British Sprint Championships takes place in Skelmersdale, Lancashire on the 21 & 22 August.

If you have not yet booked, then hurry as entries close in 6 days time!

The closing date for entries to both the Relay and Individual events is midnight on Sunday 8 August.  Entries are being taken online only and via Fabian4. 

There will be no entries available for Championship courses after this date.

Orienteering is an outdoor sport that involves participants following a course marked on a map and finding their way to a series of checkpoints.  It is up to participants to decide which way to go, which is all part of the fun and sets it apart from just a walk or run. 

Orienteering is very well placed to offer individual or family-friendly adventurous challenges for all ages and abilities.  From courses with permanent markers to discover, to virtual courses that you can complete with your smartphone or GPS watch, there has never been a better time to start your next outdoor adventure with orienteering. 

With over 500 Permanent and Virtual Orienteering Courses across the UK which one are you going to enjoy this week? 

Find out more here:  www.goorienteering.org.uk

Report by Richard Tiley, Lakeland Orienteering Club (LOC)       

Following the 2018 Talent Pathway Review then this year British Orienteering and Junior Regional Orienteering Squads (JROS) agreed to hold Badaguish as a 15s camp and Deeside as a 16s camp.

Due to COVID then the normal Badaguish (Aviemore) week was rearranged as a long weekend split between Stirling & Crieff.  The format was for a practical session during the day followed by an evening Teams review.

The government has issued new guidance for the national lockdown in England, which comes into force on Tuesday 5 January.

The guidance states that:

• Outdoor exercise is still permitted but should be limited to once per day.
• You can exercise in a public outdoor place:
  • by yourself.
  • with the people you live with.
  • with your support bubble (if you are legally permitted to form one).
  • in a childcare bubble where providing childcare.
  • or, when on your own, with one person from another household.
• Outdoor exercise should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space). If you need to travel you should stay local – meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live – and look to reduce the number of journeys you make overall.
• All outdoor sports clubs, centres, venues and facilities will close, alongside indoor facilities.
• Organised outdoor sport for disabled people is allowed to continue, and we will provide further detail on this once we have information from the Government.

All organised orienteering activities, including events, competitions, leagues and coaching, are therefore suspended with immediate effect (except for orienteering for disabled people, on which we will provide further information in due course).

POCs and VOCS

POCs and VOCs can still be used for individual exercise. Courses should be registered with British Orienteering as activities to provide insurance cover for the club and planner. They must not be used for competitions or leagues.

We would recommend that you add any courses on to the British Orienteering POC portal via your club POC Manager or contact nweir@britishorienteering.org.uk

The full national lockdown: stay at home guidelines are available on the UK government website.

Guidance for orienteering clubs

Up to date support and guidance for UK orienteering clubs is available via our COVID page.