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THE PUNCH January 2001 |
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| Editorial
Lots to read in your envelope this time. The last printed edition of Points East, Membership form to complete, and this edition of Punch. All the forthcoming fixtures can be found in Points East along with a variety of interesting articles. I see that the closing date for the Thetford Thrash Jan 27th & 28th (back page of Points East) is next Monday 15th Jan, so don’t delay if you’d like to enter. Thanks to Goff and Russ for their reports for this edition of Punch. Look forward receiving reports about the forthcoming events for the next one. Ian Price
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| Chairman’s
Chat
So that was year 2000 – these last few weeks seemed to race by. |
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| The club championship was staged at the SOS Broaks Wood event last November – congratulations to Brendan Anglim for sprinting round like a greyhound to outpace the field and beat the handicapper. | ||
| Goff Hill,
the previous years club champion, was not however to be upstaged. His
Rodings Rally stalwarts took both the Team trophy and the Group trophy
at this years event. A great effort . Goff reports on how things went
later in this edition of the Punch.
And then on top of that Barnardiston School returned triumphant from the British Schools Championship 2000 having won the Class M championship that is contested by Middle or Prep Schools. Many congratulations to all concerned. It wasn’t too clever for the club to stage our EAGAL event at Knettishall on the same weekend as the Rodings Rally and the British Schools championships. Sorry to those who were forced to make a choice between the options. We will avoid this clash next year. As we move into 2001 I thought I would give a timely reminder that the club subscriptions are now due. I hope you will all be renewing either via BOF or direct to Andrew, and that you will continue to support the events that are planned for the new year - Ickworth, Rendlesham and Shrublands all before the end of April. |
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| It is sometimes asked ‘ Why should I join BOF when I only intend to participate at local events ?’. This is a fair question – let me try to explain why BOF is important and why it needs to raise subscription income from all active participants. |
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| The British
Orienteering Federation is the sports governing body. Although central
costs have risen in recent times it is still a very slim organisation
– most of the work is done by orienteering ‘volunteers’.
BOF sets the standards for both event
and mapping guidelines. It manages a national fixtures structure;
it provides major events such as the JK, British Championships and
National competitions such as the Compass Sport cup. It also runs
the national badge and rankings schemes. On the International stage
it runs a world class programme for the development of elite orienteering
and acts as the voice of orienteering in the British sporting circles. |
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| Most importantly
it attracts funding for the sport either from the Government Exchequer
or from the Lottery. It negotiates national agreements in respect of
land access and has obtained a minimal cost copyright licence from the
Ordnance Survey.
Without BOF therefore we would lack the credibility to tap sources of income, we would have even greater difficulty getting access to land, and our maps would be more costly to produce. Moreover, BOF provides liability insurance for all registered events and other activities. Would you be prepared to stage a public event without any form of liability insurance cover ? BOF may be far from perfect – its committees churn away; decisions are slow in coming. Speaking personally I wonder if some of the effort expended is cost and time effective. I would rather cut out the waffle and get back to basics - I just want to orienteer ! However…without a National body I believe the sport as we currently know it would die. The question for all is ‘shall I pay my contribution in order to sustain orienteering as a serious nationally organised sport?’ I took the decision to sign up with BOF many years ago. You don’t have to be an elite champion to enjoy the additional challenges of events that are staged out of area. I have no medals ( or even a gold standard) to prove it but it has been great fun competing in such differing terrain as the mountains of Scotland, Wales and the Lake district; the moors of Yorkshire and the Peak district and the coastal dunes of the South West. If you haven’t experienced this type of orienteering I would urge you to become a BOF member and give it a try. Enough from my soap box - I hope you will sign up to BOF membership when you renew your club subscription for 2001. I trust you all enjoyed you Christmas festivities and are ready for the year ahead – hope to see you out there in the Forests . Clive Coles
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