1
ASC Participation Project Funding
2014
Status report at 25 September 2014
John Harding Executive Officer Orienteering Australia PO Box 284
Mitchell BC ACT 2911
Ph (02) 6162 1200; 0427 107 033
2
Overview of budget for ASC-funded projects Table 1. Projected Participation Expenditure, 2013 and 2014
as at May 2014
Project 2013 2014 Target popns
Funding ($'000s)
1. Online self coaching resources
Promotion 2.0 2.0 A
Translate beginner info to other languages 3.0 Priority CALD groups
2. New metropolitan programs A, metro
Sydney South & Western Series 10.2 5.0
NSW Duo (foot & mtb) Series 4.7 3.0
WA winter Navdash series 9.7
SA winter Saturday community program 8.0 1.0
SA permanent course additions 2.0
Darwin wet season program 3.8 1.0
VIC SE Melbourne Street Series 3.0 7.0
VIC park-based sprint series 5.0 8.0
ACT street orienteering development 4.3 3.0
TAS winter park series 7.3 5.0
3. New rural centre programs A, R&R
QLD Cairns & Rockhampton programs 11.6 11.6
QLD Toowoomba street series 2.4 2.4
VIC Gippsland park & street program 2.4 2.4 NSW Northern Rivers park & street program 18.0 15.7 NSW Coffs Harbour park & street program 7.0
NT Katherine series 7.1
4. Rural & remote coaches/officials R&R
NSW coach & controller training 1.0
NT level 2 controller training in Canberra 1.0
5. NSO capacity building
New Level 0 coaching manual 4.0 Teachers
Eventor system user & manager guides 5.0 Event entrants & managers
OA project management 4.3 4.0 National management
Contingency support 2.0 0.0
Total 99.7 100.2
Note: A = all ages and sexes in population, metro = metropolitan, R&R = rural & remote.
Market segmentation pilot project: Victoria 5.0
2012 carry over expenditure spent in 2013
SA organiser training 1.3
University of Canberra videos 9.3
Orienteering Victoria participation projects 16.9
Total 27.5
3
Performance in increasing participation
Background
At the 2010 OA National Conference the ASC advice to Orienteering Australia (OA) on performance expectations from Participation funding was that the number one performance indicator was going to be real and sustainable growth in membership numbers for orienteering, to be achieved by whole of sport strategies of which one
component would be the direct funding of various Participation projects by the ASC (where the performance of each of these projects in increasing membership and participation would also be assessed). OA was challenged to engage participants by capturing them as members and including them in the sports information services of Enews, website and other social media.
Consequently both the 2010 and 2011 OA National Conferences resolved that all state associations implement new membership categories to cater for participants competing in regular orienteering events who are not full or associate members. This would put orienteering on the same membership footing as other sports in counting as
‘casual’ or ‘seasonal’ members those participants in series of orienteering competitions such as Summer Series, Park and Street series, winter weekend series, club or state association organised schools series, and so on. Collecting membership information would have the important strategic purpose of inclusion of members in the weekly Enews bulletins published by state associations, thereby providing important ongoing information on future events, training and social activities, and other news items.
Performance of national KPIs
The major national KPIs are
Number of registered orienteers
Number of events organised
Number of participations
Numbers of active coaches, controllers, event organisers and course planners
Social media engagement
Registered orienteers, events organised and participations
Table 2: Total registered orienteers, 2007 to 2013 Year Registered orienteers
2007 7,969
2008 9,147 2009 9,344 2010 8,748 2011 14,326 2012 19,399
2013 21,331
4
Table 3: Registered orienteers, states and ACT, 2012 and 2013
State Association
Full financial
members Associate/casual
School/scout/other club
Other financial participants
in regular
events Total
Total excl.school members NSW
2012
1,153 143 (a)
467
1,763
1,763 2013
1,102 168 2,401
707
4,378
1,977 VIC
2012
513 742 2,491
4,193
7,939
5,448 2013
487 964 2,728
3,477
7,656
4,928 QLD
2012
542 11 -
1,740
2,293
2,293 2013
546 16 -
1,779
2,341
2,341 WA
2012
291 517 2,404
-
3,212
808 2013
250 63 1,744
615
2,672
928 SA/NT
2012
332 180 600
757
1,869
1,269 2013
324 183 600
718
1,825
1,225 TAS
2012
271 462 -
-
733
733 2013
287 494 -
-
781
781 ACT
2012
520 - 117
953
1,590
1,473 2013
490 - 98
1,090
1,678
1,580 TOTAL
2012
3,622 2,055 5,612
8,110
19,399
13,787 2013
3,486 1,888 7,571
8,386
21,331
13,760 Notes:
(a) Figures not available for 2012.
5 Table 3: Events and participants, 2012 and 2013
2012 Events Participants Av. per event
NSW
248
17,730 71.5
VIC
345
26,777 77.6
QLD
180
9,101 50.6
SA and NT
83
5,341 64.3
WA
52
9,101 175.0
TAS
104
11,104 106.8
ACT
95
9,291 97.8
TOTAL
1,107
88,445 79.9
2013 Events Participants Av. per event
NSW
265
20,149 76.0
VIC
343
27,408 79.9
QLD
185
8,899 48.1
SA and NT
109
6,258 57.4
WA
71
7,061 99.5
TAS
86
8,242 95.8
ACT
113
14,655 129.7
TOTAL
1,172
92,672 79.1
% inc. on 2012
5.9
4.8 -1.0
Table 5: Accredited controllers and coaches, 2009 to 2014
Controllers Coaches
Dec 2009 224 174
Feb 2011 264 168
Feb 2012 202 190
Feb 2013 256 176
Feb 2014 258 142
6
Table 6. National membership database, age and sex, 4 September 2014
Age group Males Females Total
Juniors 573 407 980 Seniors (20-34 yrs) 225 831 1,056 Masters (35 yrs+) 1,310 293 1,603 Total 2,108 1,531 3,639
per cent (by sex)
Juniors 58.5 41.5 100.0
Seniors (20-34 yrs) 21.3 78.7 100.0
Masters (35 yrs+) 81.7 18.3 100.0
Total 57.9 42.1 100.0
per cent (by age)
Juniors 27.2 26.6 26.9
Seniors (20-34 yrs) 10.7 54.3 29.0
Masters (35 yrs+) 62.1 19.1 44.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
7 Social media engagement
In March 2011 the Orienteering Australia Facebook page had 350 Facebook likes and the maximum outreach for any major event was 2,000 to 3,000.
On 26 May 2014 the Facebook page had 1,051 likes and during the 2014 Australian 4 Days carnival over Easter the maximum outreach achieved was 19,200 (source: weekly statistical report from Facebook).
On 24 September 2014 the Facebook page had 1,155 likes and it is anticipated that the outreach during the next 2 weeks over the Australian Championships Carnival will exceed 20,000.
The OA monthly enews subscription list has gone from about 400 18 months ago to 1873 as at May 2014.
Discussion
There are a number of positive trends:
The number of registered orienteers has increased steadily from 8,748 in 2010 to 21,331 in 2013.
The number of events organised in 2013 increased by 5.9% over 2012 and the number of participations by 4.8%.
The numbers of people engaging with the OA Facebook page or with persons participating in events publicised on the page has increased from 350 likes in 2011 to 1,155 thus far in 2014.
Female and Masters participation rates have not been KPIs because the participation rates shown in Table 6 are high:
42.1% for females and 44.1% for Masters.
Negatives are:
The number of full financial members of clubs (who join for 12 months and receive a copy of the national magazine) decreased slightly from 3,622 in 2012 to 3,486 in 2013. This is attributed to both cost and an increasing proportion of orienteers engaging for part of the year rather than a full year, and in local park and street events rather than in ‘serious’ bush events involving increasing travel times to ‘out of ‘town’ venues.
The number of events organised increased from 1,107 to 1,172, each with a significant workforce of officials (organisers, course setter, course vetter/controller, results officer etc), but this substantial workforce is not reflected in the numbers collected by the ASC. The only ASC accreditation is for Controllers, who are generally only used for a limited number of bush orienteering events. The controller numbers were stable at 258 compared with 256 one year earlier.
At the OA Conference in December 2013, states agreed to commence counting organisers and course planners from 2014.
The number of accredited coaches fell from 176 in February 2013 to 142 in February 2014. This doesn’t reflect the coaching effort at grass roots level, where there is a concerted mentoring effort for beginners at events, and through special coaching sessions for beginners, women and juniors. The fall in accredited coaches is attributed to a drop in the numbers of accredited coaches who have not renewed, and the numbers of people undertaking coaching accreditation courses who complete the sport-specific component but not the online ASC component. State associations in future have agreed to collect statistics on the numbers of persons attending coach accreditation courses so that this can be compared with the numbers accredited. The OA Board has asked John Scown, Manager of Coaching and Officiating Development, to institute a reminder system for re-accreditation to replace the former ASC reminder system.
8
Comments on ASC funded projects
Highlights
NSW: the new orienteering program based in Coffs Harbour has been an outstanding success , extending to Grafton with attendances of over 100 and leading to a new club being created, the Bush n Beach
Orienteering Club. The Mountain Bike Duo program (bike/run) was heavily promoted in social media and through colour fliers and continued to grow in numbers in 2014
VICTORIA: As reported in May, the SE Melbourne street orienteering program and summer park-based sprint series were very successful and are expected to increase their numbers when they start again next month
QLD: the Cairns street and park series is halfway through the current series and has attracted very good numbers, with 108 last week
Tasmania: the second Tasmanian Saturday winter series of 8 events has been so successful that the
Launceston Orienteering Club has decided to move most of its Sunday events to Saturdays. Tasmanian events are subject to the weather: on fine winter days over 100 people participate; this dropped to around 50 one Saturday when it was snowing and the wind was icy.
Northern Territory: the new Katherine orienteering series of 6 events was quite successful with a total of 65 participants, a significant percentage of the total population of Katherine. About 12 to 15 of these were Aboriginal; the main age group was 20 to 35 year olds. At the same time as this was being run, a special school event was conducted that attracted 150 children. Many remote smaller schools are now asking for maps to be done of their schools. So Top End Orienteers is looking at contracting an orienteering mapper to spend a month travelling to various schools and preparing maps for them.
Disappointments
Introducing orienteering into new areas can work brilliantly in some places but struggle to take off in others,
depending to a large extent on the enthusiasm levels and organisation skills of the people on the ground. In NSW the relatively new Northern Rivers Club is struggling to organise events and promote itself after a couple of foundation members dropped out, and a similar thing has occurred in Rockhampton in QLD. Orienteering NSW plans to enlist backup support from enthusiasts in the Coffs Harbour Bush n Beach Club and also in the successful Gold Coast Club just across the border in QLD. At Rockhampton Orienteering QLD sent the development officer and senior mapper there to prepare additional maps and assist the local organiser in enlisting helpers.
In Sydney Orienteering NSW feels that there is considerable potential to increase numbers in the Sydney Western and Southern summer series but needs to develop better marketing strategies to do so.
9
ASC Participation Funded Projects
A full list of projects and the budget for each is in Table 1 on page 2.
Printed reports from states on their project plans for 2014 and updates since the November 2013 report are attached.
Notes on the status of national projects are as follows.
Online information and self coaching resources
OA has launched a new look website with new WORDPRESS platform. Refreshed content is being developed, especially for beginners and potential beginners, and a workshop is being held in Perth on 29 September on content to effectively market a children and youth focus. Once this content is developed, it is planned to actively market the new website and its content to a range of target groups: mountain bike clubs, adventure racing groups, scouts, bush walking clubs, outdoor education groups. Budget: $2000.
Sydney has the highest non-English speaking population in Australia. Orienteering NSW has developed project specifications for translation of basic information on orienteering into priority languages within a budget of $3000. This information will be loaded on the ONSW and OA websites and marketed to groups speaking those languages. The success of this will be evaluated before undertaking translations into additional languages as a phase 2 project.
National Level 0 Coaching Manual
Level 0 is essentially a 90 minutes (or more) basic training course for teachers on how to run basic
orienteering exercises in their schools. OA has just updated the syllabus for Level 0 and needs to update the accompanying Manual which is 20 years old and out of date. The new Manual will include lesson plans to assist teachers wishing to conduct a series of orienteering lessons, as well as established lesson plans from AASC orienteering and lesson plans used by state orienteering development officers.
Former teacher Nick Dent has been contracted to undertake and complete this project by November 2014.
Budget: $4000.
Eventor system user and manager guides
In 2013 OA purchased an integrated orienteering calendar, event registration, membership and results software package from the Swedish Orienteering Federation. A considerable amount of work has subsequently had to be done to adapt it for Australian circumstances.
There has been repeated criticism of it from people wanting to join a club, register for an event and organise an event and publish results that it is not intuitively user-friendly. So there is a need to publish guides on the new website which:
make it simple for beginners and others to readily understand how to find things on the calendar, how to then register on Eventor and enter an event or join a club.
allow club administrators to manage Eventor data for mailing lists etc and to assist people in how to interact with Eventor
provide event organisers with information on how to set up event registration and results
provide major carnival organisers with a manual on how to set up a multi-day registration system for the events, souvenir sales, camping, dinner registration etc for both individuals, families and groups.
Without these guides orienteering risks losing significant numbers of potential and current members alienated by not being able to understand how to interact efficiently with the software.
A team of orienteers with expertise in Eventor will write the guides, with a deadline of the end of November 2014.
Budget: $5000.
10
Victorian Participation Projects report 2013-2014
Project 1: Southern Summer Series (Casey Challenge) Jan 2013, Jan-Feb 2014
Summary:
A series of Park and Street events in Melbourne’s southeast suburbs (City of Casey), expanded in year 2 to include City of Kingston. Five events in 2013, ten events in 2014. Funds used for mapping, marketing (newspaper ads, flyers, social media), and payment to Project Officer.
Outcomes:
120 newcomers, including a number of family groups, some of whom have continued with park-street, schools and /or bush orienteering
1100 participations overall (ave 75 per event), ave 8-10 newcomers per event
10 new maps so far with 5 more to be completed this year (total 15)
Expenditure 2012/2013:
Mapping $1500
Project officer $1500 Marketing et al $1500
Total $4500
Expenditure 2014 (actual and projected):
Mapping $3000
Project officer $3000 Marketing et al $1500
Total $8500
Status/goals:
Project completed in March 2014, except for mapping lag (which will allow production of new maps for 2015 series).
Events will continue to be held in Casey and Kingston during January-February, incorporated into regular Park and Street summer series and supported by Melbourne clubs.
11 Project 2: Sprint Series
Oct-Nov 2013 (conducted); Oct-Nov 2014 (planned) Summary:
A series of Sprint events in complex urban terrain using detailed colour maps, providing development pathway for juniors, newcomers, and regular park and street orienteers looking to improve skills and progress with orienteering. Funds used for mapping, marketing (flyers, singlets, social media), and payment to Project Officer.
Outcomes:
630 participations by 260 competitors (ave 105 per event);
8 new maps produced or planned
Objectives in terms of participation and development were quickly met
Pathway to high performance: 4 current JWOC team members were regular participants, as were 5 current high performance/development squad members, and approx 15 members of the Victorian Nuggets squad.
Junior development: approx 50 juniors and sub-juniors took part in the series, including members of the Victorian Junior Squad/Schools team, the Bendigo J-Squad, and others practising for the Victorian Primary School
Championships.
Park-street regulars: approx 40 participants had previously only attended park-street events; some went on to compete in the Victorian Sprint Championships.
Newcomers: approx 50 newcomers to orienteering took part in the series.
Availability of a series ticket, and offer of special “jersey” overall prizes helped encourage repeat participation and build a loyal following, as did the work done to ensure maps, courses and organisation were of a consisently high standard.
The series also provided excellent development opportunities for less experienced or junior course setters and organisers. It created great “buzz” and is eagerly anticipated in 2014.
Refer website: www.parkstreeto.com.au/sprint
12 Expenditure 2013:
Mapping $6000
Project officer $1500
Marketing et al $1500
Total $9000
Expenditure 2014 (projected):
Mapping $6000
Project officer $1500
Marketing et al $1500
Total $9000
Status/goals: project continuing in October-November 2014; will become a regular part of the Victorian orienteering calendar, with strong support from clubs and participants.
13
The Wet Season Series:
Park and Street Orienteering Series in Darwin
Synopsis
In 2011 a park and street orienteering series was established in Darwin with the help of $4400 from the Australian Sports Commission. This 2011 series had a total of. Improvements were made to the series in 2012 and 2013 with an additional $4500 and $3800 respectively from the Australian Sports Commission.
2011: Established series, made maps and conducted publicity; 182 participations
2012: Increased publicity, modified series, increased attendance by 75%; 322 participations 2013: Modified series to be more sustainable and reduced volunteer workload; 276 participations
The 2011 and 2012 series focussed on trialling new ideas and relied heavily on volunteers and partially-paid roles. In 2013 we transitioned to a more sustainable structure which reduced workload on volunteers and enabled the use of less experienced volunteers, freeing up the more experienced members to focus on new projects.
Development of series
In the first year (2011) of this series we tried to focus on attracting new people to orienteering by trialling several strategies that we have not used for our regular orienteering series (e.g. flyer distributions, free entry vouchers, different time slot, simplified entry procedure and different course options). Some of these strategies proved
successful and we repeated them in 2012. However, some aspects of the 2011 series were found to hinder attendance, especially the hosting of events in a wide variety of locations. As such, the 2012 series underwent several changes, including a more compact distribution of events. These modifications have significantly increased participation and will help the series transition to becoming a self-sufficient and not require external funding.
14
Figure 1: Map of Darwin and its satellite city Palmerston showing the location and order of the events of the 2013 series. Yellow shading indicates new maps.
Budget
The 2013 series was coordinated by two individuals who were relatively new to the sport. This freed up the 2011-2012 coordinator to undertake other roles. The new coordinators deferred some of the reimbursements for their time to enable the series to meet the larger that initially planned equipment and map costs.
Expenses Planned Actual
New maps ($500/map) $1000 _$1500 _
Series coordinator $900 _$100 _
Publicity $1000 _$150
Equipment (lockable checkpoints) $500 _$1314.50
Equipment (other) $0 _$337.50
Printing, consumables and stationary $400 _$450
Total _ $3800 $3852
5
4
2 1
3
15
2014 Series - Darwin
We propose to expand the Wet Season Series in Darwin from its current 5 event format to an 8 event format. This expansion will enable to series to overlap with our Australia Day Orienteering Event which traditionally is the event with the most number of newcomers. By having the series continue after the event we hope to encourage more of these newcomers to become regular orienteers.
The funding received over the previous years has enabled to become well established such that it is expected to have sufficient participants to meet its ongoing expenses. However, in order to proceed with the proposed expansion to an 8 event series we request funding to construct two additional maps at an expected total cost of $1000.
Figure 2: Map of Darwin and its satellite city Palmerston showing the proposed location and order of the events of the 2013 series. Yellow shading indicates new maps.
Budget
New maps ($500/map) $2000
Series coordinator ($180/event) $- Publicity coordinator and expenses $- Equipment (lockable checkpoints) $- Printing, consumables and stationary $-
Total $1000
1
4 2
7 3 6
5
8
16
2014 Series - Katherine
In 2014 the format of the Wet Season Series was duplicated by establishing a similar series of 6 events in Katherine, a rural centre of 5000 people located 300 km south of Darwin.
The new Katherine orienteering series of 6 events was quite successful with a total of 65 participants, a significant percentage of the total population of Katherine. About 12 to 15 of these were Aboriginal; the main age group was 20 to 35 year olds. At the same time as this was being run, a special school event was conducted that attracted 150 children. Many remote smaller schools are now asking for maps to be done of their schools. So Top End Orienteers is looking at contracting an orienteering mapper to spend a month travelling to various schools and preparing maps for them.
Figure 3: Map of Katherine showing the proposed location and order of the events of the 2014 series. Yellow shading indicates new maps.
Budget
New maps ($500/map) $2000
Series coordinator ($180/event) $720 Publicity coordinator and expenses $1500 Equipment (lockable checkpoints) $1300 Equipment (tables, chairs, signage etc) $1200 Printing, consumables and stationary $450
Total $7170
1 4 3
3
5
17
ORIENTEERING TASMANIA
WINTER SATURDAY AFTERNOON HOBART CITY ORIENTEERING SERIES
“The Orienteering Tasmania Winter Warmup Series for Runners and Walkers”
PHASE 2 – 2014
REPORT:
The Hobart Saturday Afternoon City Street Orienteering Program commenced in 2013 with a 10 event program.
The program was an outstanding success with about 100 participants on good weeks (subject to winter weather conditions) many of whom were newcomers.
A similar series was conducted in 2014 but noting that some found 10 near successive weeks difficult to accomplish, the organising team reduced the series to 8 events (matching the 8 week autumn and spring after work series). The program was an outstanding success with over 100 participants on good weeks (subject to winter weather conditions) many of whom were newcomers
The purpose of the series was:
- To build on the success of the 2013 series
- To provide a link between the very popular Autumn and Spring Corporate Challenge and Schools Series - to attempt to tap into potential participants who have been unable to attend existing weekday afternoon or
Sunday morning events.
- to offer a fun and healthy recreational activity to those who wish to actively participate in orienteering and are not attracted to mainstream sporting activities.
- Provide structured training and experience for current orienteers to transition to event organising, including use of Autodownload software
- To provide a pathway into orienteering for newcomers
PERSONNEL:
The series used the following personnel
Role Payment Responsibilities
Marketing Officer $250 for series Develop Marketing strategies
Prepare email contact lists
Arrange posters, flyers
Arrange distribution of posters and flyers
Send out weekly email reminders
18
Event Organisers $150 per event Set Courses
Arrange map printing
Get any permissions
Collect gear
Put Controls Out
Set up on day
Pack up after event Map preparation
officer
$250 for series Final artwork of maps
Printing of maps Systems Officer/s $400 for series Set up event file
Import course data
Set up download station at events
Add registrations
Download results
Cumulate points
Put results on website
Email results to participants
Total personnel costs for series $2,100
MAPPING:
Battery Point, Regatta Grounds, Risdon Brook, Montagu bay, Knocklofty and Poimena maps require remapping /
upgrading: $200 each
$1200 MATERIALS:
Stationery and supplies $200
PRIZES:
Medallions for 1st M & W on each course. $120
Random Draw Prizes $200
MARKETING:
Name: The series continued to be named “Orienteering Tasmania’s Winter Warmup Series”
The message was to have a run or walk on Saturday afternoons in order to get some winter exercise and warm upon a cold day.
Publicity: Publicity was multi-faceted.
Information leaflet – to be designed and printed and made available to joggers, running clubs, etc ($200)
Distribution of leaflet at City to Casino fun run and other events, postage to running clubs, etc ($380)
Radio – ABC interviews drive time radio and Saturday morning with Chris Wisby
Mercury – Media Release and publicity shoot week before.
Website – OT Website
19
Mailout – Email reminders to ALL Corporate Challenge participants and ALL people on OT mailing list (S Tasmania)
Paid advertisements in Mercury (2 in weeks leading up to the series) ($600) COSTS:
ITEM BUDGET
Personnel $2 100
Mapping $1 200
Stationery & c $200
Prizes $320
Publicity – printing, adverts, etc $1 180
Total $5 000
20
ORIENTEERING SOUTH AUSTRALIA
OSA had 2 projects to increase participation and it is too early to report on how successful they have been.
1. More permanent courses
o These are well signed on the ground with maps available from local outlets o Signs direct people to the Orienteering SA website
o Maps are available on the web to download
o Any maps downloaded need people to register how many and what for
o We collect email addresses from this process and offer to send out the enews. – most people say yes – this means that the weekly orienteering enews in SA is now going to almost 1000 people each week.
o Numbers at local events can be partially attributed to people first trying the permanent courses Currently there are courses at:
Thornden Park Belair
Kuitpo forest Mt Crawford forest North Adelaide
The priority for the next is Torrens linear park, from Adelaide City out to Tea Tree Gully.
Budget: $2,500.
2. Local Saturday and Newcomer events.
o
o ASC funding has supported the introduction and growth in 2012 and 2013 of a Saturday community orienteering program of events. This has definitely shown an increase in attendance – with numbers of 100 attending each week.
o There is also some flow on from these events to bush events.
o We intend to keep these in the programme as they have been so successful.
o We would love to promote them more widely – money to do this would be great .
o The best way could well be a flyer to schools in the area of the upcoming events – money for development of a specific brochure and distribution of same would be appreciated.
Budget: $500 for a promotional brochure for distribution to schools, outdoor shops and sports stores.
21
ORIENTEERING ACT
In 2012 and 2013 ASC funding has provided money to greatly increase the number of street orienteering maps in Canberra, plus pay for a winter series organiser. This has enabled the weekly Monday evening street
orienteering program to expand to become a year program. The program attracts some new comers every week and encourages participation from a different market segment: older people who just want to walk in pairs or family groups, mothers and fathers with babies in prams or in baby carriers on their backs, unfit or less fit people, and time poor people who can fit in an after work workout on a Monday but cannot attend at other times.
Events are conducted alternately between the southside and northside of Canberra, and a number of regulars only participate when the venue is on their side of town. Depending on the weather, there are 70 to 90 participants in most spring to autumn events.
Participation in orienteering in Canberra is relatively low for residents of Gungahlin and Tuggeranong compared with other geographic areas. A priority therefore is to create 6 new maps in Gungahlin and Tuggeranong to facilitate street orienteering in those geographic regions.
The mapping program has been planned and will be undertaken over the spring-summer period.
GUNGAHLIN: Harrison, Amaroo and Ngunnawal
TUGGERANONG: Wanniassa-Oxley and Monash-Isabella Plains.
Budget: $3000.
ORIENTEERING NSW
Orienteering NSW’s Participation funded programs, the following details ONSW’s progress to date. Also included is ONSW’s plan for 2014.
1. Duo Series
The DuO Series was implemented in response to the ASC participation opportunity, and as a result of the success the format achieved originally in Victoria.
Events Held
The third year of the DuO series continued with a program of events for 2013/14. The locations of the four events being Ourimbah , Newcastle, Penrose, and Glenbrook. The locations of the four events offered the opportunity for Mountain Bike riders from different areas in and around Sydney to participate in the sport.
Participant Numbers
The participant numbers for the DuO events were as follows:
Event Total Entrants
1 65
2 79
3 48
4 79
22
TOTAL 271
AVE 68
As can be seen from the attached sheet, the average number of competitors decreased slightly compared to the previous year (88 from 3 events).
Maps Produced
Three of the four maps used were updated versions of existing MTBO or Foot-O maps, while one map (Ourimbah) was a new map for both MTBO and Foot-O.
Copies of the maps produced/used are available if required.
Promotional Activities Undertaken
For each of the events the DuO Coordinator prepared an event flyer promoting the event and a post-race newsletter reporting on the event – samples of both are available.
Plans for 2014
The second half 2014 event calendar is currently being decided with the target of 2 events being planned for later this year, and 2 more in early 2015.
To optimise the chances of success still requires careful planning to ensure the events do not clash with other mountain bike or Foot-O events. The DuO format has had limited success with a solid core of competitors. There appears to be a problem in retaining some first-time competitors, and there are a limited number of areas available close to Sydney to attract Sydney based competitors.
A new coordinator is being sought for the 2014/15 season.
2. New Metropolitan Programs
With the ASC participation funding it was originally planned to replicate the existing Wednesday evening Sydney Summer Series (SSS) initially in the Southern Sydney suburbs and then in the following year in the Western suburbs. However during the planning stages of the program it was decided that it would be more effective to commence both series in the same season as the majority of the events of each of the two series would be conducted by different clubs.
The format for the two new series is the same as that for the SSS namely a 45 minute street score event using electronic timing and scoring.
2.1 Western Summer Series (WSS) Events Held
For 2013 the Western series consisted of 7 events with a switch from a Sunday morning (as in 2012) to a Monday evening for 2013.
The events were staged in the Parramatta, Baulkham Hills and Rouse Hill suburbs of Sydney.
23 Participant Numbers
The participant numbers for the WSS events were as follows:
Event
Total Entrants
1 26
2 29
3 40
4 20
5 15
6 41
7 49
TOTAL 220
AVE 31
25 individuals came to 4 events or more out of the seven indicating that consecutive Mondays was attracting these members to consider coming every Monday. Over the 7 events there were only 9 newcomers.
The number of competitors did not quite meet the expectations for the year of the program (at least 50 expected). Nearly all runners came from two clubs. There were few new starters despite distribution of flyers to businesses, fun run participants and some local letterboxing. The conclusion is that there is a low percentage of success from general distribution of flyers and other advertising. However it was considered that the low number of new people does not mean that publicity should not be used. The most valuable would be that which reaches the largest number of people, such as local papers, but best of all is word of mouth.
The number at each event seemed to be determined by three factors. The first is location, closer in towards the east, where more members live, was favoured. Whether the map was new had an impact, but the most important factor of all, was by whether it was raining - Events 4 and 5, with continuous heavy rain (for most of the day), had only 20 and 15 participants. The last two events, further east, with good weather and a new map at North Rocks, had 41 and 48.
Maps Produced
5 of the 7 the maps used were updated versions of existing street orienteering maps, while there were 2 new maps produced for the series.
Copies of the maps produced/used are available if required.
Lessons Learnt
Feedback from event organisers was sought after the conclusion of the series.
To Increase the level of promotion wherever possible
24
New maps with a mix of bush, parks and streets with pleasant housing. The least attractive venue at Marayong, three SI units were vandalised (two were lost). It is recommended that similar venues for future events not be used.
Careful selection of western suburbs locations is recommended in the future.
Continuation with the Monday evening timing
2.2 Southern Sydney Summer Series (SSSS) Events Held
The Southern series originally commenced on Tuesday evenings in 2011. However due to a combination of low numbers and a difficulty in attracting organisers for Tuesday evenings, it was decided to switch to Saturday afternoons. Due to clashes with other events 3 events were subsequently switched to Sunday afternoons. In addition to the score format competition (fixed 45 minutes), a ‘line event’ (no fixed time) was also offered to competitors.
The events were staged in the Eastern and Southern suburbs of Sydney.
Participant Numbers
The participant numbers for the SSSS events were as follows:
Event
Total Entrants
1 36
2 32
3 33
4 32
5 35
6 43
7 29
8 34
9 49
TOTAL 323
AVE 36
As can be seen from the above table, apart from two events, the number of competitors was fairly stable, while the number of new participants (i.e. not existing members of the Association) was considered low, although the increased number of new competitors at the final event was encouraging.
The number of competitors did not meet the expectations for the first year of the program (50 expected).
25 Maps Produced
The maps used were updated versions of existing street orienteering maps. Of the 9 events held, 7 used existing maps, while 2 events used new maps.
Copies of the maps produced/used are available if required.
Publicity
Some promotion mainly through the local papers was achieved (with over 20 in the region this is not an easy task). Brochures were placed in fitness clubs, community centres and the like. A mail drop in local streets for the one event was undertaken – with no success. It is uncertain if there is more that can be done as word of mouth seems to have always been the best source of people coming along to try.
Lessons Learnt
Feedback from event organisers was sought after the conclusion of the series.
As a result some changes will be made for the 2014 series:
To increase the level of promotion wherever possible
The weekend dates seemed to be popular with those that attended (and certainly with the organisers) with the average entry was a little higher than in 2012. The events all had slightly earlier start times (4-00pm to 6- 00pm) than the other weekday series and this was not a problem as very few entries came after 5-30pm.
Plans for 2014
The 2014 event calendar is currently being decided but is expected that 10 events will be planned for later in the year.
3. Regional Centres Program - Northern Rivers & Coffs Harbour
The objective of the Regional Centres program was to introduce orienteering to regional areas where it currently did not exist. With ONSW already aware of enquiries coming from the Lismore/Ballina/Tweed Heads area, this area was selected as the first area to target, while Coffs Harbour was identified as the second target area.
3.1 Northern Rivers – Events Held
As reported last year, in November 2012 ONSW staged 6 events over two weekends in the Lismore and Ballina areas.
The Northern Rivers club was formed, and affiliated with ONSW in July 2013, with their first event was held in August 2013. Subsequently orienteering was commenced in the Grafton area. Since July 2013 there have been 9 events in the Northern Rivers area, the majority of them being held in Grafton.
Participant Numbers
The average number of competitors has been 29. Also see attached spreadsheet for further detail.
Maps Produced
There were 6 maps produced for the initial promotional program and these maps have been used for subsequent events. A new map of Grafton was prepared in 2013.
26 2013 Promotional Activities
The main form of promotion has taken place using social media for the Grafton events.
Lessons Learnt
Considering the low numbers of members the club will need support from ONSW and from the nearest other NSW clubs for the Northern Rivers club to continue.
Plans for 2014
Now that the Northern Rivers program is established if the club is to continue to exist, an ongoing support plan needs to be developed in conjunction with its members.
3.2 Coffs Harbour – Events Held
The promotional plan for Coffs Harbour used the same plan as that for the Northern Rivers, with little modification based on feedback from interested locals and from the results from the initial Northern Rivers program.
Consequently ONSW staged 6 events over two weekends in the Coffs Harbour areas, with 4 areas of Coffs Harbour being mapped plus an area to the North (Woolgoolga), and an area to the South (Sawtell).
The results of the promotional program were very encouraging with 161 participants turning up the 6 events.
The Beach 'n' Bush Orienteering Club was formed soon after the promotional program, and became affiliated with ONSW in January 2014. The club held their first event was held in April with 44 attending. A second event was recently held with an impressive 80 people attending.
For a breakdown of all results please refer to the attached spreadsheet.
Participant Numbers
To date the average number of competitors has been 62! Also see attached spreadsheet for further detail.
Maps Produced
There were 6 maps produced for the initial promotional program and to date these maps have been used for subsequent events.
2013 Promotional Activities
The main form of promotion has taken place using social media.
Lessons Learnt
Having an experienced orienteer living in the region has helped considerably, and the club has been further supported by two other (“lapsed”) orienteers that now live in Coffs Harbour. Their enthusiasm and knowledge has given the club a very successful start.
27 Plans for 2014
Now that the Beach 'n' Bush Orienteering club is established an ongoing support plan needs to be developed. The club will need more equipment and further support in some of the technological aspects of event timing systems and results processing.
4. 2014 Planned Participation Expenditure
For 2014 plans to continue with all four participation programs (Western and Southern Summer Series, DuO and Regional Clubs), plus one additional new program for 2014.
The planned expenditure for the existing programs is as follows:
Sydney Southern & Western Series
Mapping Costs, new areas – 4 off ($800 each) - $3,000 Promotional Costs (Advertising, Flyers) - $2,000
Total $5,000
DuO Program
Mapping, updating Foot-O maps – 4 off ($400 each) - $1,600 Promotional Costs (Advertising, Flyers) - $1,400
Total $3,000
Regional Centres Program
Ongoing Club Establishment and Support Visit costs - $2,000 Follow up Mapping projects (Northern Rivers) - $2,700 Follow up Mapping projects (Coffs Harbour) - $7,000 SportIdent Equipment – Northern Rivers - $2,000 Promotional Costs (Banners, Advertising, Flyers) - $2,000 SportIdent Equipment - Coffs harbor - $7,000
Total $22,700
There is one additional program, not previously covered by ONSW’s initial participation program submission which was recognised in 2013 and this was the need for an increased focus on technical training for coaches and controllers.
Technical Training
NSW Coaches and Controllers Training - $3,000
28 SUMMARY
In embarking on these new programs the need for a continued and increased level of promotion and marketing in as many areas as possible and through as many different channels as possible needs to be maintained. To
continue to attract new competitors to orienteering, and to retain them, requires a high level of effort in this area if the numbers are to increase or at least be maintained.
Yours Sincerely
Paul Prudhoe
Executive Officer, ONSW 0418-287-694
