Spotlight on our University Orienteering Clubs: Sheffield Universities Orienteering & Fell Running Club (ShUOC).

In our first blog of this series, we interviewed Sheffield Universities Orienteering & Fell Running Club (ShUOC) to find out more about why the value orienteering so much, how getting involved has led to them competing on a National and International level, and the skills they have gained as individuals.

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What made you want to start/become involved with your university orienteering club?

Many of our members had been orienteering for many years prior to starting university, and became a member of the club so they could continue taking part in the sport, and train with others.

We are a joint orienteering & fell running club, and many of our fell runners have also become involved in orienteering since joining ShUOC, with the opportunities available for them to try something new and develop their skills with the support of their fellow club members. Not all of ShUOC came from a sporting background though – the outdoor nature of the sport, the appeal of learning a new skill, alongside being an affordable club with lots of friendly members was what encouraged some to sign up!

For those unfamiliar with either fell running or orienteering, it seems the welcoming nature of the club, combined with a unique spin on running, is what encouraged many of our beginners to join!

Typically, how often do you meet as a group? How do you factor things in like travel? (For those that may be worried about access to transport to get to events/activities etc – if relevant)

ShUOC is a really active club, we meet multiple times a week (usually 3-4 times) for training and social runs, alongside travelling to races on the weekends (as well as our regular socials at the pub)! There is no obligation to turn up to everything, but if you are free then there will always be something going on! Many of our races are local (like the SYO Saturday Series), and these can be reached easily on foot or by public transport.

We also try to travel further afield whenever we can, including to regional and national events, and with many members having access to cars we are able to organise lifts to an array of events, and we have also worked with SYO occasionally to try and make sure anyone who wants to go to an event can go!

What advice would you give to freshers/newcomers to the sport?

After asking round the club, there was loads of advice for anyone new!

• Don’t be scared or intimidated by the sport: there are always people around who will be happy to help you, and within clubs there are members with experience who can help you develop your skills.
• Try and get involved with any events you can, orienteering is a technical sport, and as with everything you will get better with practice, even if it means making lots of mistakes along the way! Don’t forget to keep your map the right way round!
• Don’t be afraid to be yourself and have fun! Joining a new club can be terrifying, especially if you have never tried the sport before, but everyone is super friendly and supportive, and, as one wise member put it when we asked them this question: you can act like the least functional human possible, and it will be fine!

Can you share any of your highlights as a club over the past year?

ShUOC had an incredible 2024, from placing 2nd at BUCS, winning English Unis, and even claiming 4th mixed team at the British Fell Relays too! But other highlights go beyond race success. Our SPOOK alumni weekend (apparently better than Christmas!) is one of the highlights for many, our Halloween run and, of course, AlcO! For some the greatest highlight was English Unis, which we hosted up in Sheffield, and thanks to members volunteering their time we produced a successful weekend.

Our training weekends away, both in the Lake District and Eryri, were a highlight for members too, alongside our trips to WOC and O-Ringen – travelling, training and racing with your friends is what can make this sport so much fun!

What do you value most about being a member of your club?

The lifelong friendships that you make is definitely one of the things many of us value most! Even though some people find it really daunting coming into the club, particularly as novices, everyone is lovely and we all share the same love of the outdoors and running, and members make friends for life! That is emphasised even more through our SPOOK alumni, and the huge numbers of people who return for our SPOOK weekend each year to reconnect with people!
Alongside this, the access to such a variety of terrain across the Sheffield area is really valuable to members, and the ability to train and race on this! There are always loads of people around to go for training runs with!

Are there any key skills you have gained in being a committee member and a volunteer for the club?

Being on a committee can be super exciting, being able to collaborate with your peers to shape the future of the club. Organisation, delegation, collaboration, communication, patience and confidence are some of the skills our committee say they have built. But it is also simply rewarding to volunteer your time within the club, and see the positive outcomes that come from it, whether that’s helping out at an event, or by becoming an activity leader (running sessions & training). Would 100% recommend that people should try to get involved with running and supporting their clubs!

The British University Orienteering Championships take place each year. Can you tell us more about your experience from this year’s event and why they are a great opportunity for university clubs across the country to come together to compete?

BUCS is an excellent opportunity to catch up with fellow university orienteers across the country, and provides an opportunity for orienteers of all abilities, whether they are beginners or part of a national team, to compete! While the competition element is a key part of BUCS, for many the social aspect is just as valuable, and there is loads of mixing between unis, allowing you to meet loads of people - it is also a great opportunity for ShUOC to demolish the competition and retain our winning title in the beer race!

What are your aims as a club in the upcoming year?

ShUOC is currently undergoing the beginning stages of organising BUCS 2025, which will be one of our key priorities for the year ahead. Alongside this, we are keen to continue encouraging more people to try orienteering: whether they are fell runners who are already members, experienced orienteers just setting off to university for the first time, or beginners who are simply looking to get stuck into a new and exciting sport. And with this, our training and access to races, and of course our socials, will also remain a huge priority, so everyone in ShUOC gets the best experience possible.

Image credits: Ben Stevens, Wendy Carlyle, Dik Ng.

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Find out more about ShUOC by visiting their website, where you will find all their details of the latest events and details on how to join. You can also follow them on social media via their Instagram or Facebook accounts.