Hello North West members

Summer is here and Auckland has now moved to the Traffic Light system, enabling us to transition to a new normal for events, although record-keeping and signing in with QR codes etc will be here to stay.  

In the short to medium term, at least, being double vaccinated and having a Covid Vaccination Pass– (both volunteers and participants, over 12 years) is a prerequisite for clubs to be able to hold viable events. I don’t think it is too much to ask in order to keep everyone safe and to enjoy the sport we love.

We are really excited that Gene Beveridge has taken over the role of NWOC club president for 2022. Gene is one of New Zealand’s top elite orienteers (not to mention being on the podium of trail races such as The Goat, Kepler Challenge etc) and also works as a personal coach and as Orienteering NZ’s Training Coordinator.  I’m sure he will bring a welcome fresh take on orienteering to NWOC.

Last month a few of us joined an adventure racing training group for a fun, informal “picnic” gathering at Mahurangi Regional Park. The training comprised rogaine style events (kayak/ on foot and by bike) and showcased just how important navigation skills are in adventure racing.  If you have friends keen on adventure racing and the outdoors, encourage them to come along and try orienteering or our rogaine series. See the NZ Herald story on Nathan Fa’avae below.

Events don’t just happen; it takes a team of volunteers to create event concepts, design great courses and deliver orienteering that is both fun and challenging. Being part of that volunteer team brings lots of benefits too, including working with other motivated orienteers, learning new skills alongside experienced course planners, being able to influence the type of events or coaching we offer club members, meeting new friends ….

We already have a number of keen volunteers for events in early 2022, but there is always a need for more helpers at events – organising helpers on the day (the event coordinator gets a free entry) or giving an hour or two of your time to help set up tents or be on registration makes a difference.  Join one of our experienced orienteers collecting controls after an event and you will learn heaps about navigation. Don’t be shy!

Meri Kirihimete!

Lisa Mead
Out-going President NWOC

**********************************************************************************

1. Events Calendar - orienteering at Waiuku Sunday 12 December
2. A new club president for 2022
3. NWOC special awards
4. Lower membership fees for 2022
5. NWOC events in 2022
6. Nathan Fa’avae- orienteering & adventure racing
7. Orienteering NZ Coaching qualification
8. President’s report for 2021

**********************************************************************************

1.Events Calendar

December 2021
Sun 12   CMOC AOS 9 Waiuku Forest South                    THIS SUNDAY – enter by tomorrow Thursday!
              This event is pre-entry only here.  Full event details can be found here.
              The host club has advised: We will need to check the Covid Vaccination Certificates (either
              digital, or physical copy) of all attendees at the event (12+), both, participating or
              supporting. Please ensure that you bring your CVC and also proof of ID (just in case).
 
 “Please remember that the people running this event on the day, are volunteers - we are             people too, and trying to do the best we can in a rapidly changing environment."
 All entrants over the age of 12 must be double vaccinated and will be asked to present their vaccination pass – PLEASE DO NOT PUT OTHER ORIENTEERS AT RISK.
Entry is by eventO ONLY.  NO ON DAY ENTRIES OR CASH PAYMENTS

Event Details: 9 Courses to choose from.

C1 10.1km 28 controls 230m climb  Red - very difficult/ physical

C2 7.3km 22 controls 165m climb    Red - Difficult

C3 6.3km 21 controls 140m climb    Red - Difficult

C4 4.9km 15 controls 135m climb    Red - Difficult

C5 3.5km 14 controls 75m climb     Red - Difficult

C6 4.4km 15 controls 120m climb   Orange - Medium difficulty

C7 2.9km 12 controls 60m climb     Orange - medium difficulty

C8 2.7km 11 controls 70m climb   Easy - checkpoints near tracks

C9 2.4km 15 controls 25m climb  Very Easy - checkpoints on tracks and easy features
 

NWOC members have a start window at 10.30am to meet Covid requirements. Meet at Registration at 10.15am if you would like some basic coaching or to go for a short map walk with experienced NW orienteers. Waiuku is infamous for cutty grass -leg cover/ long socks recommended.
A great opportunity for forest orienteering, with 9 different courses to suit all abilities – hope to see lots of you at Waiuku on Sunday.

Thu 16   AOC SummerNav Cornwall Park, Haydn Ave

The AOC SummerNav events are now taking place under the Covid Protection Framework (currently at Red level).  See here for details of how the SummerNav events will be run. A number of park orienteering events are still available as orienteering training courses with MapRun6.  Maps (pdf versions for you to print out a copy) are uploaded to the AOC website and in MapRun.  Details on MapRun are given here.

There is a QR code on the printed map to access the activity in MapRun. However, you can still find the event in the App using "Select Event" and then going to New Zealand > Auckland > Auckland O Club> ParkO > 2021 and choosing the map of interest. PDF versions of the maps can be found on the Auckland Club website.

January 2022
7-16 January  South Island, NZ.   Not-the-Oceania Orienteering Champs: Plan your escape from Auckland and an orienteering summer holiday now!
Events include a Sprint and a Middle on 8/9 January, Oceania Sprint/ Long/Middle / Middle 10-14 January and follow-on events in Duntroon/Oamaru 15/16 January.
Standard entries close on 14 December. All the details can be found here.

Thu 20  AOC SummerNav  Dilworth/Diocesan Campuses
Thu 27  AOC SummerNav  Ambury Regional Park

February 2022
Wed 02  AOC SummerNav  Cornwall Park
Sat-Mon 5-7 AOC Super City Sprints weekend. Enter here by 28 January 2022.
wed 09  AOC SummerNav   Monte Cecilia park
Sat-Sun 12-13 OBOP/Taupo Tūāraki Northern Regional Champs Taupo/ Rotorua region. Enter here.

Check out the NWOC club website for details of other events in 2022, including our Weekend Double AOS on 19/20 March with camping at Lake Kereta: https://www.nwoc.org.nz/events/

AOS = Auckland Orienteering Series – events generally have 9 courses of varying lengths and difficulty

Training maps at Riverhead Forest and Sanders Reserve
If you haven’t already checked out the training maps at Riverhead (red level orienteering) and Sanders Reserve (easy yellow level), then you can find the details below. Note that the Riverhead control sites are not suitable for inexperienced orienteers – further details can be found here.
Check out the newly updated Resources/Coaching tab on the NWOC website home page for links to Permanent Courses, orienteering maps and MapRun6 events.

2. NWOC President for 2022

We traditionally celebrate the end of the year with our club dinner and prizegiving preceded by our AGM. This year, we sadly had to forego the in-person social get-together, micro-maze orienteering, and the ham and strawberries and instead held the AGM by Zoom meeting.

I’m delighted that Gene Beveridge has stepped up to the role of club President.
Gene is an elite orienteer who has been involved in the sport practically since he could walk, and many of you will know him from his involvement with Orienteering NZ, his Leg-by-Leg YouTube tutorials, NavChat and the Grassy Knoll equipment shop. I look forward to Gene bringing new vision and energy to NWOC.

Gene:
Kia ora all, I've taken over the club president role for 2022.
I'm really looking forward to getting back into working with the committee after some years away. I've got some fresh ideas about how we might want to operate the committee and co-ordinate this wonderful club. We've got a lot of operational talent and great local maps, and I'd like to see us continue our leadership in offering the best premium orienteering events and the most inclusive local events on the calendar. In order to do this, we're going to have to keep innovating and we'll need fresh faces and fresh ideas.

gene.beveridge@gmail.com

Gene providing commentary at the NZOC Champs 2021.               Photo – Annemarie Hogenbirk

We still need a new club secretary to join our committee- could this be you?
It is a job that can be done entirely from home, aside from the face-to-face meetings. It is a great way to learn more about the inner workings of the club, support fellow volunteers, and work with a great bunch of like-minded orienteers!

Please feel free to contact Annemarie ( northwestorienteering@gmail.com) if you would like to volunteer or to discuss the role.
 

3. NWOC Special Awards for 2021
Each year we award trophies to club members to recognise special service to the club or excellence in orienteering.
* Most Improved Junior Male            Seven Blake
* Most Improved Junior Female        Sienna Payne
* Top Junior Male                               Cameron Bonar & Liam Stolberger – joint award
* Top Junior Female                           Rosie Monckton
* North West Shield for Most Improved Senior      Robert Murphy
* King Trophy for most Improved Newcomer         Oliver Braun
* Stone Trophy for most Outstanding Performance of the Year Cameron de Lísle
* North West Shield for Valuable Service to the Club    Annemarie Hogenbirk
 Annemarie has  been the ultimate volunteer in recent years; a super-efficient club Secretary, event director for both the NZ Secondary School Champs in 2019 and the NZ Champs in 2021, and together with Jan Jager, she has looked after our Sport Ident equipment and provided timing services for most of our club events.

* Bert Chapman Junior Service Award                 Robert Christie
Robert is a technical whizz and has often volunteered with setting up Sport Ident for club events and sorting out glitches!

4. 2022 Membership fees – and a membership/rogaine combo deal
We have a bargain for you – NWOC membership subscription rates have been reduced for 2022.

And there is more … next year we are trialling a new club membership and rogaine entry combo which offers good savings for those who love our rogaine series. We have 3 rogaines planned for 2022.

The new combo deal means you will effectively get free entry to one rogaine – plus all the benefits of club membership.
Please wait until 2022 to renew membership, when we have updated the website.

5. NWOC events in 2022
February heralds the start of the Auckland Secondary School Sprint Series (Years 7-13), which is run by Lactic Turkey Events, with Sport Ident equipment and support from NWOC. Check out the website for updates in the New Year.

We’ll kick off club events for 2022 with our double header event on 19/20 March – a new map, two AOS events (middle and a long) and a novelty event, plus camping at fabulous Lake Kereta. The maps are very close to each other so make a weekend of it and come and camp at Lake Kereta, where the deer roam free and there are even hot showers!
Marquita is busy re-mapping Wilson Road, which we last used for orienteering around 20 years ago - check out some of the varied terrain below.
   The Wilson Road map will offer lots of variety

Saturday 09 April AOS event close to home at Riverhead Forest, exploring more of the map which was first used in May 2021. (NB the Auckland Schools Sprint Series final is on Sunday 10 April).

4 and 5 May and 18 May Year 7 & 8 zone days plus the Interzone final at Moire Park. We are always looking for more volunteers to help out at these mid-week events which introduce hundreds of Intermediate-age students to orienteering.

Rogaine Series 29 May/ 12 June/ 26 June
The always popular rogaines are a great opportunity for club members to become involved with course setting and we can help pair you up with an experienced mentor.  We kick off the rogaine series at Riverhead, followed on 12 June by a return to StoneyBrook, which until recently, has been a filming location for the Lord of the Rings Amazon series. We hope to hold the final rogaine at one of our fabulous regional parks.

10 July AOS event at Slater Road/ Hedley Dunes

22-24 October Tuaraki Northern Region Champs – Woodhill region.

14-19 December - Junior Camp, based at Houghtons Bush Camp and Woodhill. 

If you would like to volunteer for any of these events in any capacity, contact  Club Captain Rob Garden (email: rgmg@xtra.co.nz) or  sign up on the Volunteer Sign Up sheet.

6. Adventure Racing & Orienteering
Since the 1980s, Aotearoa New Zealand has been the home of world-famous events, such as the Coast to Coast and Godzone but also the world's best adventure racers.

"World's toughest racer" Nathan Fa'avae is a famous face in the sport, together with world champions Team Avaya – which includes NWOC club member Stuart Lynch.
Nathan was recently profiled by the NZ Herald and offered several tips for success in the sport:

◉ Learn the basics - "Key to get started in adventure racing is learning the core skills: mountain biking, kayaking, trail-running, hiking, and navigation."
◉ Head to the beach - "For kayaking, given most NZ'ers live on the coast, I recommend people start with a suitable surfski, and get paddling in the ocean, or lakes. When the time is right, transfer those skills to rivers."
◉ Get your bearings - "Navigation is best-learnt orienteering, and there are clubs throughout New Zealand providing events, so people should join their local club and learn map and compass."
◉ Get those steps in - "Tramping is the key for conditioning, heading into the hills with a heavy pack, that is money in the bank for Adventure Racing."

It is great to see that Stuart and wife Fiona McBryde are often accompanied at orienteering events by their two toddlers – navigating through the terrain will be second nature for these youngsters.

Read the whole NZ Herald article here.

Chris Forne is reading the map with Stu Lynch in the background in green parka.

7. Apply to become a ONZ accredited coach.
It's time to kick off the coach qualification process and we want all clubs to have the opportunity to get some freshly qualified Advanced Coaches. Once these coaches are up to speed, they can help train Foundation and Development Coaches in their club.

ONZ is hosting online training for those looking to become qualified coaches. The first session was on Monday 29th November but there will be more online training sessions in the near future. Contact the club if you would like more information: gene.beveridge@gmail.com .

8.President’s report for 2021

Last year I said 2020 had been an unprecedented year.  2021 has also been a roller coaster year with great highs such as NWOC’s successful hosting of the NZ Champs at Easter, another enjoyable Rogaine Series and then, just as we were anticipating a number of quality events over the Spring months, Auckland once again shut down for a prolonged Covid19 lockdown.

It is now apparent that everyday life and sport will be shaped by the pandemic, forcing us to look closely at how we deliver events safely – fortunately orienteering as a non-contact, outdoor sport is one of the safer activities around.

NZOC2021 was the highlight of the orienteering calendar and the NWOC team, headed by event director, Annemarie Hogenbirk, delivered a superb 4 days of high-quality orienteering – a carnival that we can be proud of.   Covid added much stress behind the scenes, as we tried to model how we might deliver NZOC2021 at Alert Level 2 with limited group sizes. Thankfully it never came to that!

Read more