What’s in this Issue:

• View from the Chair
• ONZ Appointments & Vacancies – NEW!
• Consultation Feedback Update
• HP Update
• Oceania and World Masters Champs Update

View from the Chair – October 2016

The beginning of the month saw the conclusion of the Australian Championships in Queensland which also incorporated the Australian States Secondary Schools Competition. The latter offered our juniors the chance to experience competing overseas on unfamiliar terrain while forming lasting and strong friendships with their Australian counterparts. Virtually all of our elite athletes have used such events as a stepping stone in their personal development.

This year also saw a regional representative team travel to the events for the first time as we attempt to provide a similar experience to as many as possible of our talented juniors. Congratulations to our teams for performing so well and a huge thank you to all the managers, coaches,  volunteer care providers and kiwi competitors who all helped in differing ways  to look after our young people whilst in Australia and during the various travel components. I did manage to see a two minute clip of the Schools competition which made the National news and which sent out all the right messages.

The end of September marked the cut off for early bird entries to Oceania. The Orienteering Oversight Committee (OOC) who have responsibility for planning and delivering Oceania and also World Masters Orienteering Championship (WMOC) as part of the Auckland World Masters Games (AWMG) have crossed their first hurdle in  style. Initial numbers for Oceania at the cut off were in sight of break even numbers which is hugely encouraging for all concerned and final numbers will likely exceed the 1100 at Oceania 2013. Next target for the OOC is to attract significant numbers to the WMOC where attention has turned to the key issues surrounding a major event namely assisting with enquiries for accommodation and identifying transport means to and from the venues.

Council has completed its first half year under the Constitution adopted at the AGM last Easter. High priority has been to support the work of our various committees and also see our newly appointed Event Liaison personnel (Russell Higham) start to reach out to clubs to help them with their emerging issue such as risk management and health and safety. Ironically we have to start the process to replace our two longest serving Council Members who under the transitional rules within the Constitution are required to stand down at the 2017 AGM. Both can apply for re-election and whilst I hope that I don’t have to lose either of them I want to take this opportunity to thank Jane Harding (Wellington) and Pip Poole (Auckland) for their dedication and commitment to our sport and for achieving so much at local club, regional and national levels. However, we are all keen to see change and advancement and to have the right mix on Council. If you believe that you have something to offer in terms of governance then start canvassing and we welcome anyone talking to us about the roles and expectations.

I should re-emphasise that Council very much values and appreciates the feedback from members on policies which we have put on the website as drafts. We do work through the various points raised and members will be able to see the extent of their advice and contribution within revised documents.  Do keep them coming, it is much more productive to work through issues surrounding current policies now than regurgitating them later at the AGM.

David Turner
Chairperson ONZ Council

ONZ Appointments & Vacancies

The following vacancies are currently being advertised on the ONZ website:

• NEW! Pre-JWOC Training Coach
• Junior Development Committee member
  The deadline for JDC member applications has been extended so we can get a suitable candidate.

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

Upcoming Events

• Alpine O Weekend/ Canterbury & SI Champs
  22-24 Oct 2016
• North Island MTBO Champs, Auckland
  12-13 Nov 2016

For more events check out the Orienteering NZ website

Consultation Feedback

The Junior Development Committee has forwarded recommendations to the Council on proposed Schools Grades. These recommendations have received the endorsement of the NZSSSC, so will be formally approved at the next Council meeting for implementation in 2017.

High Performance Update

Malcolm, in his September HP News, provides more analysis on his assertion that there is room for improvement in NZ orienteers intending to compete at elite events such as WOC and JWOC.

WOC/JWOC Trials 2017

As announced on the ONZ website the trials for the team for the World Orienteering Championships 2017 will be the three individual events (sprint, middle, long) at the Oceania Championships to be held at Easter 2017. Overseas based athletes who will not be at these races need to nominate suitable World Ranking Events between 1 March and 17 April 2017. WOC itself is in Estonia in the first week of July.

Dates and venues for JWOC trials, and for trials for the team for the Schools Test Match to be held in Rotorua during the week after Oceania, are still being considered and will be announced in due course.

Oceania / Middle Earth / World Masters Games Orienteering Carnival

We’re less than six months out from the Oceania/Middle Earth/WMG Orienteering Carnival next April and I thought I should provide you an update of what’s happening and how we are tracking in preparation for the events.

Competitor numbers overall for all events are ahead of expectation. However, for the World Master Games, New Zealand & Australian numbers are below expectation so we expect a late rush from the Oceania region.

Being ahead of expectation is a great position to be in and it means we now have to reassess our budgeting, facilities and manpower planning. Hiring extra toilets is not hard, but finding more volunteers is. One area we are short of volunteers is as ‘control minders’ in the WMG sprint events. If you rock over and look at the embargo maps for the Sprint Qual and Sprint Final you will see the events are being run in very busy public spaces. To ensure the event is fair for all competitors we are going to have to place ‘minders’ around the course to watch over every control; upwards of 50 people per event. This job is one that non-orienteers can do so if you have friends and relations you can lean on to spare a couple of ½ days to sit in a deck chair and watch some controls please get them to sign up as a WMG volunteer, nominating Orienteering. As Catriona’s note in this bulletin says they will have to be willing and able to get through WMG’s volunteer sign-up, Police check, induction and training process.

Andrew de’Isle, our Volunteer Manager, is working through the lists of volunteers we have and has a done great job of assigning people to roles that suit their skills and aptitude. If you haven’t heard from Andrew (and you will) and have a burning passion for a particular role contact him via ….email link…

Field of play is the term we are using to talk about everything between the start line and the finish line and we are progressing well here. Most of the mapping is complete and course setting is well underway. A brilliant quote from Oceania Relay Setter, Andrew Bell, is; “I’ve never been this organised, this far out from and event, ever, it’s scary”. This is great and special thanks to Gillian Ingham for herding this very specialist group of cats.

We have arena managers assigned to each arena and they are making plans like where to park the coffee cart and how do we handle things like gear security and ceremonies. A million and one big and small details that will together add up to provide a great competitor experience. This team is working with Trevor Carswell {email link} who is going to manage the transport of gear from event to event and will soon be looking for people who can put their hand up to drive vehicles or tow trailers around for part or all of the 17 days.

Timing and results are key to both the field of play and the post race experience. Phillip Herries and his O-Lynx team have come on board for the full carnival and Martin Peat and his technology team are underway working out how many TVs we’ll need, how do we make wi-fi available, what happens if someone changes their e-card etc. Another myriad of details. We ran a technology and start line test as part of a recent AOS event and we learnt a lot. Thanks to Phillip, Dwayne Smith, Allison Comer, Elisabeth Parsons and Val Robinson for making that happen. We’re looking to having another dress rehearsal next February so stay posted for details on that event.

Behind the scenes Owen Means is upgrading the enterO software to allow us to sell merchandise and meal tickets to competitors and supporters. Thomas Stolberger is running our social media and has posted a great terrain video on our Facebook site which has got plenty of comments.

So there’s plenty happening and if you have ideas, thoughts or feedback please contact Shaun Collins, our Event Manager, in the first instance or any of those named above. eventmanager@wmoc2017.com

Stephen Reynolds
Chair
Orienteering Oversight Committee

Keeping you more informed

ONZ has updated its e-newsletter database which now allows you to chose which areas are of special interest to you – such as High Performance, Technical, Mapping.

Update your email list Preferences.

We welcome your feedback at any time.

Our mailing address is:
gm@orienteering.org.nz