NWOC Newsletter July 2022

Kia ora all. The last month has been a good one for the club with the successful conclusion to this year’s Bivouac Outdoor Rogaine Series and AOS 9 in Woodhill Forest. Special thanks to Steve Pyatt and Darren Gosse for planning the final rogaine and Geoff Mead and Mark Lawson for planning AOS 9. And for volunteers more generally, we’ve also had good feedback from those receiving our free entry worker’s vouchers and will continue to issue these to all workers at our events.                                     Gene Beveridge, President

Newsletter Contents

• Event Calendar
• Next NWOC Events - NWOC Club Training & Social get-together 
• Major Events inc Interclub Relays & NWOC Club champs
• Schools Orienteering
• Reflections on the World Orienteering Champs 2022
• Member Profile - new member Matt Hopper
• The World of Orienteering
• New Members
• Good Luck message

Event Calendar

All upcoming events in the wider Auckland area are listed on our NWOC website here .
New Zealand wide events are on Orienteering New Zealand’s website here
Check the links above for details of events coming soon including;
Auckland Orienteering Series Events e.g. AOS 10 on Sunday 28 August hosted by AOC

Next NWOC Events

Sunday 14 August; NWOC Club Training & Social Get Together
Come and join us in the forest for a special club training.  There will be different exercises to suit all abilities and if enough people attend, the event will end with a short race. 
We invite experienced orienteers to come and help as coaches and get to know the newer members. Please let Rob Garden know if you’re available as a coach.
Venue; Hucks Avenue map (as used for AOS9 on Sunday 10 July)
Access; from Slater Road, South Head (signposted from start of South Head Road, 10mins from Parakai)
Start Time; 10am. 
Free; this is a NWOC member-only event.
BYO; food and water.  Maps and map bags provided.
Aimed especially at new club members but there will be something for everyone.  We’d love experienced members to come and help and get to know new members.
Please RSVP to Rob at rgmg@xtra.co.nz by Wednesday 10 August.  We need RSVPS as numbers are needed for planning and map-printing purposes.

Major Events

Sunday 17 – Tuesday 19 July; NISS Champs hosted by Auckland Orienteering Club
Event details here 

Thursday 19 – Saturday 23 July; NZSS Champs hosted by Counties Manukau Orienteering Club
Event details here 

Sunday 18 September; Auckland Inter-Club Sprint Relay hosted by North West
Save the date so you can join a North West team as we compete against Auckland and Counties Manukau Clubs in this annual event.  Event details here 

Sunday 17 October; North West Club Champs as part of AOS12
Event details coming. 

Labour Weekend; Tūāraki North Regional Champs 2022 - hosted by North West
Saturday 22 October to Monday 24 October
Three days of classic Woodhill Forest terrain. Maps include the northern reaches of the 2017 World Masters final Hedley Dunes map and the 2021 NZ Champs Karaka Swamp map. Much of the terrain has only been used once. Maps will be updated in mid-2022. Event details here Embargo notice here 

Schools Orienteering

The Auckland Schools Orienteering Committee is a group of people from all three Auckland clubs working to make Schools Orienteering even better than it already is, and encouraging more schools to get involved. 

One of the barriers we have identified is that school sports co-ordinators don't always know who to pass information on to. We are therefore developing a database of interested people, including school sports contacts, teachers who orienteer, parents, coaches and students. These people will receive information that comes out via College Sport, as well as regular updates about regional and national Orienteering opportunities for students, and opportunities to provide feedback on events. You can opt to receive only some types of information if you choose. If you are keen to be on that database, or know someone who might be, please sign up here 

Reflections on the World Orienteering Champs 2022

Late last month, Gene Beveridge from North West represented New Zealand at the World Orienteering Champs in Denmark.  IN his latest episode of NavChat, Gene talks with fellow NZ team member, Tim Robertson about his races at WOC and together they 
dive deeper into some of the GPS tracking. The podcast includes a look at a lot of maps including Queens Birthday, EYOC and 5 Days of Italy. Listen here 

Member Profile - new member Matt Hopper   

We asked Matt to tell us what attracted him to orienteering and his first impressions; 

"I began Orienteering this year as a way to break the monotony of my local run route, for a new challenge, and to explore different outdoor spots around Auckland. I've been really impressed by the passion the club members have for the sport and the generosity of their time in sharing their experience with newbies like myself. I've certainly caught the Orienteering bug and am looking forward to future events."

The World of Orienteering

There is a wealth of information and resources available to orienteers from news about events, to links to follow events around the world live as well as coaching resources that enable you to analyse your own performance and/or compare your route with others. Orienteering New Zealand spotlight this information regularly in their Compass Point newsletter.  If you don’t already subscribe to Compass Point sign up here 

Experienced North West member, Geoff Mead recommends the International Orienteering Federation’s (IOF) website as one example of resources available. Geoff says, ‘this website has results, TV feed and GPS tracking with maps for major IOF events. Watch live, or later at your leisure (especially when European events are in the middle of the night)”.
An example of GPS tracking from the recent World Games middle race is here  
Geoff adds ‘this website is great for training; look at the map and work out your route choice options. Then start the GPS tracking and see which way the experts go’.

New Members

A warm welcome to new members Robyn Christie, Jean Longmore & Paul Colgrave.

Good luck to NWOC members competing internationally

In early August, North West members Heidi Stolberger and Liam Stolberger and former member, Jess Sewell head to Switzerland to represent New Zealand at the World University Champs to be held in Bienne from 15 to 22 August.  All the best Heidi, Liam & Jess.