The Punch September 2001

THE PUNCH

September 2001

Editorial

Dates for your Diary...

15th Sept   PICOVER training
30th Sept   AGM plus fun event
4th Nov      Suffoc’s EAGAL & Colour Coded Event at Sutton Common

Also in this edition John Webb gives details about PICOVER training, a report from the SOS relays at Colchester and next year’s organisation for our event at Rendlesham Forest. Clive Coles gives his report of the last year, and I can point you in the direction for a couple of articles from Points East that have been added since June’s edition of The Punch. You can also link to reports from last month's Lochaber Event in Scotland and the World Championships in Finland.

Ian Price

Chairman’s Chat

I trust you have all had a great summer and that orienteering, albeit a distant memory for most of us, is still featuring in your plans for the autumn.

I did mention in the last Punch that we hoped to stage some low key events in or around Ipswich during July and August. Sorry, for a variety of reasons, these did not materialise. Orienteering in East Anglia is however about to restart as the EAOA fixture list shows.

It is of course also time for our club AGM and your committee have pondered how we might entice you to come out to voice your views. Last year we followed previous years practice by holding it on a mid week evening in a pub room with a bribe of free nibbles. Only the stalwarts responded and consumed the food – we did however just about have enough people present to form a committee !

This year we have decided to hold the AGM in conjunction with a closed club orienteering fixture. This will take the form of a one hour score event at Bridge Wood on Sunday September 30^th.

Register 10.00 to 10.30 - No entries accepted after 10.30. Starts from 11.00 according to age etc. All finish at 12 noon.
30p per map. We will start the AGM 15 minutes after the course closes – probably 12:15ish

If you have yet to emerge from your potting shed why not use this as a way of kick starting your own orienteering activities for the season.

On a serious note there are some hidden concerns which I wish to share with you.

The prime motivation behind the choice of location for an AGM is to assess how many of you are itching to return to orienteering after such a long layoff ? Foot and mouth may have been kept out of Suffolk – what however has it done to SUFFOC enthusiasm ?

The club needs active members if it is to survive and continue to put on events. In November we currently plan to stage our full colour coded EAGAL event for 2001 on Sutton Common. In January next year we are rescheduling our cancelled Badge and EAGAL event at Rendlesham. These events require helpers.

The three key questions therefore are :-

How many of you plan to be active orienteers for this new season ?
Do we still have the support to stage events of this nature ?
How many of you are prepared to help us stage these particular events ?

The first job for the new committee is to assess the situation and give the ‘green light’ so that these proposed fixtures can go ahead as planned. Please come to Bridge Wood to re-confirm your commitment to orienteering.

Secondly we do also need to elect officers and a committee for the next 12 months. No committee – no programme. We already have some names proposed – don’t feel therefore that you will be press ganged if you dare to turn up. Please however notify Andrew if you have any nominations or would like to volunteer yourself. Each year committees need a transfusion of new ideas – don’t be shy.

Hope to see you all there on 30^th September. Bring a picnic – we are relying on it being sunny !

Clive Coles

Lochaber 2001

Results are now available from Scotland’s big summer event this August at Lochaber. Seems that it was a wee bit damp up there, but still a very good event.

Read more about it at…

www.scottish-orienteering.org/Lochaber2001

PICOVER Computer Assistance for Planners, Organisers and Controllers The club is running a "hands on" computer training sessions for club members who are interested in using computers to simplify putting on orienteering events. The session will there held at 17 Church Lane, Sproughton on Saturday, 15th September, starting at 10 a.m. Some places are already filled by members involved in forthcoming events, however, there one or two places available for anyone who is interested. If you are interested, lease contact John Webb as soon as possible on 01473 742778 or at John@sproughton.flyer.co.uk. Participants will be asked to plan a couple of simple courses on a local map. They will then be guided through the preparations leading up to an event. The SOS Relays Hooray, some proper orienteering at last. However, what a pity so few club members took advantage of it. Those that did had a very pleasant and reasonably successful day. The event was held at High Woods at Colchester, with the start and finished overlooking the courses in the valley below. One of the controls was visible from the start and finish, so one could watch the antics of some of the less well orientated competitors with smug amusement, but knowing that one's own performance would be watched critically. All of the SUFFOC members had reasonably good runs with no real disasters, although everyone would have like to have done better. The SUFFOC teams' results were:- Suffolk Yams -elapsed time 111:32 - handicap 51:00 - corrected time 60:32 Overall position 5th (out of 17). Advancing age has its advantages when it improves your handicap! Mostly Related - elapsed 103:56 - handicap 30:00 - corrected 73:56 Overall position 11th Individual Results were:- Suffolk Yams Anne Elvidge W40 53:48 ----- 19:50 Bill McLean M60 ----- 40:21 24:19 Yvonne McLean W60 ----- 46:22 35:19 Simon Peck M40 46:31 24:49 19:03 Mostly Related Jeremy Gray M35 47:13 ----- 16:40 Rebecca Gray W21 ----- 42:09 19:22 Goff Hill M55 56:43 26:36 17:31 John Webb M65 ----- 31:22 22:33
Rendlesham Forest Badge Event 13th Jan 2002 We are planning to hold our badge event, postponed from last year by the F&M problems on 13th January next year. We will need lots of club helpers, but everyone should be able to get a run, providing that enough people agree to help. We hope that as many competitors as possible, including SUFFOC members, will enter in advance to reduce the amount of work that has to be done on the day. People who pre-enter will be allocated start times, but those who enter on the day will have to take pot luck, and if all the spare maps are used up, may not be able to run the course of their choice. It will make my life much easier if every one who is willing to help will let me know as soon as possible so that I can allocate start times while there are plenty of options available. It will also ensure that the helpers can run their chosen course. There will be long and short courses for each age group, but competitors can run a longer/shorter/easier/harder course if they wish, but people that run shorter or easier courses will be counted as "Non-Competitive". So, please write, phone or e-mail as soon as possible letting me know if you can help, and which course you want to run - e.g. M35 Short. Even if you can't help, please let me know as soon as possible, so that I don't waste time phoning you unnecessarily. John Webb - 01473 742778
World Orienteering Championships
		The World Orienteering Champships took place this August in Tampere, Finland. All the races featured a Big TV screen with cameras in the forest and on the run in, plus digital displays of split and finish times. The main innovation was the GSP Tracking System worn by all competitors in the Classic Final, which allowed competitors progress to be shown live on screen. The British Team didn’t make the headlines, but when you see that the time differences between 1st and 5th place was only 23 seconds for the men’s race (Jamie Stevenson) and 58 seconds between 1st and 13th for the women’s (Sarah Rollins) the standard was very high. Find out more at… www.webappcabaret.com/wocteam/index.jsp www.woc2001.fi

Suffoc’s AGM - 30th September 2001 Chairman’s Annual Review When the new committee took over last September we expected to be organising a full programme of events for the new 2000/2001 season. It started well with 3 fixtures thanks to the efforts of the event officials and a loyal group of club members who helped stage the events... Nowton Park 'Come and Try It' event - 24 Sept 2000 Planner : Louise Walker, Organiser : Yvonne McLean, Controller Bill McLean The event attracted 50+ competitors and 2 new members - a first time event for Louise as planner Knettishall Heath Full Colour Coded event & EAGAL - 19 November 2000 Planner : Clive Coles, Organiser : Louise Walker, Controller : Pat Martin (NOR) Run on an excellent new map - a production from the Simon Peck/Bill McLean mapping team Ickworth Park Full Colour Code - 14 January 2001 Planner : Andrew Elliott, Organiser : John Webb, Controller : Roger Orpin (WAOC) This was the first time the club had utilised the EAOA Sport Ident electronic punching system - intended to be a dry run for John and the organisation team for the Rendlesham Badge event that should have been staged in March 2001. Also a first time event for Andrew as planner. Then, with the outbreak of Foot and Mouth elsewhere in the country, the season effectively came to an abrupt end. Land access permission was withdrawn for both our Badge event planned for Rendlesham Forest on 4th March 2001 and Shrublands on 22nd April 2002. SUFFOC along with other clubs in the East Anglian Region followed the guidance given by BOF that orienteering should be suspended. We rely so heavily on the good will of land owners - the last thing the sport needed was an accusation that an event had been responsible for spreading the disease into a previously uninfected region. This was particularly frustrating blow for our Rendlesham event officials, Bert Park (Planner), John Webb (Organiser) and Clarrissa Napier ( NOR - Controller) as the plug was pulled at the 11th hour after much of the work had been finalised. Paul Lowe, our Shrublands planner was less advanced in his preparations but never the less somewhat disappointed. Luckily we just managed to avoid overprinting the Rendlesham maps with the Badge course details. Our Portable toilet booking cancellation was however gratefully received - they were all snapped up by MAFF. Happily all three Rendlesham officials are prepared to undertake their respective roles when the event is restaged next January The club championship for 2000 was held at the SOS fixture at Broakes Wood on 12th November 2000. Brendan Anglim emerged as champion for the year; Bill McLean took 2nd place with defending champion Goff Hill ( doubtless handicapped by a borrowed compass ) taking 3rd position. Goff Hill , our Club Captain, split his 7 Rodings Rally stalwarts into 3 teams and not only successfully defended the team trophy ( 4hrs 6 mins - Bert Park & Tim Donovan) but also secured the group trophy ( awarded to the club with the 3 best team combined times ) . Goff will be looking to recruit more enthusiasts for the next Rodings Rally on 17/18th November 2001. Sadly the Compass Sport Cup, The JK Relays, and the British Relay championship relays were all cancelled so club team activities have been significantly curtailed. Barnardiston School, who are affiliated to SUFFOC and are seen regularly at East Anglian events, sent a strong team to the 2000 British Schools Championships. They returned as Class M Team trophy champions. Congratulations. Behind the scenes the process of obtaining lottery funding to defray the costs of the new map of Rendlesham Forest was brought to a successful conclusion. Our thanks are due to Louise Walker for keeping tabs on the 'paperwork', to Simon Peck who advised on mapping requirements and of course to Peter Leverington (NOR) for both the survey and cartography. We now have a fine map available for use at our Badge event ( currently re-scheduled for 13th January 2002). John Webb undertook the introduction of the Sport ident electronic punching system for club use. As previously reported this was used for the first time at Ickworth. It will be used again at Sutton Common (4th November 2001) and at the Rendlesham Badge event . He has also acquired a club licence for Picover which we are assured ,when used in conjunction with OCAD7, will facilitate course planning tasks such as course overprints and control description production. As with all new innovations there is a learning curve the first time a system is used - our thanks therefore are due to John for championing the e- based cause. Committees underpin club activities and I am grateful to the support received from the committee that you elected at the last AGM. 'Tis always dangerous to single out anyone for particular comment. However Andrew Elliott, survived various PC crises, to correspond, produce minutes and fulfil the Secretarial role. June Webb applied 'prudence' as guardian of our Financial affairs and Ian Price edited 5 editions of the Punch Newsletter. We owe them, together with Russ Edwards ( Fixtures), John Webb (Membership), David Freer (Web master). Goff Hill (Club captain), Simon Peck (Mapping), Louise Walker, Jeremy Gray, and Bill & Yvonne McLean all a great vote of thanks for their contributions throughout the year. In regard to next years committee one member to date has indicated a desire to step down. Louise Walker took over as Chairman during a difficult transitional period and on relinquishing that position still stayed on the committee to provide continuity and support. Thanks Louise - it's been great working with you. I am sure your TA colleagues will continue to appreciate your direction and commitment. Enjoy life in the trenches - Hope to see you at future orienteering events. To conclude, this year has not exactly worked out as we had hoped - we all join a club to orienteer and this has not been possible for the last 6 months. In spite of this a number of new members have still joined - I hope you will enjoy your membership now that we are getting back to business. The EAOA programme for the new 2001/2 season is already looking full - see you out there in the forest. Clive Coles
BOF’s AGM will be held on Sat 29th October at Ysgol Friars, Lon y Bryn, Bangor, Wales. More details at www.cix.co.uk/~bof/membday.htm


Forthcoming Events More details on the East Anglian Fixtures List


Get the full story edition at www.drongo.org.uk/eaoa/pe.html The Norfolk Orienteering Club The former Norwich and WASH orienteering clubs have merged to form a new club covering the whole of the county. Here Dick Towler, the first Chairman of the new club, gives some background to the merger. About a year ago, Sue Vine and I were told that our neighbouring club, WASH, would be considering its future at its forthcoming AGM. Membership was continuing to decline and the committee was questioning whether the club could remain viable for much longer. We agreed that NOR should offer to support whatever decision WASH took; NOR has had a long tradition of working with WASH, particularly in the Norfolk Schools League and the Double Dumpling Badge Events. WASH decided to carry on for another year. A survey of the membership was undertaken and the committee set up a working party to consider the way forward. With membership dropping below 40, the working party recommended that the committee should seek a merger with a neighbouring club. Their committee accepted the proposal and so, a couple of months ago, NOR was approached. The NOR committee decided to support the proposal. We too have problems finding organisers, planners and controllers; an injection of enthusiastic orienteers, keen to play their part in a larger club, would be very helpful. A larger number of runnable areas, a bigger active membership and a larger bank balance were also attractions. Proposals to merge the 2 clubs were put to their AGMs and approved. Immediately after the NOR AGM on 17th June, the inaugural meeting of the new Norfolk O.C., still to be called NOR, was held. A new committee has been elected and we look forward to building a stronger, more successful club. Dick Towler
Chairman's Report to the 2001 East Anglian AGM 18th May, Newmarket This is a difficult report to write given the problems since mid February arising from the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. Usually I have successes to report on from the JK and British Champs but this year there is none due to there being no events. I am sure that it is very disappointing for all of you but especially the Junior Squad who had planned and paid for the trip to Northern Ireland for the British Champs and were particularly looking forward to the event. It is inevitable that the last 4 months and the lack of opportunity to compete anywhere in the country has clouded the whole year. However prior to February a number of good things to place and need to be recognised. After some delay (mainly due to the Chairman’s failure to produce reports to agreed timescales – thanks Mark for being persistent in chasing me) the Points East website has gone live. Hopefully more information and articles will be made available together with reports on meetings and the fixtures list in the future. Remember it is up to everyone to contribute to make it interesting and successful. A major success has been the introduction of the SportIdent electronic punching equipment purchased through a combination of lottery grant, EAOA money and loans from clubs. The system was first used in full at the Junior Inter-Regional Champs where it was a great success. Since then most clubs have had an opportunity to use the system either at colour coded or badge events. In fact the demand has been such that some clubs have already been paid back their original loan. The success of the SportIdent system has enabled EAOA to look ahead and to purchase more control units and punches to ensure that planners of badge events have sufficient equipment to ensure that the quality of the courses is not jeopardised. I have referred to the JIRC and this was one of the highlights of last year. The Junior Squad has been getting stronger over the last few years and with the event being on home ground everyone expected some improvement over previous years. What was not expected was that we would be leading the competition after the 1st day’s Individual event. The final result of 3rd place overall, after the relays, was an exceptional performance. Congratulations to all the team including the co-ordinators and coaches. During the early part of the year several of the juniors where selected to run for England in the Home Internationals. These included Helen Gardner, Edmund Kelleher and Suzy Robertson. Also selected to run for England but in the Veterans Home International was Jenny Collyer. Well done to them all. We have also been successful with the number of juniors who managed to be awarded places on BOF training camps. These include the following: Lagganlia Camp, Scotland Helen Gardner, Edmund Kelleher, Laurence Ball Halden Camp, Norway Suzy Robertson, Chris Sellens Glenmore Lodge Camp, Scotland Nicola Robertson, David West Another major event to remember was the wedding of Ann Collyer and Eric Roller in July, where members of the Junior Squad provided the guard of honour. Ann and Eric have both been members of EAOA in the past and East Anglian Champions. Ann in particular has been involved in orienteering in East Anglia for a vast number of years including a spell as coach for the Junior Squad. Congratulations to them both and best wishes for their future happiness.
Returning to the foot and mouth outbreak, it is now looking as if the battle is over and before too long the all clear will be announced. Hopefully by mid summer we will once again be able to participate in orienteering events. As I have said before it really does underline how much we rely on the good will of both local and national land owning bodies to allow us access to the terrain which we need so badly. The future for EAOA looks to remain unchanged as BOF has not moved any further forward with it’s restructuring plans with regards to establishing an English orienteering body. Here’s looking forward to doing some orienteering in the next year, which I have to remind you will be my last as Chairman. Tim Eden (NOR)

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