Presidents Piece

It’s awards season as we come up to Easter, where we present the Orienteering NZ Annual Awards.  Please make sure that your club has got its nominations in for awards of both its own members and also other clubs members if you feel they are deserving.  Our premier award is the Silva Service to Sport Award which last year was won by Derek Morrison (Hawke’s Bay), for his efforts in helping grow Hawke’s Bay O club and his huge efforts in the realm of schools orienteering. There are awards for performances, for coaching, for administration and also for volunteering.  One special award is the President’s Award for volunteer contribution at club level. Last year the winner was Alistair Stewart (Auckland) who for years has been doing sensational work both for his own club and also in assisting other clubs. What I like about the President’s Award is that you hear some fantastic stories about efforts of people all around the country – so if you know of someone who in your club has gone above and beyond, year-in, year-out, then please get in touch with me at simonjaddison@gmail.com.  I enjoy hearing stories about activities throughout the country so feel free to email me those too.

On the topic of volunteering I wish to pass on a massive thanks to everyone who has volunteered to their clubs (or to others clubs) so far this year and thanks in advance to those who are going to be in the upcoming months.  Our sport really is run at a very low cost when you consider the costs and time input required in the creation of maps, updating maps, planning courses, controlling events as well as all the other efforts behind the scenes.  I think orienteering is great value when you compare the efforts that go in to what makes an orienteering event to that of say an offroad half marathon. Helping your local club run events is really important and it doesn’t need to be a big effort, it might be helping to collect controls, helping to plan courses or just helping new people.  For a full listing of events around the country be sure to check out our events section on the Orienteering NZ website.

We are near completion of our Annual Report, that will be presented at the AGM at Easter (Friday evening).  This will be posted on our website and I invite everyone to check it out.  When recapping on the year just been we have seen some fantastic international performances, with New Zealand once again seeing a Junior World Champion.  This time it was Tim Robertson (OHV) in the Sprint Distance and then again in the Middle Distance for the Junior World MTBO champs.

The growth of competition in our schools and wider junior area has been fantastic to see, with some sensational results over the last few years.  Another result from the Junior World Orienteering Championships that warmed my heart was the sensational podium finish (podiums at JWOC / WOC are top-6) for our mens relay team, showing great talent and depth in the ranks as well as the ability to perform under pressure. We all look forward to seeing fantastic future performances from all our international teams and also finding out who wins the awards for performances at our prize giving!
Enjoy your orienteering and I’ll see many of you at the National Championships at Easter.

Simon Addison, President

Nationals 2015

The count down is on for this year’s National Championships being hosted by Counties Manukau.  The Sprint is being held at Kings and Otahuhu Colleges which will provide a great day for all orienteers using this new map.

The description of the middle and longs is somewhat more daunting with a mix of terrain – marshes, limestone bluffs, pits and picturesque scenery – bringing to mind a challenging competition is to be expected.

400 entries for this years Championships will see some inter-club rivalries with orienteers coming from as far afield as Southland. With around 20 competitors in each of the M/W21E fields, the competition for titles this year will be well worth watching.  Nearly a quarter of the entries are in the 18 years and under age groups which show the interest of the younger orienteers in our sport and its a testament to the clubs who are actively engaging these young athletes.

The AGM will be held on Friday evening and Sunday evening sees the dinner and prize-giving at Wesley College.

2014 Trophy Recipients

A wee reminder to pack your trophy’s and return them at Nationals this year so we can present them to the 2015 winners at the end of the weekend.

Orienteering AGM

The 2015 AGM will be held during the NZ Champs. 6.00pm 7:30pm Friday 3 April Wesley College, Paerata (Room: TBC Wesley College Dining Room)

JWOC Trials

A group of young orienteers competed in the Wairarapa last weekend for JWOC selection.  This year’s JWOC team will be heading off to Norway in July to defend our results from 2014 which saw Tim Robertson win the Sprint title.

2015 NZ Schools Southern Cross Challenge Selection Notice

Ballarat, Victoria 25 September – 4 October 2015

A New Zealand Secondary Schools Team is to be selected to compete for the Southern Cross Trophy against the six Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory in the 2015 Australian Schools Championships. Click Here for Selection Notice

2015 Team Appointments

We are pleased to advice the following people have been appointed to WOC and JWOC teams for this year:

• Malcolm Ingham – WOC Manager
• Gene Beveridge – JWOC Coach
• Anna Robertson – JWOC Manager

If you are interested in being involved with future teams, be it in a coaching or managerial role, please keep an eye out for vacancies and ensure you put your name forward.

Selection Panel Update

MBTO Selection Panel – Pete Swanson has been appointed convenor.

Event Vacancies

Applications are invited for the position of National Controller, Auckland World Masters Games 2017.

Applications are invited from A-Grade Controllers. The appointment period will be from 2015 until the completion of this event in 2017, and will include coordination with Oceania Champs organising team.

This position will be responsible to the AWMG2017 Oversight Committee and the IOF Event Advisor to ensure the delivery of this event to the World Masters Games and IOF standards as this event is also the Orienteering Masters Champs for 2017.

Full position description available on the Orienteering NZ website.

Orienteering NZ Vacancies

Orienteering NZ is still looking for members for the following panels and committees:

• Selection Panel – Senior – 1 member
• Technical Committee – 2 members
• Fixtures Coordinator

Full position descriptions for all these roles are available on the Orienteering NZ website.

Award Nominations Reminder

Don’t forget to get your nomination in for the 2014 Awards. The categories for awards are: 

• Services to NZ Orienteering 
• International Performance Award
• Kapiti HAVOC Trophy
• Coach of the Year
• Mountain Bike Orienteer of the Year
• Rogainer of the Year
• Administrator of the Year

Nominations close 31 March. Nominations to gm@orienteering.org.nz

Community Sport Strategy 2015-2020

This week Sport NZ launched their new Community Sport Strategy.

You can read this new strategy, which aims to preserve New Zealand’s strong sporting heritage here

Other Events our Orienteers have been in…

GODZone

Congratulations to Nathan Fa’avae, Chris Forne, Sophie Hart and Sty Lynch who won the 2015 Godzone Adventure race held earlier this month around Lake Wanaka. Nathan and the team again showed their dominance in winning the event nearly 20 hours ahead of 2nd place.

Other Orienteers competing this year included Greig Hamilton and Emily Forne, who were in the 5th placed team, Chimpanzee Bar; Tim Farrant in Next Generation in 6th place; Tom Reynolds & Matt Jeans with their University of Auckland team finished 12th. Lara Prince, Georgia Whitla, Tane Cambridge, Jenni Blyleven, Steve John, Rhys John and Huw John were also competing in at the event. http://godzoneadventure.com/

Tararua Mountain Race

Shamus Morrison competed last weekend in this event across the Southern Crossing, finishing 6th in the Open Mens category and 12th overall. http://www.tmr.org.nz/ 

Upcoming Events

• 21-22 March 2015 – JWOC Trials, Wairarapa
• 3-6 April – NZ Champs, Counties Manukau
• 16-18 April – North Island Secondary School Champs, Red Kiwi
• 18-19 April – South Island Secondary School Champs, PAPO
• 30 May – 1 June – Queens Birthday, North West

For more events check out the Orienteering NZ website.