Hello everyone

Orienteering in Auckland is back – almost!
It has felt like a long winter and I’m sure many of you are as disappointed as I am that we (and other clubs throughout New Zealand) had to postpone or cancel a number of events due to the reappearance of Covid19 in the Auckland region. The reintroduction of Alert Levels 3 and 2.5 meant it simply was not possible to host public events. We had hoped to have our Albany event this weekend, but unfortunately were unable to secure access to the map.

The three Auckland clubs have been collaborating to try and bring you as many events as possible in the remainder of the year and so there have been a few changes to scheduled events. The calendar is still a bit of a work in progress but we plan to start with an AOS event in Riverhead Forest on Sunday 11 October.

The event is brought to you by the young team of Cameron De L’ Isle, Alex de Beer and Jamie Hrstich.  Much of the map is new or has been updated so this is a great opportunity to brush up your navigation skills.  We would love lots of volunteers to help out on the day – please contact Lisa on mead10b@gmail.com  if you can help in any way (on the start, collecting controls, registration, coaching etc).

Please keep checking the club website for updates, including a possible new date for the NWOC club champs.

You will have noticed that events now require pre-entry (usually on EnterO) – please do enter before the deadlines as this helps with event planning, as well as providing Covid19 contact tracing.

Kia kaha

Lisa Mead
NWOC Club president and newsletter editor

1. Events
2. Riverhead Forest 11 October
3. ONZ Training Coordinator & training podcasts
4. NZ O-map
5. NZOC 2021 champs by NWOC

Events
September
              Sun 06 AOC AOS7 Woodhill Forest (Mushroom Road) POSTPONED
              Tue 08 CMOC – Auckland Secondary Schools Rogaine- Totara Park.    CANCELLED.
              Sun 20 NWOC AOS8 Urban middle distance (Albany) – CANCELLED
              26/27/28 Sep North Island Secondary Schools Champs (CMOC). Postponed- SEE BELOW

October
              October 8-10 NZ Secondary Schools Champs (Hawkes Bay) CANCELLED
              Sun 11  NWOC AOS5 Riverhead Forest. Pre-entry – entries will be available on EnterO soon.
              See further details elsewhere in the newsletter.
              Sat 17  CMOC North Island Secondary School Champs – Sprint at Tuakau College
              Details: here  Enter by 02 October.
              Entries: here or https://entero.co.nz/evento.php?eventName=niss-2020

              Sun 18 CMOC NISS Long Event Waiuku Forest and Public Event . Public races start from 1.00pm (pre-entry)         
              Information: here .   Enter by 2 October https://entero.co.nz/evento.php?eventName=nisspub-2020

              23-26 Labour Weekend –The National Champs have been re-scheduled! Manawatu – entry details can be found here
             Pre-enter by 09 October.

Thu 29 AOC Summernav Western Springs (Zoo carpark).
               Details: https://orienteeringauckland.org.nz/events/summernav/calendar/

November
              Sun 01   NWOC Rogaine Riverhead Forest 90 minutes - event for teams or individuals
              Wed 04  AOC Summernav Michaels Ave
              Sat 07    CMOC Auckland Champs- Sprint & Middle
              Sun 08   CMOC  Auckland Champs -Long
              Thu 12   AOC Summernav Cornwall Park
              Sat 14     AOC Relays – to be confirmed
              Sun15    NWOC AOS6 Slater Road Forest event (moved from 16 August)
              Thu 19   AOC Summernav Churchill Park
              Wed 25 AOC Summernav Auckland Domain
              Sun 29   NWOC Rogaine – Te Rau Puriri Regional Park 90 minutes- event for teams or individuals

AOS = Auckland Orienteering Series – events generally have 9 courses of varying lengths and difficulty.
AKSS = Auckland Secondary Schools  AOC= Auckland O Club, CMOC = Counties Manukau O Club

Upcoming event! Riverhead Forest Auckland Orienteering Series event 11 October 2020

A mostly new map with a real mixture of terrain, from lighting quick open trees to native bush and everything in between. Courses have been set as tricky middle distances which will make for the perfect preparation for Nationals.

Course Information: Given middle distances have shorter course lengths, only 6 courses are being offered.

Course Setters: Alex de Beer, Jamie Hrstich. Controller: Cameron de L'Isle.

Red 1 is equivalent to normal Red 2/Red 3 distance. Red 2 is equivalent to normal Red 3/Red 4 distance. Red 3 is equivalent to normal Red 5.
Orange is equivalent to normal Orange Short.

Please pre-enter this event using EnterO – entries will open very shortly. You will be asked to select a Start Block in the Enter O process to ensure we adhere to guidelines on gatherings.

This is a NWOC event so don’t be shy about offering to help out on the day. Contact Lisa: mead10b@gmail.com

National Orienteering Champs 2020 Manawatu Region 23-26 October
We are delighted that Wellington Orienteering Club has decided to proceed with hosting the National O Champs which fell victim to Covid19 delays at Easter. There may be some adjustments to the usual format depending on Covid alert levels but I’m sure it will be a great long weekend of orienteering!
 

We were really pleased when Orienteering NZ recently announced that Gene Beveridge will be the new Orienteering NZ Training Coordinator. Gene introduces himself in the August Compasspoint newsletter:
Hi Everyone!

For those who don’t know me, I’m a member of North West Orienteering Club and have been heavily involved in orienteering for many years. My most public involvement is with high performance, but I’m also involved with development coaching, course setting and controlling. Some of you may have even followed my blog and podcast at genebeveridge.nz.

As ONZ training coordinator my role includes:

• Collating training resources from around the country
• Providing an online space for coaching and training resources to be accessed and shared
• Hosting interactive events (online and in person) to better connect clubs, schools and individuals with the advice and resources they need.
   

Training
Gene has already produced several excellent podcasts and training videos. These leg by leg analyses of actual orienteering courses are really interesting. Leg by Leg is where a guest takes us through a recent orienteering course in detail. You’ll discover what they found most challenging and how they handled, or didn’t handle, these challenges. Club member, Kayla Fairbairn features in the first one. https://www.orienteering.org.nz/author/onz-training-coordinator/

NZ O-map
The Covid 19 Lock down meant most of us could not get our regular orienteering fix. During this period Cameron De LÍsle dreamed up the Great New Zealand Orienteering Map Project, after it was confirmed that LIDAR coverage would be extended to cover over 80% of New Zealand by 2023. The project is inspired by the Finnish MapAnt website  and aims to create an orienteering map that covers at least 80% of New Zealand. The results are fantastic.

Much of the Auckland and Wellington area has already been covered – check out the maps of your own neighbourhood  http://omap.nz/index.html.
 

National Champs 2021
NWOC is excited to be hosting the National Orienteering Championships over Easter weekend 2-5 April 2021. We are gearing up for a compact, intimate event with limited travel distances between the various race venues. We also hope to have a scenic camping option. A team spearheaded by Annemarie Hogenbirk has started work on the event logistics, we have a great team of course setters and controllers, one confirmed coordinator for the sprint day and we have received funding for mapping a new corner of Woodhill Forest. Over the coming months we will be looking for lots of volunteers – right now we would love to hear from anyone with graphics or design skills (please email nzoc2021@gmail.com ).

The sprint will take place on the North Shore, while the Long (new map), Middle (new map) and Relays will be in the Kaipara/ Woodhill region. Several areas are now under embargo until Easter 2021. Please see the website for details: https://www.nwoc.org.nz/nzoc2021/

Also in 2021: The three clubs have already started planning a full season of events for next year, including the Auckland Schools Sprint Series which will kick off in the week beginning 15 February and several forest events leading up to our National Champs at Easter.

Stay safe and I hope to see you in the forest soon!