British Orienteering New Forestry England Agreement

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Kevin Bracher Tue, 24/11/2020 - 22:59

If you have not seen this already it makes for very interesting reading!

The New BOF/ FE agreement became active on the 7th of September 2020 .

After waiting years for a new agreement to be reached it is strange that this very noteworthy news has not been widely publicised.

A copy of the agreement can be found in a link on the nopesport.com website.

Read the document and also the train of conversation.

Kevin Bracher

Survey request

Webmaster Tue, 24/11/2020 - 18:13

A request from orienteer William Smith to complete a survey relating to problems with vision when orienteering:

I am currently studying at Loughborough University and am undertaking my Part C personal project whereby I am aiming to design a device that reduces/ eliminated misting that occurs on orienteers glasses when they compete. I was wondering if you were able to distribute my survey about misting problems in orienteering to members of your club so that I can gain a better insight into the problem? Here is a link to the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1BQqsZXNdFYQCdG4rlmwgyozSXP7RAVm_SSqtOv…

SOC Zoom Socials summary and next one

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RFinch Tue, 24/11/2020 - 17:35

Great to see so many people for our SOC Zoom social last Thursday. 16 of us attended the first social of series 2 (series 1 was in the summer!) We discussed how we trained for orienteering and people gave some tips.

A rough summary:

  • David started by talking about how he mainly trains the physical side of things! How he goes for runs (a good proportion offroad) and how the Currie family keep active. Hanging controls at SCOA junior training was good technical practice
  • Julian talked about how he is fortunate to live in the countryside with good running and walking on his doorstep. Regular attender of the Weds Military League South events. And how his summer sport of target shooting compliments orienteering
  • Mary talked about how she would usually go to Romsey Rapids. Does some walking, cycling and exercise classes. Before big events, David and Mary look at old maps (from their archive back to 1972!) and discuss how they would tackle route choices.
  • Rob (me) talked about keeping active with running, cycling and yoga (Monday lunchtime being key post weekend). Tries to work on core and balance. Reflects on his training on Attackpoint and does some analysis and mapgeeking on Routegadget for big events.
  • Kris Jones (GB Elite orienteer and runner) training was also shown as a comparison. Shows how much time and effort an elite orienteer dedicates to training, regularly running 80-100 miles awake with long runs and big interval sessions. Plus I believe a lot of mental training.

Our next SOC Zoom social will be Thursday 3rd December at 20:00 for a debate on "Mental vs Physical, which is more important for Orienteering?" Same Zoom details as before. It should be a really interesting evening.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

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Kevin Bracher Tue, 24/11/2020 - 22:41

Not sure if the summary covers all that was shared on the Zoom meeting but here are a couple of things that I have found to be helpful in improving my own Orienteering Skills. Firstly, Small local events are the ideal chance to practice skills and techniques. Rather than treat every event, including the Small ones, as another chance to thrash round as fast as you can. You can use these events to practice specific skills and improve areas of weakness.

Secondly, Over the years I have learnt a great deal from my fellow orienteers. We regularly adjourned to a hostelry after an event and used the opportunity to discuss various route choices and who selected the best options. Talking over your run while it is fresh in the mind is one of the key elements of coaching. Sharing views and opinions is a a great way to broaden your orienteering knowledge. Taking that knowledge and putting it in practice  at a small event is how I have managed to develop my O Skills.

Kevin B