On Wednesday 13 Sept 2023, Eden Park (EP) and Counties Manukau Orienteering Club (CMOC) delivered the first ever orienteering sprint races through our national stadium. The event was in the pipeline for a number of years. Covid, extreme flooding and the high level of commercial activity that Eden Park entertains, only afforded us certain a windows […]

We are planning a Club Forum on Thu 26th Oct between 7:30 and 9:30pm, which is open to all members. The purpose of the Club forum is to involve the orienteering community in discussions about challenges and opportunities that the sport is grappling with, and get community input to these that will be useful at […]

As part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations, ONZ is holding a dinner in Hawkes Bay during this year’s National Championships. The dinner will take place on Saturday 21st October in the Magdalinos Room at the Havelock North Function Centre. The dinner will include the physical presentation of the ONZ Awards, a welcome from the ONZ […]

We are happy to confirm that we were able to reduce the fees for this year’s Junior Camp down to $530 per participant thanks to the generous support of both Pub Charity and NZ Community Trust. Applications officially close on 31st September but will be left open until Mid-October. When we reach our 100 participant […]

An ONZ Controllers Clinic will be held in Christchurch over the weekend of 25th – 26th of November based at St Martins School.  The Clinic will be run by Alister Metherell. The course will be of interest to course planners, controllers and organisers who wish to update their skill-set, for all events from club events to […]

The inaugural Oceania Sprint Championships will be held in New Plymouth (KO sprint and sprint relay) on 28/29 January 2024 and Auckland (individual sprint) on 3 February 2024. Entries to the KO sprint and individual sprint are to made as individuals and do not require national selection. The official IOF classes for the Sprint Relay […]

The World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) 2024 will be held in Bankso, Bulgaria from 1-5 August 2024. WUOC will consist of individual sprint, middle, and long distance races, a sprint relay and a forest relay. Competitors must satisfy the following conditions: • Athletes must be at least 18 and less than 25 years of age […]

The European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC) 2024 will be held in Szcsecin, Poland from 21-24 June 2024. EYOC will consist of individual sprint and long distance races, and a forest relay. Classes are M-18, W-18, M-16 and W-16. New Zealand is allowed up to 4 athletes in each class. Selection Criteria As per the Orienteering […]

The Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) 2024 will be held in Pilsen, Czechia from 30 June – 7 July 2024. JWOC will consist of individual sprint, middle, and long distance races, a sprint relay and a forest relay. Selection Criteria As per the Orienteering NZ G1 Selection Policy the 2024 JWOC team will be selected […]

August began with the second round of the IOF World Cup in Czechia. Following on only a couple of weeks after WOC, this saw the best sprint relay result that NZL has ever achieved, another podium finish for Tim Robertson, and some other solid performances. There is now a bit of a gap in the […]

Coming off the amazing JWOC and WOC weeks, it’s clear New Zealand orienteering is in a very exciting place right now. The World cup area was an area many had aspired to run in, from the complex city streets to the karst rock. We had a dream team of eight athletes (plus chef Patrick) with […]

Entries for the Oceania Sprint Orienteering Championships which are to be held in New Plymouth and Auckland in January 2024 have opened and we now have a few early entries. There are 2 Oceania events in New Plymouth and one in Auckland along with 5 supporting events open to the elite and the public. Notable […]

We want your feedbackA recent event highlighted the need to have a national code of conduct for our sport to ensure that there is a common set of expectations to remove grey areas between rules and behavioural expectations. We invite all members to please read our draft code of conduct and pass any feedback to […]

ONZ junior camp for school years 9 -12  Dec 14-19 2023 The Junior camp is open to year 9 to 13 students running at a high orange or red level course. Fees for the camp are set at $630 per person but may be reduced once we know about the success of grant applications to […]

The Under 23 HP Camp is aimed at athletes in the 17-23 age range who have serious ambition to represent New Zealand on the international stage (e.g. JWOC, WUOC, WOC) over the next few years. It is designed to help prepare athletes physically, technically and psychologically and involves both physical and technical training as well […]

JWOC and WOC are now behind us, although the second round of the World Cup is ongoing at the time of writing. Both of the premiere junior and senior events can only be regarded as having been successful from a New Zealand perspective. As much has already been written about them on various forums, I […]

Participate in the 2023 Member Survey and go in the draw for a $50 Torpedo7 voucher! The 2023 ONZ member survey is now open, and we want to hear your views on the sport! The survey is aimed at all members, young or old, novice or experienced, and is a chance to voice how you […]

New Zealand junior orienteers shone on the world stage, despite not having the slow ease into international summer orienteering. They arrived straight from the winter climes with only a short time to adjust to hot summer temperatures in Romania. Despite this, the performances have made us proud. The five events consisted of an urban sprint, […]

And we had the best ever relay team result by far! 15th placing for the men’s team and 16th for the women’s relay team! Some of the WOC23 athletes have given 3 quick personal takeaways from the event. We follow this with the links to the WOC23 athlete profiles that were on social media, and […]

ONZ junior camp for school years 9 -12  Dec 14-20 2023 Head Coaches appointed!We are now happy to announce that we have officially appointed Tim Robertson and Emma Bjssmo as head coaches for this year’s Junior Camp! The pair will be responsible for setting activities and leading the coaching team for the camp. Shortly ONZ will […]

Highlights of this year’s NZSS Championship Long – Māori TV were present to see all our students compete in the NZ Secondary school competition to find the 2023 orienteering school champions. 

Greg Bacchus is a software architect with a passion for exploring new technologies in his leisure time. Over the last 4-5 months, his spare time has been dedicated to writing code for an orienteering route analysis tool named OTrax. Greg began seriously contemplating how orienteering courses could be uploaded for training and events some time […]

Yes, we have had twins in JWOC & WOC before, unlike the Babingtons girls who are look-alike sisters, but in fact they are actually 18 months apart. We had it wrong in the last issue of Compass point. Twins that certainly have represented New Zealand before are Rachel & Rebecca Smith. They both represented the NZ […]

Orienteering Bay of Plenty and Taupo Orienteering are delighted to host the NZ Foot Orienteering Champs in easter 2024. Planning is well underway, and we will be publishing the first bulletin in the near future. In the meantime, orienteers are advised that embargoes are now in place for the competition areas with immediate effect. Embargo […]

The 2023 Junior Camp (Year 9-13) is being hosted by the Peninsula and Plains Orienteering Club (PAPO) and is taking place in Woodend Christian Camp in Canterbury between Thu 14th and Wed 20th December. Orienteering New Zealand would like to invite applications for the Junior Camp Manager position. This position is voluntary in nature, although position holders will be reimbursed […]

In steep terrain and hot temperatures which saw liberal use of cooling water as athletes went through the coaching zone, both the New Zealand men’s and women’s teams have produced their best WOC relay results for some years. Indeed, for the men the 15th place achieved by Toby Scott, Matt Ogden and Tim Robertson was […]

Although going into the race with hopes of notable performances, a very technical and physical middle distance final saw the three NZL runners, Lizzie Ingham, Matt Ogden and Tim Robertson well down the field. However, they were not the only athletes to suffer in the rocky, green and steep terrain with temperatures in the high […]

The small but vociferous contingent of New Zealand supporters in the arena at the Flims-Laax sports centre were rewarded by excellent runs from Lizzie Ingham, Toby Scott and Gene Beveridge in today’s WOC long distance. The race started high up near the top of the cable car at 2000 m and featured early long legs […]

Following this morning’s qualification race Matt Ogden, Tim Robertson and Lizzie Ingham will line up in the WOC middle distance final on Saturday. With15 to qualify from each of three heats, none of the three were in any real danger of failing to make it through. Lizzie’s 6th position in Women’s Heat C was the […]

Having survived Florian’s team building exercise – river rafting through the Rhine Gorge, with the water temperature a blessed relief from the 30 degrees heat, team NZL is now ready for the middle distance qualification on Wednesday morning Swiss time. Our last act prior to that will be the, hopefully brief, opening ceremony at 8 […]