Orienteering Course Planning

A short introduction to course planning for Easy, Moderate and Hard courses has been created by Bridget Uppill. You can view the video here -

In particular for Hard Navigation courses note the course apsects to avoid discussed near the end of the video.

Course planners should then review more documents with details on planning courses for

• The different event types (Long, Middle and Relay)
• The different Navigation standards

on the Technical documents page here  - https://www.sa.orienteering.asn.au/about-us/technical-information

Additionally newsletter articles on this topic are planned, beginning with Long Distance Orienteering in the current newsletter. These articles will aim to provide information to course planners e.g. Long Distance courses are not just a long course, Middle Distance courses are not just middle length, and to give orienteers an idea of what to expect. 

The article on Long Distance course planning can also be downloaded here.

Course planners are also reminded that short hard courses need to be less physically demanding than longer hard courses, remembering that technical difficulty does not necessarily mean physical difficulty. For an article on this subject refer to –

https://www.sa.orienteering.asn.au/images/gfolder/about/technicalinformation/Technical_Guidelines_for_Short_Hard_Courses.pdf

South Australians travelled to QLD to participate in the Prologue and Australian Three Day events near Kingaroy in Queensland, followed by the NOL and Public sprints at various locations on the Gold Coast.

The results of the Prologue are here and the overall results for the 3 Days here.  The prologue was a bush sprint, in open terrain with granite outcrops.  Days 1 and 2 were in relatively friendly open forest (as at the last control below) with granite outcrop and low to moderate climb. Day 3 by contrast was in physically more demanding terrain.

As an introduction to the Gold Coast, an event was held in sand dunes of the Southport Spit, with courses of Middle Distance Format through the dunes and on the beach.  For courses see here

The sprints began with a night relay at Coomera Anglican College, adding to the challenge of being at night was heavy rain before the event and near the end.  The senior team of Evalin Brautigam, Angus Haines, Simon Uppill and Emily Sorensen (below) lead for the whole race with consistent runs by all 4.  The junior team was fourth.

Saturday sprints for the elites were a morning qualifier followed by the final at Griffith University Campus.  Juniors and Seniors ran the same event. Angus Haines (finished 3^rd), Ethan Penck, Simon Uppill and Leith Soden made the men’s’ final. Evalin Brautigam, Zoe Carter, Bridget Uppill, and Joanna and Abigail George made the women’s final.  Results are here.  Non elites ran a selection of shorter hard to easy courses.

 Sunday was a knockout sprint for the elites, with 4 rounds for the men and 3 for the women, with short races from 5 to 8 mins in duration.  For some rounds competitor had to choose a map option for part of the course (as in the example - the start shown was a control during the course and not the actual start).  These events saw many sprint finishes, with Angus, Ethan Simon in the men’s semis, with Angus who was then 2^nd , and Ethan 5^th going to the final. In the women, Bridget, Joanna and Zoe ran in the semis. Zoe went on to win the final, leading the whole race after making a better route choice to the first control.  A fanatastic result for Zoe still being a junior. 

Non-elites also participated in knockout races, or standard shorter sprint courses.

For all the final results see here

For photos see the OSA Facebook page and Evalin’s photography page.

The final results for the Natioanl League season are here - the best was a seond by the senior women. For individuals, Angus Haines and Emily Sorensen were both 4th, Joanna George 5th, and Ethan Penck, Bridget Uppill and Simon Uppill all 6th.

The 2022 SA Schools Orienteering Championships were held on Monday 23rd May in Belair National Park. 21 Schools took part bringing a total of 152 primary and secondary school aged children from across the state. The courses were set by Jenny Casanova covering the former golf course site and southern parts of Belair National Park, allowing the children to test their navigational abilities in an exciting and safe bush location. The weather was kind to the competitors which made the event arena a lively atmosphere with loud cheering from all who were spectating or finished competing. These loud cheers sometimes lead to over excited competitors missing the last control, a reminder that the race is never done until the finish has been punched! Nonetheless the mispunches and DNF's were few, showing that these students have great potential for a future in our sport.

This year the Williams Shield for Primary Schools was claimed by Stirling East Primary School with a 1 point win over Coromandel Valley Primary School, no doubt stirring on a rivalry to be challenged at the Schools Relays and at the 2023 Individual Championships. The Wale Shield for Secondary Schools was this year taken in an upset win by Adelaide Botanic High School, newcomer to the Schools Championships with a convincing 5 point win over 2021 trophy winner Heathfield High School, no doubt encouraging Adelaide Botanic and Heathfield to bolster their attendance in 2023.

The organiser for the day - Tyson Hillyard from Wallaringa Orienteers - wishes to extend his congratulations to all students on fantastic efforts at the championship. Additionally to thank the multitude of volunteers who, without quarrel or incident, brought a high quality and well organised event to the schools this year. Thanks to Aylwin Lim who acted as event controller and ensured all bases were covered in course setting, control sites and event administration on the day. Rachael Upton too deserves a great deal of thanks for acting as event secretary, administering all of the entries and handling the many equiries in the lead up to the event.
Tyson Hillyard, Wallaringa Orienteers and all of our volunteers wish to thank all the schools who took part in this year's Schools Individual Orienteering Championships.

Full results can be see by clicking on this link

Who? The Southern Darts is a training squad for junior orienteers aged 8-12 most likely learning easy-beginner moderate navigation. We are a social squad focused on helping children

• to become more independent with their orienteering skills to move away from shadowed orienteering with a parent and
• for those coming from primary school orienteering and wanting to learn more advanced skills in a competitive setting.

What? Each year Orienteering SA hosts a number of training sessions for the Darts. These are usually held in the first and second half of the year. The training at the beginning of the year is to help juniors become more confident with their skills to help them with SA Schools orienteering champs and other bush competitions. The training in the second half of the year is to extend those skills learnt in the beginning of the year as the juniors transition into Summer orienteering events and into the new year. Juniors aged 8-12 are welcome to join at any stage of the year. New members are always welcome!

When? Trainings for the first half of the year will be held in conjunction with orienteering events. The trainings will be held 30mins before the events start using the same map the event will be on. The aim of the training is to learn a new skill before the event to practice in the event after. The trainings are free but you must register for the event on Eventor as normal. Parents are more than welcome to also participate in the trainings (in fact, be prepared to get involved!)

Training days (in conjunction with events that you must register for on Eventor)

27th March- Belair NP - Which way is north? How to make rough bearings

3rd April- Stony fell - reading the map and learning what the symbols mean

1st May- Morphett Vale - using a linear feature to find your control

15th May- Wadmore Park - Relocation. Using the features around me to figure out where I am

29th May- Mt Crawford - Using bearings to go cross country (cutting corners)

If you wish to attend the trainings before the events, Please contact Bridget Uppill to let her know. Please be there 5 mins before the training starts to be ready to go (be at training at 9:25am for training to start at 9:30. Events after start at 10am)

Bridget Uppill- coaching coordinator for Orienteering SA

coaching(at)orienteering.asn.au