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Share  Tweet Wednesday 27th March 2024

Countdown to JK 2024: Final Details

The final preparations are well under way ahead of this year's Jan Kjellström
International Festival of Orienteering 2024!

The teams will be out over the next couple of days setting up the arenas ready to receive you for a cracking good weekend of top-quality orienteering.

The weather gods have been less than kind, so we recommend you put on your best O shoes that give you the best grip.

Event programme

Please note that version 6 of the programme is the latest (and hopefully last) version to be published. It went live yesterday, so please check it out, especially if you are coming in a campervan on Day 4 as the parking instructions have been changed.

Access the event programme

Day 1: Friday 29th March - Sprint at Loughborough University

Please note that the embargo area for Day 1 has been reduced

Loughborough is now an established, and still testing, area. Day 1 will be a World Ranking event (WRE).

PreO will take place in urban terrain and there will also be an opportunity for participants to try out Biathlon Orienteering at the event (this will also be available on Days 2 and 3 of the Festival). 

Day 2: Saturday 30th March - Middle at Beaudesert

Day 3: Sunday 31st March - Long at Beaudesert

Beaudesert has been used for many major events, though arena is a new location and the owners are a little nervous at what to expect. Please make this an enjoyable experience for them. We want them to invite us back!

Day 4: Monday 1st April - Relay at Stanton Moor

The final day of the Festival will take place at Stanton Moor. Another testing area and also in a new arena.

Share your experiences at the event

If you are on social media, please do not forget to tag us in your posts via Facebook, X and Instagram @britishorienteering. The hashtag for the event is #TheJK2024. 

Finally, thank you to everyone involved in the production of this event. We hope you have a great weekend!

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Share  Tweet Tuesday 26th March 2024

Updated JK embargoed area day 1

The embargo area for Day 1 of the JK has been reduced. 

The updated embargoed area can be viewed here.

An area of the South West has been removed which contains the Burleigh Court hotel. However, anyone staying there involved in the JK should drive out to the main road and re-enter the campus through the Epinal Way entrance to get to the event. 

They should of course avoid entering the embargoed area at all times.

All the latest information about this weekends JK can be found on the JK website.

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Share  Tweet Thursday 21st March 2024

Update in GBR team selection policies

If you are interested in representing GBR, please read on!

The Foot O selection policies have been updated. Now included are the availability forms for athletes, which you should use to to declare your interest in being selected for GBR teams at international competitions this summer.

More details can be found here: www.britishorienteering.org.uk/Selection

Note that the process to select the World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) team is different to the others, with different deadlines, so please read that part of the policy carefully if you are interested in racing for GBR at WUOC.

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Share  Tweet Tuesday 13th November 2018

Athlete-Centred Coaching in Action

Six M/W15 juniors assembled in Stirling for a busy training weekend during October half-term as part of a British Orienteering learning pilot around youth retention. Lead coach Chris Smithard, a member of the British Senior Squad, welcomed the teenagers for the first of a series of three linked sessions during the winter.

"This programme is aiming to coach a small group of athletes in some of the advanced skills needed to perform to a high standard,” said Chris. “The small size of the group enables us to focus on the individual needs of each athlete”.

The first weekend looked at agreeing personal goals for 2019 and set the athletes a mix of sprint training, Night-O and forest-based training sessions in the Trossachs. Sprint training made use of online tools that can analyse route choices, comparing distances and providing insight into which routes would be the quickest. Night-O was held in Stirling town centre, with its steep slopes near the castle.

Moving to the forest, the group performed a technical exercise at Little Druim Wood, navigating out and back along the sloping terrain. “The exercise on running across slopes was new for me,” said one young athlete. “I was videoed by my support coach, which will help me analyse my terrain-running style”.

On the final morning, the group tackled two loops at the Trossachs, one of UK’s most challenging area, both physically & technically. 

Little Drum Wood Slopes Exercise

The aims and objectives of the pilot are to:

1. Learn more about the coaching and training needs of this mid-teenage age group, placed within the context of youth retention

2. Understand in greater detail the value of adopting an athlete-centred, relationship-based coaching approach

3. Appreciate and learn lessons from the logistics of running a small coaching group.


The programme will run from October to February and will be athlete-centred by offering individual 1-1 discussion time with each athlete, as well as group sharing after the training sessions. In addition to focusing on individual needs, the programme will also introduce the concept of “self-help” encouraging the young orienteers to take control of their own training needs and act on them.

Run as a pilot with the support of British Orienteering the intention is to develop further knowledge of how personalised coaching can support the retention of young people in the sport.

“We would like to encourage more athlete-centred coaching in future. All orienteers have different aspirations, pressures and circumstances, and it is important that the sport offers athletes a way forward that can adapt to their needs,” said Craig Anthony, Head of Development for British Orienteering.

The Every Junior Matters Youth Strategy can be viewed here.

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British Orienteering's Youth Strategy "Every Junior Matters" aims to attract and retain more young people in orienteering.

You can read the short and full versions of the strategy below:

 

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