Competitions for Junior Orienteers

There are a wide variety of competitions for younger orienteers. Most of them are open to all, as long as you are a member of a club. Some of them you have to be selected for. Some are just for junior orienteers, others are open to adults too. For more information, read on. Hopefully this will give you a taste for what’s out there.

HH Schools and Youth League Youth Orienteering Festivals Yvette Baker Trophy Compass Sport Cup Peter Palmer Relays Harvester Relays South East Relays	Junior Inter-Regional Championships (JIRC) Future Champions Cup British Schools Championships British Championships and British Relay Championships Jan Kjellström (JK) International Competitions

There are of course a lot of other competitions around the country and abroad. Some last for several days, such as the bi-annual Scottish 6-days, others occur as a one-off treat. Check out the British Orienteering Federation website to find out more.

HH Schools and Youth League

This is the closed to home in Hertfordshire, and is run in conjunction with some events in the HH Saturday Series. Your best three results count towards your final score and prizes are awarded to the top competitors on each course. Prizes are awarded to the school or youth group with the highest score overall, but you don’t have to be a member of a group to compete; all HH juniors score points.

Youth Orienteering Festivals

This competition was first held in 2005 in conjunction with the World Cup races in Surrey. It was so successful that another one is being held in Milton Keynes this spring. To select teams to attend, HH is holding a local YOF in May, for all local schools. You need to enter through your school. It will be followed by a Family Orienteers Festival in June, to which you can bring your parents and show them what it’s all about.

Yvette Baker Trophy

This is a national inter-club competition for junior orienteers. As many juniors as possible from the club take part in the first round, which is held in the autumn at a district event somewhere in the south east. There are specific rules about which course you should enter. Points are awarded to all juniors from competing clubs, and the best nine scores make up the team score for the club. Even if your score doesn’t count in the total, you can help the team by reducing the number of points available for other clubs to score. In 2005, HH juniors did very well in the first round and qualified for the national final, which is usually held in the late autumn. We’re hoping to repeat last year’s success and again make a club trip to the final.

Compass Sport Cup

The Compass Sport Cup is a similar competition to the Yvette Baker Trophy but it involves the whole club (including the adults). The first round is held in the spring and the final is held in the autumn. Competition is fierce and HH unfortunately haven’t made it past the first round for some time.

Peter Palmer Relays

These relays are for teams of six juniors. The competition starts in the middle of the night, and the first two laps take place in the dark, so two runners need to have some experience of orienteering at night. The laps vary in standard from yellow to green, so there is something for everyone. There is an open race and a handicap race and the club can enter as many teams as it likes. The handicap race allows clubs with younger juniors a chance to win a prize; the open race tends to be dominated by clubs with lots of older boys.

There is usually a 5-a-side football tournament on the Saturday evening before the race starts, and accommodation is provided, usually in a sports hall or hostel, so this is a good social event.

2005 was the first year that HH has managed to field a complete team; we are looking to enter at least one and hopefully two in 2006. This year’s event is in September in Sutton Park near Birmingham and we hope to travel as a team.

Harvester Relays

This is the grown-ups version of the Peter Palmer relays. There are two races; on the A race, teams have 7 runners. On the B race, teams have 5 runners. There are prizes for all-junior teams and women only teams on the B-race. There is also a handicap race on the A course. Some laps are run in the dark, some in the day.

In 2005, HH entered a junior team on the B course. The 2006 event is in Scotland, so it is unlikely that we will be sending a team, but look out for the 2007 event.

South East Relays

This is a relaxed relay event held each year in the summer in the south east. There is a race specifically for junior teams, with courses of yellow and orange standard. It’s a good introduction to relays. There are also an open relay, with blue and green courses, and a handicap, which usually involves an orange course as well as blue and green. HH have traditionally entered several teams.

Junior Inter-Regional Championships (JIRC)

This is an annual event, held one weekend in the summer. You have to be invited to attend to represent the SE region. There is an individual competition on one day and a relay on the other. Points are awarded based on the results and the region with the most points over the weekend is the winner. Juniors from M/W14 to M/W18 take part.

Future Champions Cup

The Future Champions is a nationwide league for older juniors (18-20’s). Each year, a selection of events around the country are nominated as FCC events and points are awarded to individuals based on their results. At the end of the season, the top athletes in each age category are invited to attend the national final, which includes a sprint race and a long race. The winners of those races become the Future Champions. To take part in the competition, you just have to enter, but you have to be selected to attend the finals.

British Schools Championships

The British Schools Championships are held each autumn and you must enter through your school. You take part as individuals and prizes are available for class winners, as well as school team prizes. In recent years, Orley Farm School have done very well, coming away with both individual and team prizes.

British Championships and British Relay Championships

The British Championships move around the different regions of Britain each year, so you can sample all sorts of different terrain. They are usually held in the spring. You must be a member of the British Orienteering Federation to take part.

There are courses for each junior age class, so you can be the British Champion at M10, or W16. The relay competition also has junior classes, again by age group. The best in the country will be there each year, so you can see who the real talent is in your age group.

Jan Kjellström (JK)

The JK is another high quality event, held over the Easter weekend each year. Like the British Champs, it rotates around the regions. There are two individual events, from which your combined times are used to find the winner in each age group, so you need to be consistently good to win. The relay event also has junior classes, usually based on the combined “orienteering age” of the team members; your age can only be 10,12, 14, 16, 18 or 20. This means that some careful team management is required to put together a competitive team.

International Competitions

There is a bi-annual World Schools Orienteering Championships, with a team selected to represent Great Britain based on the results of the British Schools Championships. Older juniors can also be selected to represent Great Britain at the annual Junior World Orienteering Championships.