Spotlight on our University Orienteering Clubs: University College London Orienteering Club (UCLOC)

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

There had been orienteers at UCL before the 2023/24 academic year, yet there had never been a formal society. Our president, Joe, was lucky enough to have been introduced to orienteering while at school, and he wanted to share his positive experiences and love of the sport with others at UCL, especially as there were previously limited opportunities at our university for students to leave Central London and have a fun time in the countryside!

How long has the club been running (if relatively new can you explain how you went about founding it for others across the country who may not have a club available to them at uni?)

Joe, the president, and Millie, the treasurer, founded this society ahead of the 2023/24 academic year! It was quite a challenge, as we knew we would need 30 members to get affiliated, and we only knew about one other orienteer on campus. What was really cool was meeting other orienteers from our university who we had never met before, due to the lack of organisation for our sport. We promoted our new club pretty intensely, even attending a Cheese and Wine Society social to evangelise about how cool we are! (No one from that society joined us…) We soon got to 35 members, of which 6 had orienteered before, and 20 participated at BUCS, which shows that we are successful at converting beginners into mega fans of the sport, with some going on to join local clubs as well, which is amazing for the future of orienteering in this country and abroad – 50% of UCL students are international students, so our society is a great way to spread orienteering around the globe!  

Typically, how often do you meet as a group? How do you factor things in like travel? 

Firstly, there are actually some orienteering households here at UCL! 3 groups of flatmates met at UCLOC, which shows how orienteering transcends the competitive elements of the sport. We have orienteering training weekly (sometimes at the Olympic Park), monthly technical training indoors (to discuss control descriptions), as well as routine socials.

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

Don’t worry if you don’t understand all the technical jargon! Orienteers are super passionate about the sport, and are always excited to teach you more. We are grateful to Dartford Orienteering Club for being so accommodating of our new members when we attended our first competition of the year. Another great thing to remember is that our courses are stratified at different levels - there is always a course that you can enjoy, which is hard enough to be rewarding but realistic enough to complete.

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

Firstly, we would like to thank Cambridge University for organising an amazing BUCS event, and Sheffield University for organising an exciting English Universities competition. Our highlights from the past year included participating in the Brighton City Race and making new friends at orienteering events (in order to bully them into driving us back to the train station). Furthermore, we would like to emphasise that the best thing last year was seeing lots of our members grow as orienteers and simultaneously develop close friendships which will last for year!

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

Lots of our members are people who have previously felt disenfranchised from sport, so it has been awesome to see how comfortable they feel in the orienteering community, which has been so supportive every step of the way - that’s why we are proud members of our club and of the wider orienteering community!

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

Joe, the president, feels like he has developed the ability to delegate tasks among our fairly large (15-position) committee, and has always developed strategies to support committee members who are struggling to complete their missions. Millie, the treasurer, has been instrumental in supporting people who are less able at running, as she has offered advice and guidance to them. Joe and Millie also learnt how to found a club, which was challenging due to lots of Student Union regulations! Other committee members point out developing skills such as empathising with beginners, running our social media, designing kits and logos, and growing in confidence.  

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

The ethos of our committee is that we should be flexible to the interests and wishes of our members, while offering leadership, expertise and direction. Having consulted our members from our first season, the aims we have include running a London Universities and Colleges Orienteering championship, offering more running training sessions in collaboration with the university’s running club, and further consolidating the diversity of our club by championing and platforming members who wish to share their testimony to ensure that orienteering is equally enjoyable for all members. We also cannot wait to one day get a medal at BUCS, so bring it on, our fellow university orienteering clubs!

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Find out more about University College London Orienteering Club via their website or their Instagram account.