How did you start Orienteering?

[Oldman]

I also didn't know that not visiting the controls disqualifies you - I was expecting just a time penalty, so was disappointed to be DQ'd at my second event a couple of weeks later.

Could one of the Rule nerds point me at the Rule which requires this? It is rarely observed or enforced as far as I can see, including not on Day 2 of the recent Welsh 6-day.

[EddieH]

What are you talking about? What rule

[Knee Deep Mud!]

I got my first taste of orienteering when a friend of the family dragged my parents along to a couple of events, and of course I got dragged along too. One yellow and one orange.

Parents weren't hooked, so there followed a seven year interlude, with no orienteering. However, most holidays & weekend car trips seemed to involve the parents giving me the map and saying 'You're navigating...' I built up a reputation for 'interesting' route choices!, and a love of maps. I wonder if the widespread introduction of sat nav is likely to reduce people's exposure to maps and navigation, and hence reduce the number of people who may get hooked when they stumble across orienteering?

The real start of my orienteering career when I went to Uni. Walking round the freshers fair looking for something to do I spotted the orienteering club stand, knew what it was, so signed up.

Notably, relatively few of us were any good*.

This quote pretty much sumed my uni club up. The vast majority had had no more than a taste of orienteering before going to uni. Yes it meant that Shuoc, or Leeds, or both, pasted us in all of the inter university competions, but it was a strength in terms of getting a lot of people coming to events. There were a lot of us beginners finishing events in similar times, so the competition was good, even if it was only between ourselves. I could navigate, but couldn't run, yet I was beating several people with fairly respectable 10k times. Post race debriefing in the pub meant the knowledge of those with more experience got passed down. Everybody improved at more or less the same pace, so the competition continued throughout my time there. I was hooked! Quite a few are still orienteering on an occasional basis, and I can think of at least eight of these who have been actively involved in planning and organising events, club committees etc. So whilst we might not have been at the elite end of the sport, we've provided a fair bit of grass roots input into the sport.

I don't know if it says something about orienteering, or just about the composition of the students at the uni, but despite being a uni noted for its sporting credentials, in my four years there, I can only remember one sports science student being in the club. The majority of us were engineers.

[ryeland of doom]

What happens if we let the wider public get hold of our maps?

The start of the 1969 Midlands Championships was outside a relative's house. He was given a map, and I used it to explore the forest, eventually realising that this was to do with that sport I once saw on Blue Peter.

Then my mother had to teach it, well it really involved running around the caffs of Ludlow, kicking the skivers who should have been up in in Bringewood, out. I read the KTG book and was ready for the time eventually I ended up in a school that went to events. First real event was in 1974.

[djc]

Cub scout leader was an orienteer. My Dad went as chauffeur for my brother and was hooked so we started going as a family. First event is lost in the mists of time...

[geomorph]

25% other.
Do we know what those 'others' are cos if we don't then any campaign will be losing out on a significant avenue of recruitment.

if you voted other... what was it?

[andy]

25% other.
Do we know what those 'others' are cos if we don't then any campaign will be losing out on a significant avenue of recruitment.

if you voted other... what was it?

I'm assuming the majority of 'other' voters are in the 'dragged along by family but quite enjoyed it' boat?

[geomorph]

25% other.
Do we know what those 'others' are cos if we don't then any campaign will be losing out on a significant avenue of recruitment.

if you voted other... what was it?

I'm assuming the majority of 'other' voters are in the 'dragged along by family but quite enjoyed it' boat?

assumptions......

hope its that simple

[andy]

assumptions......

hope its that simple

well I'm not assuming as much as you might think - there are a number of replies stating 'family' and not much else that might come under the 'other' category!

[geomorph]

assumptions......

hope its that simple

well I'm not assuming as much as you might think - there are a number of replies stating 'family' and not much else that might come under the 'other' category!

true

so the survey covers two aspects.
1. how were you made aware of orienteering
2. when you first participated, what was the type of orienteering involved

Also, whilst knowing how we enthusiasts started, is there going to be work done to canvas those on the margins,
and should we have a standard follow-up process for first timers

[SeanC]

I'm a little bit surprised that "university" was the winner of this poll. Any thoughts?

Is this due to some bias in the sample (only 65 out of 10000 orienteers)? Have more nopesporters than non-nopesporters started orienteering through uni for some reason?

Assuming the results are representative, how do we develop orienteering at universities? Most don't even have an orienteering club

[graeme]

I'm a little bit surprised that "university" was the winner of this poll. Any thoughts?

Didn't surprise me...

University is a great chance for people to get into new sports (and give up the ones they did at school). Better still since they choose to do so themselves, rather than via parents, they're more likely to stick with it.

What can we do? Recognise that University clubs deserve at least as much BOF "development" and "recruitment" attention as juniors. Probably more BOF-central effort, since while juniors are happy as part of a local club, Uni clubs succeed when they create their own image. e.g. a relatively small fund could allow any new Uni club to get their campus mapped.

[RogYoman]

there should be another option: In the womb

[Snail]

I'm a little bit surprised that "university" was the winner of this poll. Any thoughts?

Not surprised - but I wonder if there are actually less new people coming into the sport via that route now than there were in the past?

Seems to me that in recent years juniors partly make their choice of university on whether there is an active orienteering club. (Some notable exceptions.) Whereas in the past people chose more on the basis of course etc, and if there wasn't a club when they arrived, started one up. That approach appeared to result in far more active uni clubs than exist now, and possibly got more people into the sport overall.

Articles in Focus / CompassSport / #RC5 "selling" thriving uni clubs to existing orienteers can be a double-edged sword...