As a Board we are focused on refreshing our strategy as the current one runs through to the end of the year. We are currently finalising a draft which will be sent to members in the next week or so, with an invitation to join us in about late September to a club forum to get your feedback. Following that we plan on holding a forum for club representatives to focus on the detail of how ONZ can support clubs. This will help lead us into our business planning for 2026 and following years. We’ve had some great feedback on the developing Junior Strategy, thanks to those who have sent feedback in – we appreciate it. 

Christo and I have had positive meetings with Sport NZ recently. They are pleased with how Orienteering New Zealand is tracking. A reminder for those who haven’t memorised our financials from the annual report, we currently receive $32,400 per year from Sport NZ. We are currently in the second year of the four year funding and our agreement with them is to deliver against two of their strategic priorities which are ‘Capable and resilient partner organisations’ and ‘Quality opportunities and experiences’. The initiatives we have for these align with our business plan.

I also want to pause and acknowledge the sad passing of Italian athlete Mattia Debertolis who died after collapsing during the World Games in China earlier in the month.

Sarah O’Sullivan   |  ONZ Board Chair