(1)ANNUAL REPORT 2017

Full text

(1)ANNUAL REPORT 2017.

(2)

(3) Winning PartnershiP. The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, supports and invests in sport at all levels in Australia. Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.. AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION. Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with the Australian Sports Commission to develop its sport in Australia.. www.ausport.gov.au.

(4) Orienteering Western Australia. Partners and Supporters 2017.

(5) Contents President’s Report Management and Administration Finance International Relations Technical and Competition Media and Communications Participation and Membership High Performance and Coaching Mountain Bike Orienteering Orienteering Australia Awards Appendix 1 - National Results 2017 Appendix 2 - National Teams/Squads 2017 Appendix 3 - Office Bearers 2017 Appendix 4 - Financial Report 2017. page. 2 4 7 8 11 14 16 27 29 32 36 43 47 48. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 1.

(6) President’s Report I. t has been another positive year for orienteering in Australia. We continue to see gradual improvement in participation numbers, in a sporting environment where increasingly, people are looking for opportunities to engage in sport as and when they want to, and less likely to commit to the long-term (or to memberships). We continue to see particularly strong success in events, of various forms, which provide opportunities for people to orienteer close to where they live, perhaps the strongest example I’ve seen being the ACT being able to attract close to 300 (many of them juniors) to local events on a Saturday morning. We’ve also seen highly successful sprint series in a number of centres. Our flagship national events also continue to do well, with the Australian Championships week attracting numbers unmatched in any other year except those with a big influx of internationals for a World Championships or World Masters, although the ‘traditional’ Sunday bush events have found it harder to generate growth. We need to continue to innovate if we want to continue to grow our place on the Australian sporting landscape. For many of us, our comfort zone is to continue to do what we’ve always been doing, but unless we are attracting new people, that is a recipe for going backwards by a few percent a year. In doing this, we must recognise that what appeals most to existing orienteers might not necessarily be what appeals most to those entering the sport for the first time. It has been very pleasing to see the level of innovation in numerous states over the last few years and I expect we will continue to see it in the future. Our major events continue to set very high standards. In what was a very big year for New South Wales, the Australian Championships took things to a new level, as well as generating excellent media coverage (both traditional and online), and sparking the beginnings of more ongoing orienteering in the Bathurst area. With high standards comes a lot of effort; we recognise that our volunteer workforce is being stretched further and further, in organising major events, in putting together the rest of our program, and in doing everything else behind the scenes to keep the sport running. For major events, part of the solution may involve contracting out parts of the event organisation (as New Zealand did for the Oceania Championships and World Masters in 2017). For the sport more generally, I see a significant role of Orienteering Australia as being to provide (or facilitate) shared infrastructure to make everyone else’s job 2 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. easier; for example, now that we have almost complete coverage of events, we should finally be able to exploit the potential of Eventor to provide the participation data we need, saving states the job of having to collate it themselves. Our domestic competition continues to be vibrant. The National Orienteering League, now in place for 25 years, continues to be a competition which few other countries can match (and which many would love to be able to replicate). It wasn’t our finest year for international senior elite results in foot orienteering, but there were still plenty of moments to enjoy, most notably Lucy Mackie’s silver medal in the Junior World MTBO Championships – another example of mountain bike orienteering punching well above its weight in achieving international results. Nor do I think anyone who was there will forget, in a hurry, the astonishing day in Auckland when Australia swept more than half the available gold medals (12 out of 23) in the World Masters Sprint; if Ugly Gully were a country they would have been second on the medal table. Those examples are all at the sharp end of our pyramid, but are only a small part of the picture, where our vision is to give every orienteer in Australia the chance to develop their potential to the full, whether that’s a World Championships aspirant, or the orienteer who started out at local events in their 40s aiming to get into the top half of an age-group Australian Championships field one day. Having a larger pool of quality coaches will be important to achieving this, and we’re starting to see progress towards that goal..

(7) Of course, managing the sport is not without its challenges. Many states and clubs are having to deal with increasingly challenging compliance burdens, especially (but not only) when it comes to accessing the land without which we cannot run events. At a national level, over the last few years we have had to deal with the withdrawal of government high performance funding from most non-Olympic sports. Some major decisions made during 2017 mean that we should now have completed the process of managing that loss, and I thank the State Associations for their willingness to support what needs to be done financially for us to be able to continue to support a credible high performance program – something which is crucial not only for the profile of the sport, but also for the retention of young people in orienteering, and of those who will become our future leaders. (To give only one example, it’s commonplace for more than half the teams at the Australian Schools Championships – in themselves, one of our great success stories – to have coaches who are former, or sometimes current, World Championships representatives). I would like to finish by thanking everyone who has worked to make orienteering in Australia successful in 2017, and are continuing to do so. This includes those who served on the Board during 2017, and Orienteering Australia’s staff. We give particular thanks to John Harding, who moves into a well-deserved retirement after years of excellent service as our Executive Officer, and to Robert Spry and Lance Read, who stood down from the Board during 2017 after making many valuable contributions over several years in their respective roles. It also includes thanks to all of you who work to make orienteering happen, from State board and committees through to those who put out or collect controls at the many hundreds of events we run every year. Without the contribution which all of you make, there would not be a sport for us to enjoy, and for us to look forward to in 2018 and beyond. Blair Trewin President. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 3.

(8) Management and Administration Orienteering Australia (OA) in 2017 was managed and administered by:. appointed as his replacement and commenced in the role in November 2017.. • •. Meetings of the Board. • •. • •. A Board of six headed by President Blair Trewin; Part-time paid officers: The Executive Officer, Head Coach and High-Performance Operations Manager, National Mountain Bike Orienteering Manager, Manager of Coaching Development, Manager of Coaching and Officiating Administration, Sporting Schools Coordinator and the Editor of the Australian Orienteer; Part-time contracts for the Editor of the Monthly Enews bulletin and the website curator; The 2-day Annual Conference comprising the Board members, delegates from each State and the ACT, and an athlete and a mountain bike orienteering representative, supported by OA paid staff; the Annual General Meeting and a Special General Meeting; Various committees and working groups who assist in implementing the Operational Plan; Additional appointed officers: Public Officer, National Secretary for Schools Orienteering, elite and non-elite rankings officers, and the Badge Scheme Secretary.. Membership of the Board There were two changes to the Board membership in 2017 with Lance Read (OQ), Director, High Performance and Robert Spry (ONSW) standing down at the 2017 AGM. Board members in 2017 were Blair Trewin, President; Mike Dowling, Director, International; Bruce Bowen Director, Finance; Jenny Casanova, Director, Technical; Craig Feuerherdt, Director, Unspecified Portfolio with responsibility for Media and Communications; Bill Jones was appointed Director at Large at the June Board Meeting; John Harding, Executive Officer, provided administrative support for Board meetings, and until September also took on the role of Board Meetings minutes secretary, after which time Prue Dobbin (OV) took on the role of Board Meetings minutes secretary, while John continued to provide administrative support. The positions of Director, High Performance and Director, Unspecified Portfolio with particular responsibility for risk management were both unfilled in 2017. OA Executive Officer, John Harding, stood down from the role late in 2017. Paul Prudhoe (ONSW) was 4 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. The Annual General Meeting was held in April (in Canberra) with a Special General Meeting being held in June (in Wagga Wagga) to discuss Governance, Finance, Participation and Schools related matters. The Annual Conference was again held in December with the Board holding monthly meetings by Skype and in person throughout 2017 as follows: 12 January, 2 March, 4 April, 18 May, 19 July, 13 September, 5 and 26 October. Board member attendance at the AGM, Annual Conference and 9 Board meetings was as follows: Blair Trewin 11, Lance Read 11, Jenny Casanova 11, Robert Spry 10, Bruce Bowen 11, Michael Dowling 11, Craig Feuerherdt 10, John Harding (meeting secretary) 11.. Staffing and Contract Work Paid staff (part-time) were John Harding (Executive Officer), Jim Russell (Head Coach), Kay Haarsma (National Mountain Bike Orienteering Coordinator), Ian Prosser (High Performance Administrator ), Jim Mackay (Sporting Schools National Coordinator and Manager, Coaching and Officiating Administration), Barbara Hill (Manager, Coaching Development), and Mike Hubbert (Editor, Australian Orienteer). Shane Jenkins was contracted as website curator,.

(9) Rebecca Jaffe as national monthly enews editor and Ian Jessup as Media Liaison Officer during 2017. Ian provided national and major state media outlets with results and reports for all National Orienteering League, national championships and international events in which Australia was participating. Various people and organisations were contracted by OA and state associations to undertake projects funded by the ASC Participation Grant.. •. Remuneration Range Of OA Staff (Includes Superannuation Guarantee Contribution) Range Less than $10K $10K to $20K $20K to $30K. No. of Staff 1 3 2. • •. Major Board Undertakings During 2017 Each of the Portfolio areas of the Board was very busy during the year, with the detail documented in the respective Portfolio areas within the Annual Report. •. •. •. President: Blair Trewin as President took development of a proposal for a national membership model, constitution changes and contributed to the annual ASC request for OA’s performance against the ASC’s Mandatory Governance Principles, and chairing meetings of the Board by Skype and in person, in addition to being a member of the IOF Foot Orienteering Commission and liaising with Orienteering New Zealand on trans-Tasman issues. International: Mike Dowling, IOF Vice President, had substantial responsibilities in the international arena, including the lead role in reviewing the IOF Competition Program and involvement in international orienteering youth development. Finance: Bruce Bowen, Director (Finance), provided regular reports to the OA Board on annual expenditure to date, the performance of the calendar budget and the forward budget; led Conference, AGM and Board discussion on budget development in an environment of reduced funding. •. from the ASC; recommended increases in fees and levies to the AGM and Conference which were endorsed; chaired the Audit and Risk Committee; prepared annual accounts for auditing; provided the ASC with audit and acquittal statements and budget figures as requested; and undertook the day to day payment of invoices. High Performance and the Development Pathway : The position of Director, High Performance on the Board was vacant for 2017. However, Jim Russell as Head Coach and Ian Prosser as HP Admin Support Officer managed the foot orienteering High Performance and Development Pathway program and submitted recommendations to the Board on appointments, selection criteria, funded activities and other aspects of the program. Kay Haarsma as manager of the Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) program did likewise for that program. Ian Prosser was also the OA liaison officer with ASADA on anti-doping education and testing. Technical: In 2017 Anna Sheldon continued as Chair, Technical Committee. Media and Communications: Craig Feuerherdt, Director (Media and Communications), continued in 2017 with the managing and improving of the Eventor system, including undertaking ongoing updates to the website with the assistance of Shane Jenkins, and maintaining the quality online option for publishing of the Australian Orienteer. Special Projects: Position not filled in 2017.. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 5.

(10) Administration The major administrative tasks during the year included: • • • • • •. • •. Organisation of the annual general meeting and annual meetings of committees during the Easter carnival. Organisation of the Annual Conference at the AIS in December. Administrative support for regular meetings of the OA Board. Funding submissions to the ASC and contract management with the ASC and state associations for Participation and Sporting Schools projects. National management of the Orienteering Sporting Schools Program. High performance support by the Head Coach, High Performance Administrator, National MTBO Coordinator and other members of the HighPerformance Management Group for the Australian squads and representative teams and for the National Orienteering League program. Coaching and officiating administration by Jim Mackay of the ASC accreditation schemes for coaches, controllers and training curricula. The Executive Officer representing Orienteering Australia at ASC meetings and workshops on Participation, Sporting Schools, the Annual Sports Assessment Review, and CEO Forums.. Paul Prudhoe Executive Officer. 6 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017.

(11) Finance T. he accompanying annual accounts for Orienteering Australia Inc. (OA) (Appendix 4) show a deficit of $42,008 in 2017. This deficit largely arose because of differences as to when revenue was received and the date when expenditure occurred for some items. That is, it was mainly due to one-off factors. For example, during 2017 expenditure on Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Participation grants was $13K higher than revenue, as OA funded some participation projects using a carryover of unspent grant funds received in the previous financial year. Similarly, $3K of expenditure on the mapping project (funded by a generous Australian Sports Foundation donation) was incurred in 2017 while the revenue was received in 2016. Expenditure from the Whiteside bequest ($10K) to enhance the 2017 Australian Orienteering Championship events again reflected a lag between receipt of revenue and actual expenditure.. Finally, the forward budget projections (which were presented at the OA Annual Conference) show that the 2017 decision by the State Associations to provide increased support for high performance activities (an additional $10K in 2018 and from 2019 an additional $20K per annum) will allow sustainable financial support to continue to be provided for Australian orienteering teams attending world championships, training camps for senior and junior elites and the National Orienteering League. Bruce Bowen Director, Finance. Finally, another example was the January 2018 Sprint Canberra training camp, which incurred expenditure of around $9K in 2017 to secure accommodation and sports facility use at the AIS for the training camp, while revenue raised to cover these costs via athlete contributions and the entry fees from Sprint Canberra public races was not received until 2018. OA ended 2017 in a strong cash position with around $327K of which around $128K were for unexpended grants. However the financial statements also show the cash position was lower than at the end of the previous financial year. This was mainly as a result of a reduction in the ASC Participation grant. For the 2017-18 financial year the ASC halved the previous grant to $100K, following a change to support levels for various sports. Looking ahead, there are two financial ramifications following this change. First, there will be less funds than were recently available for OA to distribute to State Associations for participation projects, and second; there will be less funds available to OA for administrating the grant and funding national level activities that help to increase participation. Nevertheless, there will be still be valuable Federal government funding available for the best selected activities that can lead to an increase in participation in our sport. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 7.

(12) International Relations A. ustralia has continued to make a significant contribution to the activities of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) through representation on Council, Commissions and in the conduct of IOF sanctioned activities.. Council and Commission Membership Michael Dowling is one of the three IOF Vice Presidents, elected for a two-year term at the 2016 IOF General Assembly in Stromstad, Sweden. Blair Trewin continues as a key member of the Foot Commission. In the supporting Rules Commission, Barry McCrae continues his role as a member. In addition, Adrian Uppill has been appointed as a member of the Map Commission and brings a fresh perspective of mapping issues in the Oceania region to the Commission.. IOF Council and Office The IOF Council has met four times in 2017. Once in conjunction with the World Championships in Tartu, Estonia in early July, in Malmö, Sweden in January, in Madrid, Spain in April and in Stockholm, Sweden in October. Within the budgetary constraints of the IOF, Council is continuing a significant effort to visit as many member federations as possible with its meetings. Michael Dowling has attended all meetings. Through 2017 all Council members have continued to work in their areas of responsibility and support. Michael Dowling has led the review into the IOF Conflicting Events Policy and is developing a remit for the review of the IOF World Ranking Scheme in anticipation of the new Sprint format for World. Championships being fully developed. Michael Dowling continues to have lead responsibility within Council for the Marketing area of IOF Core Activities and Increased Visibility within the Activity Plan. In addition, he continued to have a support role in increasing the attractiveness of orienteering to young people within the IOF Activity Plan, liaison with the Foot Commission and is the Council contact for the Oceania region.. IOF Activities The principal activity for dialogue between member federations and the IOF in 2017 was the IOF President’s Conference held in Tartu, Estonia in conjunction with the World Orienteering Championships. The President’s Conference provides a briefing to member federations of the work of the IOF between General Assemblies. At the Presidents’ Conference member federations were briefed about the initial planning of the 2018-204 Strategic Directions, strategic planning calendar for IOF events, the IOF Sustainability Policy and an update on IOF antidoping work. The Strategic Directions development process for the period 2018-2024 involves a series of stakeholder consultations and feedback in framing the vision, mission, values, working methods and goals for the IOF. The development of the IOF vision and mission is underpinned by four values: lifelong sport, sustainability, inclusivity and fair play. These values are to be built upon working methods that reflect an intention to uphold the highest standards of good governance in sports, meaning that the IOF will be fully transparent in the conduct of its business and seeks the full engagement of all its members in its decisionmaking. The IOF is also striving for simplification and innovation in its development of the sport across the different disciplines. The main goal of the draft Strategic Directions is to increase the attractiveness of orienteering • • • • • •. 8 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. to current participants and members to new participants to and through the media to external funders to partner organisations to be included in the Olympic and Paralympic Games..

(13) The Foot Commission in partnership with Council has been developing a strategic planning calendar for major IOF events in the discipline. This model is also proposed to be extended to other orienteering disciplines as a basis for improved long-term planning. The essence of the planning is to provide a structured framework of defined event periods that allow for the conduct of World Championships, World Cup and Regional Championships. Allied to this has been an updating of the IOF Conflicting Dates Policy to define event order priority in the planning process. The second World Orienteering Day was held in May 2017 and plans are now in place for 2018 and 2019. This was again a resounding success with total of 103 countries and territories involved in staging 2013 individual events with a world record participation of 288,007 individuals. The World Orienteering day website was again a great way to track and view the activities with participating clubs and organisations able to share their stories of the day. In addition, the RYDC has finalised and implementing a start-up package to help new countries and regions establish our sport. The reactivated Environment Commission is working through the development of an IOF Sustainability Policy. The initial research and groundwork has resulted in a comprehensive initial draft policy and supporting documentation being forwarded to member federations for feedback. Orienteering Australia provided a valuable set of responses that have influenced the policy development process going forward. Following this consultation process the Environment Commission is now working towards a second stage of the Policy development.. Anti-doping continues to be a high priority activity for the IOF. In 2016 the IOF introduced a new funding mechanism to provide resources for anti-doping work. This continued in 2017 and has allowed the IOF to expand its anti-doping activities resulting in an increase of about 50% in the number of tests conducted over the last 12-month period. The current IOF anti-doping strategy focuses on the following key elements: • • • • •. Introduction of ABP Haematological model (previously only steroidal) Increase in the ratio of out-of-competition testing to in-competition testing Improved cooperation with National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) through agreed test data exchange in ADAMS Modified selection guidelines for the IOF Registered Testing Pool (RTP) Increased focus on deterrence work; education and communication.. The IOF continues to make progress in developing the broadcast quality of major IOF events for television and online delivery. The progress in this regard was evident in this year’s World Championships in Estonia with 139 countries and territories taking either live broadcast or highlights packages. In addition, all rounds of the 2017 World Cup had live TV broadcast quality productions and the growth of viewers through the IOF liveorienteering.com online channel has been pleasing. Allied, to this is also the pleasing growth of the IOF engagement in social media through its digital media strategy. This has seen targets exceeded for followers and interactions through Facebook and Instagram. This growth also ties in well with the IOF communications strategy developed in 2016 and implemented in the early stages of 2017. The main IOF sponsor Nokian Tyres has agreed to a renew its partnership with the IOF on an expanded basis. The new agreement covers title sponsorship of the World Orienteering Championships for the years 2018 – 2021. The agreement also includes additional engagement regarding sponsorship of World Orienteering Day for the same period. It also includes sponsorship of targeted activities at World Cup rounds and other events as desired by Nokian Tyres. Focus continues to be placed on increasing external financing through sponsorship agreements for IOF events and for the World Orienteering Day project. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 9.

(14) The introduction of the external communications platform LIVE Orienteering in early 2017 has provided new opportunities for communicating effectively with members, stakeholders and the global orienteering community, as well as for the generation of sales of advertising and sponsorships. The IOF has welcomed the membership of Singapore and at the same time has been working closely with new and less active member federations in an ongoing review of membership of the IOF. The key aim of developing orienteering in emerging and new federations is to ensure sustainable and realistic orienteering activities with the IOF Regional Coordinators playing a key support role in such development. The Regional and Youth Development Commission (RYDC) has developed a number of tools to assist in identifying particular federation development needs. There continues to be close cooperation with the World Military Sport Council (CISM), the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and the International World Games Association (IWGA) and most importantly the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOF was very proud to receive the 2017 FISU Award for ‘Best International Sport Federation’. To quote IOF President Leho Haldna, “It is the first big award for our organization from such a high-level organization like FISU. Because our sport is not an Olympic sport we don’t have so many places to be seen globally. Here, this is a good place for us.” Several organisers for World Championships were appointed including Germany for the 2019 World Masters Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships, Turkey for 2020 World Junior Orienteering Championships, Czech Republic for the 2020 World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships and 2021 World Orienteering Championships and Slovakia for the 2020 World Masters Orienteering Championships, Michael Dowling Director, International Relations Vice President, IOF Council. 10 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017.

(15) Technical and Competition T. he Technical and Competition areas for Orienteering Australia fall under the portfolio of the OA Director, Technical, and are overseen through the following committees: • • • •. Technical (Chair, Anna Sheldon); Mapping ( Chair, Adrian Uppill, followed by Neil Barr); Events (Chair, Greg Hawthorne); Information Technology (to be disbanded);. The OA Badge Scheme is managed by John Oliver, and coaching and officiating accreditation is managed by the Manager Coaching and Officiating Development Jim Mackay. Elite rankings are maintained by Bruce Arthur, non-elite rankings by Darryl Erbacher and National Orienteering League (NOL) points by David Shepherd and Ian Prosser who took over from Blair Trewin after many years. The work of the above people and of the committee chairs in 2017 is acknowledged.. Technical Orienteering Australia (OA) rules and documents referred to below are maintained on the Orienteering Australia web site, either in the Operational Manual or the Technical Pages. Unfortunately no further updates to the technical pages on the OA website have been undertaken in the past year; summaries of technical matters extracted from controllers’ reports and the Event Management documents still need to be uploaded. Organisers, course planners and controllers are encouraged to seek clarification from state and national technical directors regarding the interpretation of the OA rules and appendices and of the NOL Guidelines.. Foot Orienteering The Technical Committee met at the Australian 3-Days in Wagga Wagga in June 2017. Recommendations for Australian Sprint Championships course-class combinations were approved by the technical committee’s meeting at Australian 3-Days in Wagga Wagga, and similar tables will be prepared in future for middle distance and relay races. Data from the Australian Relays, where the winning times for the majority of age classes were set at 35-40 minutes in 2016 and 2017, will be reviewed in order to prepare possible course-class combinations. Eric Andrews’ and David Hogg’s work on course-classwinning times combinations resulted in some suggested adjustments which were trialled at the 2016 and 2017 Long Australian Championships, however there was not a strong impetus among the technical committee to permanently reduce long race winning times for older age classes and therefore the winning times for long and middle distance races will not be amended in the 2018 OA rules. Australian University Championships are no longer required to be held on Day 2 of Easter, but may take place at a NOL sprint event.. OA rules; changes to be incorporated in 2018 to reflect changes to IOF rules: Current OA Rule 21.6 to be re-worded to make it clearer that GPS watches are permitted even in World Ranking Events. The International Orienteer ing Federation (IOF) has removed forbidden symbols from the mapping specifications and incorporated them into the IOF rules document placing the onus on the competitors to be aware of which symbols they may not cross. Orienteering Australia has likewise incorporated forbidden symbols into the OA rules, but has some reservations about their absence from the mapping specifications, particularly with the pending review of ISSOM. Previous maps of the area may be made available online.. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 11.

(16) International Specifications for Orienteering Maps 2017 The IOF’s new mapping specifications should be read by all mappers and controllers and course planners, and may be downloaded here: https://orienteering.org/ resources/mapping/ States are encouraged to update their existing maps to ISOM 2017 where possible and new maps are being prepared to these specifications. Adrian Uppill has prepared colour copies of a sheet which shows the recommended ISOM symbols and has distributed information about the most significant changes.. IOF Control Descriptions 2018 The updated version has been released: https:// orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/controldescription-a4-pages_copy.pdf. An Australian summary sheet is available from the OA website.. Mountain Bike Orienteering Craig Steffens was event controller for the WA and Qld Champs; Jon Sutcliffe controlled Vic Champs; and Rob Vincent controlled the Australian Championships. No MTBO World Ranking Events were held by Australia in 2017 - due to the cost of hosting these vs the minimal elite attendance. MTBO-specific controllers’ modules are under current discussion among the MTBO committee, and the proposed Level 1 curriculum has been circulated. No major MTBO rule changes are anticipated for 2018.. International Orienteering Federation IOF Event Advisers are now registered in IOF Eventor and the process of Federations applying to host World Ranking Events is done online. A number of Australian L3 controllers attended the IOF EA workshop held in Auckland in April 2017 and became new IOF EAs; Australia now has 17 foot-O EAs and 1 for MTBO. IOF Eventor should ideally be made available for event entry for World Ranking Events, but it has not yet been fully determined how process this can become compatible with federations’ own pre-existing entry systems. 12 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. Use of SI Air Technology (SIAC) The 2017 Australian Orienteering Championships hosted by ONSW were the first in Australia to offer the use of SI Air Cards to all competitors, which necessitated the development of OA guidelines on mixed punching. An SIAC policy paper was approved by the technical committee’s meeting at the Australian 3-Days in Wagga and is to be included as an appendix to the 2018 OA Rules. SI Air has been added to the OA Rules, as an available timing system, but it is not mandated that SIAC be made available to all competitors at Australian carnivals at this point in time.. Results Database Eventor has consistently been used for uploading results from events at all levels. Some park and street series maintain their own results database in addition to Eventor due to the complexity of their scoring systems and/or first-past-the-post format of some park & street series events. The OA website and many states’ websites link directly to Eventor for current results. Event organisers are also loading detailed results including splits both into Eventor and onto Winsplits for analysis by participants.. Information Technology The Information Technology Committee has been disbanded as it no longer serves a clear purpose and its scope is covered by other working groups. Both the Australian 3-Days and Australian Championships used O-Lynx for live results display; the latter carnival was able to fund this due to the Moira Whiteside bequest through ONSW..

(17) Events Committee The Events Committee met at the Australian 3-Days in Wagga Wagga. The proposed 2018 NOL schedule was endorsed as prepared by the High Performance Management Group. The Events Committee Chair has provided a proposed schedule of Major Australian Carnivals until 2028, allocating them to states on the rotational basis which has been used previously. IOF Regional Championships are not currently part of this schedule.. Controlling – Foot Orienteering National Events 2017 The work of the following OA Level 3 controllers for Group A events is acknowledged from 2017: • • • • •. Tas NOL races March 11/12 – Bert Elson ACT NOL sprint/middle March 25/26 – Ann Scown NSW Aus 3 day June 10-12 – Alex Davey ACT NOL Ultralong/sprint August 26/27 – Bill Jones Aust Champs NSW Sept 23-Oct 1 – Rob Vincent, Andrew Lumsden. Controllers’ reports were received following some of these events, but in Eric’s absence it has not been possible to chase them up as thoroughly as he had done previously.. IOF Event Advising IOF Event Adviser for World Ranking Events in 2017: Australian Sprint, Middle, Long Distance – Andrew Lumsden. There was a lesser number of WREs hosted by Australia in 2017 than usual, partly because of a shortage of willing host states and also the Oceania Regional Championships were held in NZ.. Controller Accreditation The ASC Level 2 controllers’ curriculum has been revised by the Manager Coaching and Officiating Development and requires signing off by the OA Director, Technical. Since the end of 2015, the expiry. period for all controllers at all levels should now be 4 years, however the points for reaccreditation can be accumulated from activities undertaken over the preceding 8 years. The Level 3 curriculum expired at the end of 2015 and historically, no new accreditations could have been processed at this level until the updated version was approved by ASC; however ASC is no longer maintaining such tight control over curricula and OA is in the process of outsourcing the revision. Once this is completed a level 3 controllers’ workshop will be held in the first half of 2018 with focus on the number of L3 controllers required by states hosting major carnivals in 2018/19.. Key Performance Indicators for Technical and Event Management These need to easily meet ASC reporting requirements, noting that our only accredited officials are controllers, although there has been previous discussion about keeping records of course planners/event organisers and the workshops they attend. The following KPIs were agreed upon at the 2017 technical committee meeting; however the ASC has not yet informed Orienteering Australia of whether these are acceptable to them: 1. 100% of group A events to meet the OA rules and guidelines, and where applicable IOF Rules and Guidelines for course setting, controlling and event management. Written reports to be received from controllers of these events. 2. Maintain electronic communication between members of the OA Technical, Mapping and Events Committees to monitor and maintain rules, standards, technology and scheduling for event management. 3. All accredited controllers to keep a log of activities so that they can reaccredit after 4 years, and to attend an update workshop within every 8 years available from Section 4 of the OA Operational Manual https://orienteering.asn.au/index.php/operationmanual/ . Jenny Casanova OA Director, Technical. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 13.

(18) Media and Communications T. he Media and Communications portfolio was focussed on making the Australian Orienteer available through the online publishing platform ISSUU. The Australian Orienteer can be accessed at https:// issuu.com/orienteeringaustralia/.. of October. Orienteering Australia (OA) entered into a further 3 year agreement with Swedish Orienteering Federation (SOFT) which will take us through to the end of October 2020 under the same terms as the original agreement.. Publishing the Australian Orienteer as a digital magazine also allows it to be accessed by a far wider audience. OA believes this will provide opportunities to increase revenue through expanded advertising or charging a modest access fee for non-members. With additional revenue and a better understanding of the functionality available through ISSUU, more features will be added to future editions of the Australia Orienteer.. A substantial amount of work has been undertaken by the SOF to upgrade the back-end which was released late 2017. While there were some minor bugs associated with the upgrade, SOF rectified them promptly.. The other benefit of the ISSUU platform is the ability to understand what readers are viewing. This will ultimately assist the editor determine what content readers are interested in and allow the Australian Orienteer to adapt accordingly. Eventor was first introduced to Australia in 2013. The original 5 year licence agreement expired at the end. Table 1: National Orienteering Website Sessions, 2015 - 2017 OA Website 2015 2016 2017. 25,974 3,749 2,568. Eventor Australia Website 150,868 171,104 232,876. Table 2: OA Facebook Likes, 2014 - 2017 Date 31 Dec 2014 31 Dec 2015 31 Dec 2016 31 Dec 2017. Likes 1,249 1,625 1,958 2,243. 14 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. OA has been given direct access to post issues and bugs into the SOF bug management system. This means that items unable to be rectified by the Eventor Working Group (EWG) members can be referred directly to the developers for resolution. Access to the system has also meant that suggested improvements are recorded in a central location along with those from other countries using Eventor increasing the chance that such suggestions may be implemented. If any club or state has a need for a specific enhancement in Eventor, the EWG is happy to assist in writing a detailed specification and will liaise with SOF to get a quotation for implementation. At the OA conference in December, Omaps was demonstrated to attendees. Omaps is a digital map database which utilises the login and permission structures from Eventor. Orienteering Queensland, seeking a map database solution, gratefully offered to pay the first years licence fee. OA believes that Omaps can assist in highlighting our map resources (if mappers.

(19) choose to share them publicly). In time SOF will be creating better linkages with Omaps allowing Eventor events to reference map files in Omaps. Omaps can be accessed at https://www.omaps.net/au The OA web site is a priority for 2018. The first task of migrating the web site to a more flexible hosting package was completed in 2017. This has also allowed OA to offer competitive, autonomous web hosting space to states and clubs. To date, 2 states and 1 club have migrated their web sites across. The current OA web site requires a rethink in terms of purpose. State and club web sites cater to newcomers and provide event information (extracted from Eventor) for existing orienteers. The OA web site should therefore focus on national level events and represent our sport to government organisations and potential sponsors. OA will consider the most appropriate way to implement this vision with the available resources.. JU NE 20 17. MARC H 20 17. The ongoing help of Shane Jenkins (web), Jack Dowling (EWG) and Ian Rathbone (EWG) is gratefully acknowledged in helping to keep things on track. Craig Feuerherdt Director, Media and Communications Sporting Schools Venice by Night RRP $8.50 inc GST. Gold Rush at WMOC Sprint O or Short O? RRP $8.50 inc GST. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 15.

(20) Participation and Membership Funding In 2017 the Australian Sports Commission provided $200,000 in funding solely for participation development projects, with all previous funding allocations no longer being available to Orienteering Australia. Late in 2017 the Australian Sports Commission announced that future funding would be reduced to $100,000.. •. Participation Development Projects in 2017 The budgeted Participation Projects in 2017 were as listed in Table 1 (Orienteering Participation Projects, 2017), with a total budget of $200,173. As in 2016, the single largest funded project was for the second year of the Maprun Smartphone orienteering app development by Orienteering Queensland’s Peter Effeney. The project was again awarded $20,000. The app is becoming increasingly popular for use by States for Permanent Courses and is now in use by a number of orienteering clubs in Great Britain. The second year of funding supported further refinement of the Android and iOS app’s, further development of the website and scoring systems and a social media campaign.. Each cluster would involve either 2-5 schools which would take it in turn to host an event in which all cluster schools would participate. The schools would need to be located within 15 minutes maximum driving time. Additionally, where possible there would be an event also conducted in a neighbouring park. It is generally aimed at these being after-school events so as to have parent involvement but in some cases in school time events could be run. •. Explore the South West (2 mini-series targeting 10 ~ 15 yr olds) 2nd year: The South West Orienteering Trekkers (SWOT) project aims to increase participation in orienteering in the south west of Western Australia by setting up and running new mini-series events, ‘Explore the SW’, aimed at young families with children aged in the 10-15 year age group. Over a 2 year period, a summer and winter mini-series will be run. In the second year of the program two mini-series competitions will be set-up to run each week for 4 weeks around local parks and schools using a variety of orienteering formats such as space racing and sprint, to complement traditional Summer (February/March) and Winter (May-August) orienteering Series. This will involve 8 additional events each year.. •. Great Southern Region Permanent Courses project for Schools orienteering 2nd year: Consists of mapping of areas suitable for permanent courses and that are appropriate for schools’ use, and the promotion, coordination and conduct of two annual interschool events for the Great Southern Region (primary school, high school). The target demographic is school children and their families. Also, as in 2016, a number of projects focussed on orienteering in schools, some continuing with the objective of how best to encourage participation in club orienteering by children who participated in a Sporting Schools Program. 6 schools-related projects received funding of which 2 specifically focussed on the post-Sporting Schools Program opportunities. Some of the projects were the second year of a two-year project with initial funding having been awarded in 2016. The schools-related projects to receive funding were: •. Sporting Schools to School Sport (event program of regional champs) 2nd year: This project’s original objective was to develop a structure linking Sporting Schools to School Sport in Brisbane, Darling Downs, and the Sunshine Coast. It’s aims being to strengthen current structures in Brisbane and Darling Downs and included a seeding initiative on the Sunshine Coast. A series of School Sport development activities are planned in the three regions aiding transition from Sporting Schools and other school-based orienteering to School Sport and beyond. Event promotion is to be conducted through a combination of leaflets, articles on web-sites, email reminders and social media, and will aim to. 16 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. contact every ASC Sporting Schools student. Where endorsed, promotion through Queensland School Sport will also be utilised. School Clusters program: OSA had run a number of Sporting Schools Programs in primary schools in suburban Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills and considered it important to follow up the schools to provide them with an event better experience. The proposed program would look at 6 cluster competitions in 2017 aimed at upper primary school ages. Three of these would be in different regions in suburban Adelaide and the other in the neighbouring Adelaide Hills towns of LobethalWoodside-Birdwood..

(21) Building on Sporting Schools initiative (free weekend activities) 2nd year: This follow-up will be in the form of free events for parents and participants on weekends immediately following the completion of the Sporting Schools program. OT does not have a development officer and does not have the human resources to run free, follow-up events. To conduct this project requires funding to pay someone to follow up after the Sporting Schools engagement in the Launceston schools. •. •. East Coast orienteering development program for schools 2nd year: The aims of the program were to provide a number of introductory orienteering sessions to the schools on the East Coast, and to assist the development of orienteering through the upgrade of school and appropriate town maps and to assist to establish networking between the schools with the object of some combined events. The program seeks to extend involvement to the Triabunna school and township, and to develop the expertise of existing staff with the intention that the program could become self-sustaining in the longer term. Additionally, the program would foster interest in orienteering in the wider East Coast community with a long-term goal to establish an East Coast orienteering club.. Port Macquarie is a well-recognised outdoor activity centre, primarily for the internationally renowned Ironman competition. •. •. Regional Expansion - Upper Hunter Valley: To expand orienteering into the Upper Hunter Valley of NSW. The towns/areas under consideration are Branxton, Singleton, Muswellbrook, and Denman. Drive time between the towns is less than 1hr. Currently there is a very successful Newcastle club, but the majority of members are based close to Newcastle or its southern or northern suburbs. Ballarat Urban Series 2nd year: Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon; every fortnight using black and white maps with events of 1-hour duration - to maximise map/route choice discussions at about 7 pm. Events to start at 5.30 or 6.00pm (after work - before dinner) using coloured stickers at 20-30 locations. The score format will be used to ensure that everyone has success. The series will be promoted by advertising at schools, running clubs, by word of mouth, and part of the ‘navigation for seniors’ class at U3A Ballarat.. SCORE program expansion: A participation project transitioning primary school students and their parents to orienteering as a community sport.. The other projects had a number of themes – MTBO, Park and/or Street Series expansion programs and regional expansion programs taking orienteering to new areas. These projects included:. Park and Street / Regional Expansion Projects •. Urban Expansion - North Sydney Summer Series: To expand orienteering into the northern Sydney suburbs of Hornsby, Berowra and their environs.. •. Regional Expansion - Port Macquarie: To expand orienteering in the Port Macquarie area. Port Macquarie is approx. 390Km (4.5hrs) from Sydney, 244Km (2.75hrs) from Newcastle, and 160Km (2hr) from Coffs Harbour. Currently these are the nearest orienteering centres to Port Macquarie.. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 17.

(22) Table 1: Participation Projects, 2017 PROJECT National National administration of Participation and Sporting Schools Attendance at ASC Participation, Sporting Schools & CEO Forums Annual OA Board Strategic Planning workshop Strategic planning component of OA Conference Increasing Eventor data capture (uploading EXCEL results spreadsheets) Eventor information module on the website Monthly Enews subsidy Level 2 coaching curriculum update Level 1 coaching manual Travel to run Level 1 coaching courses New South Wales Urban expansion: North Sydney Summer Series Regional expansion: Port Macquarie Regional expansion: Upper Hunter Valley Corporate Challenge in Sydney Victoria Ballarat urban series yr. 2 Bendigo Park and Street Series yr. 2 MTBO promotional events targetting students and women yr 2 Queensland Maprun Smartphone orienteering courses program yr. 2 Sporting Schools to School Sport project (event program of regional champs) yr. 2 Sunshine Coast street and park orienteering development yr. 2 Warwick street orienteering program yr. 3. 18 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. $ 17000 1000 3000 2000 2500 3000 1200 3000 4000 3000 11024 1470 9344 13420. South Australia Three additional permanent courses School clusters program MTBO promotional projects season 2 Western Australia Explore the South West (2 mini-series targetting 10-15 year olds) yr. 2 Great Southern Region Permanent Courses project for schools orienteering yr. 2 Tasmania Building on Sporting Schools initiative (free weekend activities) yr. 2 East Coast orienteering development program for schools yr. 2 Northern Territory Coach and mapper training for Alice Springs club TOTAL. • 3000 4500 5600. 20000 6500 8500 2800. 7610 8000 6740 3220 2650. 6600 7000. 5000 200173. Bendigo Park and Street Series 2nd year: The series will comprise of 6 events and will be run based on the regular Bendigo model - electronic timing, selfservice entry/finish but with sufficient assistance for newcomers. Bendigo has a few maps of sufficient standard which will form the basis of the series. Additional maps will be created of suitable areas. While there will be 6 events in the series, several of the maps will be used multiple times at successive events to a) to assist newcomers become familiar with the concept of orienteering/navigation rather than being overwhelmed with a new location every week and b) reduce the burden on the event organiser by having a common start location. The series will also provide opportunities for Bendigo juniors to set courses mentored by experienced course setters and to assist organisers..

(23) •. Sunshine Coast street and park orienteering development: The existing Sunshine Orienteers club covers the region but focuses primarily on MTBO events as the Sunshine Coast has little in the way of suitable areas for bush orienteering because of thick, coastal vegetation and urban expansion. The region has a wealth of local parks and connecting streets that are considered as ideal for a park and street O program. With a population of over 275,000 and an emphasis on lifestyle and outdoor activity pursuits, the region is well suited to introducing urban orienteering to the local community.. MTBO Related Projects •. MTBO promotional projects (S. Australia) 2nd Year. •. MTBO promotional events targeting Students and women (Victoria) 2nd year: Orienteering Victoria has run secondary school MTBO championships for some years with approximately 150 students participating. The aim of the project is to target the schools and students involved and to provide follow up coaching opportunities to encourage them to transition into participating in weekend events. Additionally, there is a growing number of women doing mt biking in Victoria. This is a target group as few of these know about mtb orienteering. The events are expected to attract a useful cohort of students that now know what orienteering is and expect the series to attract some to regular week-end events.. A program of park and street orienteering in the Sunshine Coast region is proposed to expand the sport by offering further participation opportunities for both foot and bike orienteering. This new project would allow residents, particularly families and juniors, to experience orienteering in a friendly, local environment and potentially boost participation and membership of the local club. Maps of these areas would also assist local schools to expand their orienteering activities. •. Warwick Street orienteering program 3rd year: To continue with the orienteering introduction program in Warwick to offer further participation opportunities for club members and as a means of introducing the local community, particularly students and their families, to the sport. Not only could participants learn the basic elements of navigation through street Orienteering, but they would also be encouraged to try out other forms of orienteering, thus boosting participation numbers and potentially membership of the local club.. Permanent Courses •. 3 new Permanent Courses (S. Australia). Other Projects •. Sydney Corporate Cup: To expand orienteering by conducting a number of Corporate Challenges in a number of different Sydney locations. The suburbs under consideration are Parramatta, Castle Hill/ NorWest, Sydney Olympic Park, Chatswood and as near to Sydney CBD as possible.. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 19.

(24) Table 2: Registered Orienteers, 2015 to 2017 2015 Membership Category. NSW. VIC. QLD. WA. SA & NT. TAS. ACT. TOTAL. Full financial Associate School club Other financial members Non-members in club events Non-members in corporate/ scout events. 1099 80 208. 697 10 22 1116. 246 80 361 1116. 454 100 112. 267 -. 442 69. 403. 661 1 1764 208 2710. 1102. 3866 171 2496 709 6384. 15. 1000. -. -. -. -. -. -. TOTAL. 1552. 6374. 1845. 1803. 666. 768. 1613. 13608. NSW. VIC. QLD. WA. SA & NT. TAS. ACT. TOTAL. 1289 175 50 639. 712 1 23 2083. 572 12 10 471. 221 276 130. 391 140 278. 274 732. 474 56 1069. 3933 328 415 5402. 4071. 1892. -. -. -. -. -. 5963. 6224. 2500 7211. 1065. 627. 809. 1006. 1599. 16041. NSW 1290 155 100 704. VIC 672 204 2190 1818. QLD 559 18 25 24 472. WA 300 268. SA & NT 259 154 82. TAS 331 539. ACT 478 7 80 907. TOTAL 3889 538 2395 24 4790. 5994. 2043. -. -. -. -. -. 8037. 8243. 765 6927. 1098. 568. 495. 870. 2918 1472. 19673. 501. 2016 Membership Category Full financial Associate School club Other Financial Members Non-members in club events Non-members in corporate/ scout events Permanent course userS TOTAL. 2017 Membership Category Full financial Associate School club Other Financial Members Non-members in club events Non-Members in Corporate/ Scout/School events Permanent Course Users TOTAL. 20 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017.

(25) Table 3: Events and Participants - 2015 to 2017 2015 NSW VIC QLD SA and NT WA TAS ACT Total. Events 264 467 185 142 56 98 123 1,335. Participants 20,415 34,681 7,695 9,532 4,757 13,122 11,584 101,786. Av. per Event 77.3 74.3 41.6 67.1 84.9 133.9 94.2 76.2. 2016 NSW VIC QLD SA and NT WA TAS ACT Total. Events 334 382 194 103 71 81 112 1,287. Participants 31,661 28,539 11,661 7,337 4,932 7,138 13,807 105,075. Av. per Event 92.0 74.7 60.1 71.2 69.5 88.1 123.3 81.6. 2017 Events Participants Av. per Event NSW 448 33,778 75.4 VIC 351 25,860 73.7 QLD 203 8,737 43.0 SA and NT 105 6,517 62.1 WA 106 7,157 67.5 TAS 92 6,811 74.0 ACT 108 10,662 98.7 Total 1,413 99,522 70.4 Notes: i Excludes Sporting Schools events in 2015 and Active After Schools in earlier years. ii Excludes persons paying to use permanent courses. Sporting Schools Program in 2017 In 2017, Orienteering Australia continued to support orienteering as one of the 33 sports (with Lacrosse being added in 2017) funded by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Sporting Schools Program (SSP). The program continued throughout 2017 for public and primary schools nationally, with a selection of high schools included for a small number of sports. Orienteering, while included as one of the original sports for the national primary school program, was not one of the sports included for the initial high school pilot program in 2017. The programs are now self-funding at the state level and in 2017 just over 10,000 primary school children took part in orienteering lessons at 164 primary schools. Compared to 2016 this is a 5% drop in participants but with a 15% increase in the number of schools. The reduction in participants can be attributed to the schools having less funds available for lessons due to administration costs being included for the first time, as well as increased coach rates. 6,986 of Australian primary schools (87%) are now registered for the Sporting Schools Program, and 370 secondary schools (25%), with 6,114 being funded in 2017 (82% of all registered schools). The average grant amount to primary schools has increased from $2,054 in Term 3 2015 to $2,241 in Term 3 2016 to $2,344 in Term 3 2017. Table 5a identifies the number of schools where an orienteering program was delivered in 2017. Table 5b identifies a breakdown of the programs delivered in each State. Table 5c identifies the total number of programs and participants comparing OA sourced figures and from the ASC reporting system. OA did not record total participations for 2017 in the Sporting Schools Program. Feedback from schools to the ASC show that 90% of respondents agree that children are being exposed to a wider range of sports, with increased opportunity to play those sports, being taught lessons they would not otherwise have learnt, and in a way that supported the school curriculum. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 21.

(26) Table 4: Recruitment and Retention, 2013 to 2017 Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017. Total Members New Members 5,119 3,825 4,272 5,297 4,451. 2,648 1,220 1,289 1,812 679. Renewals. Non-Renewals. % New. 2,648 2,605 2,983 3,485 3,772. 1,081 1,260 911 1,306 1,525. 48.3 31.9 30.2 34.2 15.3%. % Nonrenewing 21.1 32.9 21.3 24.7 34.3%. Source: Eventor club membership database Note: These figures have been compiled from summing figures for each orienteering club in Australia. They should be treated with caution as some orienteers will non-renew with their club and take out membership with another club, either within their state or in another state or in another country.. Table 5a: Sporting Schools Orienteering, 2017 Number of Schools OA No. of Sporting Schools (endorsed or known teacher) ASC No. of Sporting Schools (TOTAL) ASC No. of Sporting Schools (endorsed coach) ASC No. of Sporting Schools (teacher) ASC No. of Sporting Schools (not endorsed or not known) Participants ASC (Sporting Schools Participants) endorsed and not endorsed OA (Sporting Schools Participants) Participations OA (Sporting Schools Participations) 1. 2016 ASC totals include many programs not endorsed 2. 2016 T4 totals were temporary. Final numbers never received. 3. OA has not asked SSOs for participant numbers. Sources: ASC and OA. 22 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. Total 148 192 120 35 29 Total 6,778. Term 1 29 34 18 8 8 Term 1 1,175. Term 2 45 72 37 14 21 Term 2 2,070. Term 3 38 50 39 13 Term 3 1,984. 10,898 Total 60,605. 5,524 Term 1 -. 3,347 Term 2 -. 2,086 Term 3 -. Term 4 38 36 26 Term 4. Term 4 -.

(27) Table 5b: Sporting Schools by State, 2017 ASC Reported (Programs) OA Reported (Programs) ASC Reported (Participants) OA Reported (Participants). ACT 18 17 808 1891. NSW 65 42 2201 3526. NT 1 1 101 0. QLD 29 28 892 1469. SA 10 12 350 0. TAS 15 13 402 1308. VIC 28 36 759 971. WA 17 18 450 517. Total 183 167 5965 9682. Table 5c: Sporting Schools Participants, 2017 2015 2016 2017. OA Reported ASC Reported Programs Participants Programs Participants 38 1760 69 2275 149 10898 192 6778 167 9682 183 5965. In 2017, the number of orienteering programs in participating schools as a percentage of all sports, was consistent at about 2% term-by-term nationally, and at 3% of participants.. Social Media is increasingly being used to promote funding windows, booking windows, and invoicing windows, with State Dept’s of Education now being invoiced directly.. Sporting Schools website hits for orienteering is about 1% of the total sports’ hits.. Towards the end of 2017, public and independent schools increased their (Working with Children) checks of coaches to also include mappers.. Schools’ satisfaction with orienteering coaches continued at about 97% to 100% each term, which is consistent with other sports. Follow-on communication between students, parents and local clubs is not so good, varying between 26% and 73%. A new booking system was introduced in Term 4 of 2016, and was built upon term by term through 2017, with the aim of the ASC to have all primary and high schools using the system. Usage increased from 61% of school in Term 4 of 2016 to 76% by Term 4 of 2017. The main reasons for schools not using the booking system are that they prefer to use their own coach, and they have direct contact with an organisation or provider locally. Professional development remains a key part of the program for orienteers and teachers, with states running their own accreditation workshops. The number of accredited Level 0 orienteering coaches increased from 151 at the end of 2015 to 336 in 2016 and 457 in 2017.. Orienteering is not currently under consideration for inclusion in the high schools version of the program as Orienteering Australia has not yet developed material (i.e. a single unified program) to be used as part of a national program by all States. Discussions between the States commenced in 2017 among states with a pilot test being delayed. For OA to be considered for high school programs by the ASC, a national orienteering product will be essential, and it is also possible that until OA and the States can deliver a single national product at the primary school level that orienteering will not be considered for the High School Sporting Schools Program. Future enhancements for the program by the ASC include better promotion of sport pathways, achieving co-delivery among sports, meaningful coach development, and streamlined surveys.. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 23.

(28) Program Feedback. Orienteering Workforce, 2017. As part of the ASC’s evaluation of the programs delivered as part of the Sporting Schools Program, schools are invited to provide feedback through the ASC program delivery report.. Coaches. The following are typical ratings of the coaches delivering orienteering programs:. Table 6b illustrates the number of Accredited Coaches by State for the period to March 2018.. 100% Agree that coach was well prepared. Table 6c illustrates the total number of Accredited Coaches over the period to March 2018.. 100% Agree that coach collaborated with school 100% Agree that coach had sufficient knowledge. Table 6a illustrates the number of Accredited Coaches by Gender for the period 203 ~ March 2018.. The total number of accredited coaches at Level 1-3 is at its’ highest in 4 after another year of steady growth.. The following are typical ratings of the promotion of orienteering by the coaches delivering the program:. The number of Level 0 coaches recorded with OA has increased by 25% after doubling in size in the previous year.. 74% of Orienteering coaches told children about a local club or sporting organisation offering that sport in community.. Controllers. 43% of Orienteering coaches distributed written information about a local club or sporting org in local community. 43% of Orienteering coaches communicated with parents about the next steps in participating in community sport. Table 7a illustrates the number of Accredited Controllers by Gender for the period 2009 ~ March 2018. As can be seen from the table the number of both male and female controllers reduced by approximately 8% over the 12-month period to March 2018. Table 7b illustrates the number of Accredited Controllers by State for the period to March 2018. Table 7c illustrates the total number of Accredited Controllers over the period 2009 ~ 2018.. Table 6a: Accredited Coaches, 2009 ~ 2017 Coach Accreditation breakdown by Gender from 2009 (Level 1-3) Females. Males. Mar Mar Mar Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Dec Mar Mar Mar Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Dec 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2009 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2009 Level 1 41 44 28 40 51 56 64 55 53 55 45 33 67 67 77 85 73 73 Level 2 9 5 3 4 5 12 9 12 12 9 8 7 6 10 24 26 23 30 Level 3 4 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 6 5 4 4 6 4 3 3 3 TOTAL 54 52 34 46 59 71 76 69 68 70 58 44 77 83 105 114 99 106. 24 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017.

(29) Table 6b: Accredited Coaches by State, 2017 Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 TOTAL 1 -3 TOTAL 0-3. ACT 11 7 1 1 9 20. NSW 179 15 4 1 20 199. NT 0 0 0 0 0 0. QLD 166 30 3 3 36 202. SA 19 19 2 1 22 41. TAS 6 5 1 2 8 14. VIC 89 6 1 2 9 98. WA 30 14 6 0 20 50. Table 6c: Accredited Coach Totals, 2009 ~ 2017 Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 TOTAL 1 -3 TOTAL 0-3. Mar 2018 500 96 18 10 124 624. Coach Accreditation Totals (Level 0-3) from 2009 Mar Mar Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Dec 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2009 402 215 36 31 17 12 89 61 107 118 133 149 128 125 13 10 10 15 36 35 35 42 8 7 6 9 7 6 5 6 110 78 123 142 176 190 168 174 512 293 156 173 103 202 -. Table 7a: Accredited Controllers by Gender, 2009 ~ 2017 Controller Accreditation breakdown by Gender from 2009 (Level 1-3) Females. Males. Mar Mar Mar Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Dec Mar Mar Mar Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Dec 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2009 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2009 25 Level 1 12 13 13 16 26 18 19 20 30 40 29 40 60 55 41 59 49 Level 2 18 19 14 16 20 22 18 25 23 68 72 62 62 77 84 53 96 81 Level 3 7 8 8 8 10 10 9 8 8 39 38 30 48 48 48 49 43 34 TOTAL 37 40 35 40 56 57 45 53 51 137 150 121 150 185 187 143 198 164 IOF EA 5 4 5 4 4 2 2 2 2 13 13 13 13 13 10 12 11 7 NOTE: IOF EA are IOF accredited Event Advisers. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 25.

(30) Table 7b: Accredited Controllers by State, 2017 ACT 6 16 6 28. Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 TOTAL. NSW 13 19 7 39. NT 0 2 0 2. QLD 8 4 6 18. SA 0. TAS. 8. 12 6 18. 5. 13. 0. VIC 5 8 13 26. WA 9 17 3 29. Table 7c: Accredited Controller Totals, 2009 ~ 2017 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 TOTAL IOF EA. Mar 2018 42 86 46 174 18. Mar 2017 53 91 46 190 18. Mar Feb Feb Feb 2016 2015 2014 2013 42 56 86 80 76 78 97 106 38 56 58 58 156 190 241 244 18 17 17 12. NOTE: IOF EA are IOF accredited Event Advisers. Paul Prudhoe Executive Officer with assitance from Jim Mackay Manager, Coaching & Officiating. 26 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. Feb 2012 59 71 58 188 14. Feb Dec 2011 2009 78 69 122 104 51 42 251 215 13 9.

(31) High Performance 2. 017 was a year in which Australia’s international results were unspectacular, but are commensurate with the level of resources available, Australia’s remoteness form international competition and the size of the sport in Australia. A number of structures have been put in place which to strengthen our results in the longer term and achieve the most from our resources. The World Orienteering Championships took place in Estonia in July. The best Australian result was Simon Uppill’s 34th in the middle distance. Also encouraging were Henry McNulty reaching the sprint final on his World Championships debut, and Krystal Neumann and Natasha Key also reaching the final. Unfortunately, our women’s results were not sufficient for us to retain our status in Division 2 and we will have only one woman in the middle and long distance in 2018. The Junior World Championships took place in Finland, also in July. The highlight of the week was Joseph Dickinson’s 17th in the sprint, while Aston Key had a top-30 result in the long distance. We also had our best relay results for some years with 18th in the men’s and 16th in the women’s. Whilst they did not achieve any standout individual results, the women’s team showed more depth than we have seen for some time, and demonstrated considerable potential for the future. At a regional level, the Oceania Championships took place in New Zealand in April. New Zealand had the best of the competition, but two notable highlights were Jo Allison’s victory in the long distance, and Aston Key sweeping all three individual titles in M18. The Australian Schools team also drew the Test Match against New Zealand 2-2, the best result they have achieved on New Zealand soil. New Zealand provides important regional opportunities for us and making more use of the potential it provides for our orienteers to get experience in foreign terrain is part of our plans for the future.. The National Orienteering League continues to be the centrepiece of our domestic competition, with 16 well supported races held during the year. This year, the Canberra Cockatoos dominated both senior competitions and the Queensland Cyclones the junior women’s, but the junior men’s came down to the wire, with four teams still in the hunt on the final day before the NSW Stingers prevailed. Simon Uppill and Jo Allison took the senior individual titles, while Aston Key and Tara Melhuish were the best of the juniors. One major new initiative in 2017 was the staging of a national junior camp open to all comers in December (something New Zealand have done successfully for years). This attracted over 100 juniors and helpers from all over Australia. The camp was an initiative of our new Junior Development Squad coach, Brodie Nankervis, and should be the first of many. I would like to finish by thanking Jim Russell and Ian Prosser for their work as Head Coach and High Performance Administrator respectively, Hanny Allston and Ralph Street for their coaching and managerial role at the Junior World Championships, and Brodie Nankervis for taking on the national junior role into the future. I would, in particular, like to thank Wendy Read for many years of contribution as a coach and manager of World Championships teams, of which 2017 was the last (at least for now). Blair Trewin President. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 27.

(32) 28 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017.

(33) Mountain Bike Orienteering World and Junior MTBO Championships Lithuania An outstanding silver medal to 19 year old junior star Lucy Mackie in the middle distance Junior World Championships was followed up by a close 7th in the long distance race. This was only our 2nd ever medal at Junior World Championships level and Lucy consolidated on her 5th place in 2016 in the same format. 16 year old Fergus Mackie again showed his undoubted ability with a 9th in the middle distance event. Glen Charlton made his international debut in World Champiosnhips & was beset by mechanical problems but showed great promise. Ricky Thackray (injured) & Angus Robinson (uni commitments) were both selected but were late withdrawals. This Championships saw the successful introduction of a mass start format event. With only 15 seconds to put the map onto the board and decide where you are going, plus head to head riding on loops, it certainly required different skills. Australian states are encouraged to run such events to help our elites get more comfortable with this format.. TEAM PERFORMANCES Event Place Time Junior Lucy. Fergus. Senior Glen. Relay M21. mins behind. Sprint Middle Long Mass Start Sprint Middle Long Mass Start. 16 2 7 DNF 18 9 25 35. 23:50 56:51 107:17 22:07 67:43 107:19 97:47. 3:49 1:59 6:12 3:56 7:53 15:52 20:09. Sprint Middle Long. 61 67 Mech. 33:08 107:43 -. 10:11 39:36 -. Lucy 16. Fergus 12. Glen 17. Overall 16. Team Members Senior – Glen Charlton (Vic) Junior – Lucy Mackie; Fergus Mackie (NSW) Coach- Kay Haarsma (SA) Manager – Hamish Mackie (NSW). Preparation A 2 day training camp was held for elites and juniors in Ballarat immediately prior to the selection trials. Paul Darvodelsky also again assisted Lucy with her training plans. The team arrived in Vilnius a week before the World Championships and used local maps to become familiar with the terrain and mapping style.. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 29.

(34) National Scene. State Team Totals In The 2017 National Series. Australian MTBO National League. Elites & Juniors. Three well organised rounds were held in VIC; QLD & NSW. The latter saw a record participation of 176 riders at an excellently organised Australian Championships around Wingello. Two of these events were also part of the 2018 World Masters series.. 1st 2nd 3rd. Australia / New Zealand Challenge The Aus v NZ Challenge was successfully held in conjunction with the Australian Championships at Wingello (NSW) with NZ winning 23 points to 12. More classes were conducted than ever before including 2 for junior women.. National Series The 2017 National MTBO Series Individual winners are named below. M-14 M-16 M-20 M21 M40 M50 M60 M70 M80 . Lachlan Young Riley Martin Tristan Miller Fergus Mackie Hamish Mackie Andrew Power Rob Prentice Leigh Privett Graeme Cadman. (NSW) (ACT) (ACT) (NSW) (NSW) (NSW) (NSW) (VIC) (VIC). W-14 W-16 W21 W40 W50 W60 W70 . Mikayla Enderby Rhiannon Prentice Lucy Mackie Tamsin Barnes Heather Leslie Peta Whitford Kathy Liley . (NSW) (NSW) (NSW) (QLD) (VIC) (VIC) (VIC). Masters 1st 2nd 3rd. VIC 428 points QLD 357 points NSW 283 points. OA Shield– based on Australian Championships 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th. NSW VIC ACT QLD WA TAS SA. 142 98 43 39 25 8 4. Main Positives • •. • •. •. •. 30 Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017. NSW 126 points Qld 94 points VIC 83 points. Continued international success at the World Championships for junior and veterans. Introduction of the World Masters Series and with the initial 2 events each year being held in Australia / New Zealand means that more veterans are getting European experience and bringing that knowledge back to Australia. A “MTBO Australia” Facebook site was established this year & extensively utilised for promotion. Pedal assist E Bikes with a power limit of 250 watts to be allowed on any course “non-competitively” during 2018. . After this trial, if sufficient interest, we could introduce specific EBike classes. This innovation is aimed at our older and injured riders but could attract more recreational riders too Guidelines for use of SI at National Events – it was agreed that organisers of Australian and State Championships be strongly recommended to use Sport Ident AIR for contactless punching. Liaison with NZ Orienteering sees much travel to each other’s competitions and sharing of ideas..

(35) Issues • •. •. •. • •. The continued lack of depth for juniors and elites classes and our failure to attract more from the large MTB community to our sport. In the top MTBO European nations many riders come from a former foot orienteering background, or in the case of juniors, still do both. There is little cross-over in Australia. Victoria still leads the way with schools development as its annual interschool event attracts 150+ riders. However we haven’t found a means to get these riders out to weekend events. Although 5 states ran state championships the numbers were relatively small in 2 of these. In addition, would be good to have championships run by TAS & NT. MTBO Coaching Accreditation... A work in progress. Need for IOF MTBO controllers clinic in Australia.. Kay Haarsma MTBO Coordinator. Orienteering Australia Annual Report 2017 31.

No results found