Premier League Orienteering

[Sunlit Forres]

Are you an elite orienteer (male or female) but either too old or not quite good enough to have a chance of running in WOC2015? If so you won't be affected by the WOC embargo in Forres and might be able to help.

On Tuesday 17th July I'm running an orienteering day in Grant Park & Cluny Hill (Forres) for Scottish Premier League team Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Caley are managed by former England captain Terry Butcher, and the session's part of their pre-season build up.

The day will be quite intense, focusing on simple, competitive orienteering at a high tempo during the morning with some team-building races in the afternoon (eg Harris Relay). We're involving the Forres Soccer 7s Club who have a new pavilion and changing rooms in the park.

We had some filming planned for last month with Scottish TV News tied in to a schools event, but this was cancelled by the school due to bad weather. The STV producer, David McKeith, was still keen to do something and sent me the following request:

"it might be better to come up with something which showcases the upsurge in interest on a grander scale .. ie with adults discvoering it for the first time etc, or perhaps some of our shining stars of the sport."

With that in mind I've invited him to cover our day with Caley Thistle, and he's keen to come. So to fulfil the 'shining stars' bit I'd very much like to have a few top orienteers on hand to give the right impression. We're got plenty of orienteers in Moray but (with one or two exceptions) not of the right kind!

The plan will be to let the Soccer 7s kids (and there are 200 of them in Forres Soccer 7s) watch the players going through their paces in the morning and then do some of the sessions under the supervision of their coaches during the afternoon when we do the team-building stuff with the footballers in the forested section of Cluny Hill. We're training up the Soccer 7s coaches up to run the orienteering themselves and do the e-timing.

There's the potential for some great publicity. To quote Terry Butcher:

STV is no problem for us and the boys will be pleased to do whatever is required with the TV company and the children. We will probably be going to Lossiemouth for a couple of nights so the Tuesday would be brilliant as it is local too.

Will confirm everything when I can but we are really looking forward to the day and to help put orienteering on the map!

Ideally I'd like an elite team of 3, but I'm happy to take more. Please pm me if you're interested and I'll let you have some more details.

PS - Forres Soccer 7s have offered to co-ordinate a 7-a-side football tournament for visiting orienteering clubs during Moray 2013 so you'd better get in training.

[andy]

Clashes with WOC middle final, so you'll have lost a few potentials through that.

[andypat]

Sounds like a great initiative. Hope you manage to get hold of some suitably eliteish persons to help out. When Mharky did that thing with Freefall last year and Dougie Vipond it did give it a much more credible look (no offence to Freefall...)

[plain lazy]

Sunlit Forres this sounds like a fantastic opportunity for the sport in Moray, well done! Our new Regional Development Officer will be able to use this as a great marketing tool for further development in the North East!

[andypat]

Sunlit Forres this sounds like a fantastic opportunity for the sport in Moray, well done! Our new Regional Development Officer will be able to use this as a great marketing tool for further development in the North East!

Actually wouldn't she and her's think about going along - pretty much fit the bill of what SF is looking for?

[Sunlit Forres]

I thought that Jess was off to a wedding sometime around then. Anyway, wouldn't she be embargoed from running round Grant Park? BTW, Plain Lazy, I'm not so sure whether Aberdeen FC are good enough to cope with a day's orienteering (if that's what you meant). The route choice at Pittodrie is Route 1 every time.

[plain lazy]

BTW, Plain Lazy, I'm not so sure whether Aberdeen FC are good enough to cope with a day's orienteering (if that's what you meant). Their idea of route choice is Route 1 and little else.

Haha, true...

[Meat Market]

BTW, Plain Lazy, I'm not so sure whether Aberdeen FC are good enough to cope with a day's orienteering (if that's what you meant). Their idea of route choice is Route 1 and little else.

Haha, true...

I think the (ex) Aberdeen players prefer more sedentary pursuits

[plain lazy]

I think the (ex) Aberdeen players prefer more sedentary pursuits

Hahaha... that's hilarious!

Darren Mackie is a legend... "My favourite book is Lord of the Rings although I haven’t read the book I have watched the films.The book must be good because the films are so good"

[Sunlit Forres]

Darren Mackie also played for Caley for a while - pretty average and didn't last long. I'd have though he should be OK with maps though, especially colourful ones with pictures in.

[graeme]

Isn't Reading Champions a soccer opportunity nowadays?

[Sunlit Forres]

Ideally I'd like an elite team of 3, but I'm happy to take more. Please pm me if you're interested and I'll let you have some more details.

I guess that's a "no" then - I do realise it's a weekday and Forres isn't exactly the sport of place anyone's likely to be passing through so it wasn't entirely unexpected.I'm sure I can persuade Eddie Harwood whose love of football knows no bounds.

[Roomungous]

This is the event that Freefall has posted elsewhere that should have some airtime on STV news tonight at around 6-6.30 pm . Sunlit Forres seemed positive about how the day had gone, but the footballers couldn't manage all the exercises he had planned as they ran out of puff during the morning session.