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Note from the GM
Last weekend Wellington hosted the nationals in the Manawatū. It was fantastic to have our national event take place despite a year full of uncertainty. This was the thirty-seventh national championships I have attended across fifteen different sports, and my first for orienteering. Over the last thirty years, I’ve been to national champs from Whangarei to Queenstown. Until last weekend, I had never been to a national event where people have not had to be reminded to remove their rubbish, dispose of it properly or to take rubbish home. When we left the forest areas it was free of any rubbish and there was no sign that an event had taken place. No reminders were necessary – wouldn’t it be great if all Kiwis cared this much? After the middle event I left my jacket next to one of the tents at the end of the day. I was not concerned about leaving it behind, I had confidence it would be waiting at the event centre the following day -– and it was. Unlike other events, It didn’t cross my mind that that someone might have walked off with it. These things may seem small and insignificant, but I feel it says a lot about orienteers and the general nature of people in our sport.
Christo Peters | ONZ General Manager
View from the chair
Labour weekend 2020 will be forever etched in my mind as the time when I remembered the joy, fun and adventure, the camaraderie, and the thrill of competition that high quality orienteering events provide. The NZ Nationals 2020 were a booming success; great maps and terrain, the chance to connect with people not seen for a long time, warm sunny spring days, and top quality organisation by Wellington Orienteering gave us the experience we had all been longing for and had missed earlier in the year. It was fantastic. Big ups and thanks to Jane Harding, Sarah O’Sullivan and the Wellington team for pulling off this event in very trying circumstances. Many people will not appreciate the challenges posed by the uncertainty that Covid created, and which persisted right up until the week before the event (with the emergence of another community cluster and potential lockdown). These are challenging times for running any major event, and Wellington showed us ways that these can be run which will help other clubs holding events going forwards.
One thing we were not able to host at the Nationals was the annual Club Forum. Instead we will be hosting the forum “virtually”, using Zoom/video technology on Thursday 26 November 2020. This is open to all members. It is a two hour session from 7.30pm, focusing on two questions which arose out of our recent member survey:
- What is the best way the club/volunteer model can co-exist or work with commercial operators?, and
- What should the future of schools orienteering look like across the country?
We encourage anyone with an interest to attend. If you are interested, do let us know by emailing gm@orienteering.org.nz as pre-information for attendees is sent out a few days before. Hearing from members is critical for ONZ, it enables us to deliver value and focus on the things that matter most to clubs and members. In that regard, the recent member survey was a success, and there will be more about the survey results soon. Do get in touch with any of the Council, Christo or myself – we’d love to hear from you.
Peter Swanson | ONZ Chair of Elected Council Members
Nationals overview
As a nation-wide event to celebrate high competition in a friendly environment Nationals 2020 ticked all the boxes. It was a very rocky journey to the start line for this event due to the global pandemic.
After every successful event there are key learnings. The organisers will do a thorough debrief over the coming weeks (once they’ve all had some rest) and are keen for feedback. But for now, below are some initial thoughts from some key organisers. The organisers are really happy to share key learnings from the debrief so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like more information.
Read the full Nationals overview article on the Orienteering NZ website.
Interislander
Congratulations to the winners of the Interislander spot prizes at the National Champs. A few names were called before we randomly found winners who were able to receive them. Nicole Maddigan, (pictured top left and below left) from Orienteering Hutt Valley won the $200 voucher. Kathy Perreau from Wellington (pictured top right) won the $500 voucher. The vouchers were presented by Jane Harding from Orienteering Welliington ( pictured above, centre). Katie Cory-Wright (below right) of Peninsula and Plains Orienteers scored a new picnic blanket. Thankyou Interislander, these vouchers were will be put to good use as many of us travel and explore widely.
New Zealand Secondary School Team Named
Following last weekend’s NZ Orienteering Championships, the Junior Selection Panel has selected two NZSS teams of equal ability.
See the list on the Orienteering NZ website.
National O Junior Camp
Here is the most up-to-date list of attendees for this year’s Junior Camp. With eighty places available, there is a waiting list as we wait for confirmation from a number of attendees. Invoices and a request for travel details will be sent out shortly (when final places are confirmed)
See the list on the Orienteering NZ website.
Moore2It
What does a Convenor of Selectors do?
Alistair Cory-Wright explains what his role as a selector is. Up until this year, our sights have been set on sending a hand-picked team of strong orienteers overseas to compete at an international level. Orienteering New Zealand have a selection panel which chooses individuals to represent NZ in world orienteering sporting competitions. We asked Alistair to explain what the normal selection process is like.
Matt’s Quiz – Temu Rd
Matt Ogden asked last month: “How many kiwis won their heats on the map at Temu Rd at the WMOC qualification race in 2017? And who were they?”
Quiz Answer: M70 Heat 3 – Ross Brighouse, W50 Heat 2 – Marquita Gelderman
High Performance news #70 | Oct 2020
Features: ONZ Championships; National O-League update; To track or not to track that is the question; IOF and the International scene; and Still to come. News here
Malcolm Ingham | ONZ Performance Leader
ONZ Mapping Bulletin | Oct 2020
Features: An impressive lockdown project, the powers and limitations of Lidar, changes to the sprint mapping specs, and Facebook mapper group. ONZ Mapping Bulletin – Oct 2020
Michael Croxford, Selwyn Palmer, Michael Wood | ONZ Mapping Committee
Nationals Orienteering Champs | 2020
A few photos from the various Nationals events. More photos are available on the ONZ facebook page
Trophy & award winners
Sorry you could only hold onto your hard won award for a split second. They are due for a bit of love and attention. The trophies are getting a much needed Spring clean and polish, and the names all updated. We have documented the last 11 years, make sure it is all correct here as they are off to be engraved soon.
From four to three regions
Until recently, ONZ rotated major events around four regions. In recent years this system was not working and a working group was established to address the allocation of major events.
The working group suggested a number of changes to the way these events were allocated including having only three regions. This decision recognised that the former Central Districts region had less compacity to run these events than it had in the past and that clubs in these regions should be included into the old Northern and Wellington Regions.
When the findings of the working group were adopted by clubs, the new regions became:
Northern
North West, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taupo
Central
Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Red Kiwis, Hutt, Wellington,
Southern
Nelson, Marlborough, Peninsula and Plains, Dunedin, Southland
NISS 2020
If you missed out on the North Island Secondary Schools, you can catch-up on some of the action. The excellent vlog created by theStreamShop has been loaded onto Sky Sport Next.
Saturday 17th October | Map: Tuakau College watch here
Sunday 18th October | Map: Waiuku Forest: watch here
Nationals 2021
North West have some preliminary information on the Nationals events for 2021. Three events will take place on South Head, north of Helensville, clustered around Leighton’s Farm, Wilson Road.
- Friday, 2 April 2021: Sprint, on one of the three embargoed locations on the North Shore. Setter is Renee Beveridge, and controller Geoff Mead.
All three remaining events will take place on South Head, north of Helensville, clustered around Leighton’s Farm, Wilson Road.
- Saturday, 3 April 2021: Long, South Head. We have a brand-new map, with setter Cameron Tier and controller Gene Beveridge
- Sunday, 4 April 2021: Middle, South Head. This is on a brand-new map, with setter Mike Beveridge and controller Marquita Gelderman
- Monday, 5 April 2021: Relay, on the existing Lake Kereta map, with setter Andrew Bell and controller Rob Murphy
Embargo:
The following areas are under embargo since Monday 6 July 2020, until the start of NZOC2021:
- Sprint: Long Bay, Massey campus Albany & Rangitoto College.
- Long, Middle, Relay: Large forest area to the west of Wilson Road, South Head (northwest of Helensville).
Regarding the Sprint embargo notice: We realise that in a densely populated area like Auckland, it is impossible to find an area suitable for a sprint where nobody from the orienteering community has worked / studied in the past or is currently working / studying. Access to the embargoed Sprint area is permitted for normal daily activities but it is forbidden to train within these areas with a map of any sort, to test route choices or take part in any activity that may give a navigational advantage.
The photo below indicates the locations of the three events around Leighton’s Farm.
More details: Nationals 2021 Website follow updates on NZOC2021 Facebook
How can we help? Me pēhea mātou e āwhina ai?
If you have a particular topic you are looking for, try browsing the search function on the ONZ website or search for an area under news and views in the main menu at the top of the page. You may find what you need. if you have an enquiry about the sport do get in touch via any of our media below.
Happy orienteering!
Editorial deadline:
The deadline stretched back a bit later this month to include Nationals. But send on any info about the kinds of navigation events you are enjoying from every corner of NZ. We are all focussed and keen for news & updates, so send in photos, events, links, and share your passion. Please try to send by the 20th day of the month so it can be published at the end of the month.
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