanks to Janet, Boris, and Allison, and welcome to Clinton!