How Orienteering's Elite can inspire our youngsters

[Sunlit Forres]

Moravian have just held the first event Moray & Highland Junior Champs at our regional event at Culbin. We were very lucky to have the GB Junior Squad using the event as part of their pre-JWOC training week.

With coaches Jason Inman and Gareth Candy's backing, we got the elites involved. They mixed with the local kids after their runs and presented the trophies. In all my years of orienteering I don't think I've ever sensed such an electric air of excitment amongst a group of juniors, many who were doing mainstream orienteering for the first time. Here's a quote from the local press:

"The event culminated in a star-studded awards ceremony. The majority of the GB Under-21 Squad had stayed behind after their race to mix with and congratulate the junior competitors. You could almost touch the sense of pride and excitement as the winners stepped up to the podium to receive their awards from young men and women who were competing at this level only a few years ago and have now gone on to represent their country on the world stage."

The purpose of this post is two-fold. First I would like to publicly thank the Junior Squad for entering into the spirit of it all, particularly Julia Blomquist, Hazel Wright, Jamie Stevenson, Ali McLeod and Rebecca Harding. Second I just want to make the point that this is the way we need to go if we're to get orienteering the kudos it deserves amongst our young people. As somebody pointed out in the thread yonks ago about the Moray Mix weekend, It's one sure-fire way of banishing the image of orienteering as rucksacs, cagoules and map cases for ever.

For anyone interested, there's a stack of photos on http://www.moravianorienteering.org

[frog]

It looked like an excellent turnout. I agree seeing the elites can motivate kids more than just watching their parents finish nowhere in particular. My son chose Scott fraser as his sporting icon (or something like that, can't remember exactly what it was) at school and wrote a bit about him. Seeing Scott at various events meant that the name meant something to him and he could see how much faster the elites go.