How did you start Orienteering?

[Gross]

Look out for the adult evening classes in orienteering:) Starting from a big zero... it should be easy to show a massive increase in participation by this route & keep the funding bodies happy:)

[graeme]

Of interest: U out in front..... but of the U's how many started there in the last 10 years?

Not me. Its now 27 years since I signed up for OUOC at freshers fair ... and then woke up hungover two hours too late to go . It took another three years before I actually went to an event.

I have in front of me our club photo from 1987
Some stats...

of the 27 people about half hadn't orienteered before Uni. I've seen 16 of them at events in the last five years (i.e. they stuck with the sport for at least 15 years). 4 others I know moved overseas.

I can think of another four OUOCers still active who didn't show up for the photo that day: my wife, my son's godmother, someone I was best man for and someone who now lives in the next street!

Notably, relatively few of us were any good*. I think there is just one junior squaddie, one person who made top-10 at JK/BOC elite and one other who ran WOC. They've all given up.

I'm failing to think of anyone who started with EUOC in the last ten years.

Graeme

* Of course, with 20 years of practice some of them are now a bit more competent.

[Steve O]

School.... was attracted by the big orange Dala Horse that was the Scottish Schools Team Prize:)

Ah, the big horse. Did you ever win it and get presented with it at your school prizegiving?

[greywolf]

"How" is all very well but "Why" might be more informative / helpful / random

I've started orienteering several times

the first time, 25 years ago, was cos I fancied someone who was a keen (family indoctrinated) orienteer - it didn't get me anywhere and i don't think they orienteer anymore or *looks around nervously* post on Nopesport

the most recent time, 2006, was to give me some motivation to quit smoking after 20+ years - so far so good!

[Scott]

I have in front of me our club photo from 1987
Some stats...

In the knowledge that I'll shortly be arrested for breaching the Data Protection Act, here is a summary of the orienteering backgrounds of the 32 members that OUOC had on its books for 2007/8:

• 5 current or former British squaddies
• 3 others with Start Squad and/or BOF Junior Tour experience
• 3 foreigners with JWOC experience (one Dane, one Swede and one Australian)
• 7 others who orienteered regularly before arriving at Oxford - most with their families, one with his school, a couple I'm not sure about
• 3 who orienteered occasionally before arriving at Oxford (including one who's now a US Squad member)
• 2 with some limited orienteering experience (Scouts etc)
• 4 who've been converted from cross-country running (including another who's now a US Squad member)
• 2 who've been roped in by boyfriends/girlfriends
• 3 fairly random novices, who are still firmly in the punter category (including myself)

[I think those figures are right, but no doubt distracted will be along to correct them shortly.]

I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from that. Targeting bored XC runners seems to be a good bet: we get at least one a year, and once hooked they tend to be so keen that they've accounted for three of the club's last four presidents. Dragging along your spouse also seems to be reasonably effective - perhaps BOF should be making more of an effort to discourage orienteers from inbreeding?

I'm not sure what can be done to get more randomers in - I have absolutely no idea what convinced me to give the sport a go (I'd never heard of it before arriving in Oxford), though I remember that Miss Manning did a good job of making it sound fun at the Freshers' Fair, and that everyone was very friendly on the bus on the way to my first event. Any suggestions for Magic Fresher-Recruitment Schemes would be very welcome...

I think the club's main achievement, though, has been keeping most of those with prior recreational orienteering experience (ie those who hadn't been through the BOF Squad/Tour system) involved in the sport - I'm sure that many of these would not have continued orienteering if the club's minibus hadn't made it so easy for them to get to an event every weekend. We now just have to hope that they'll find the time to continue in the sport once they enter the real world...

Edited repeatedly to correct stupid late-night grammar.

[greywolf]

Think that "bored XC runners" made up a far greater proportion of OUOC in the mid-80s, much to the disdain of some "proper" orienteers

[SYO Member]

I started orienteering at school in Harrogate in the winter of 1969-70 aged 14. There were 2 older boys already in AIRE who occasionally were allowed to put out o-courses at Birk Crag/Harlow Hill on games afternoons for the ten or so interested pupils and for which we used an OS 1:25,000.

The 2 AIRE members then produced a Black/Brown 1:10,560 o-map of the area which we continued to use, and in 1971 I created a black and white map of a small piece of rough open common land near the school which we also ran on. It ended up having houses built on it.

There were 2 teachers who became interested in orienteering and would later give up their Sunday's to take us to events. My first proper event was an EBOR Come-and try-it at Bishop Wood, Selby in November 1970 at which in a pair, I did an Advanced Beginner's course of 5.0 km. using a 1:20,000 Black/Blue map (it's a flat area).

The next one was an AIRE/Bradford University National event at Wharncliffe in February 1971 where I did a Wayfinders course (equivalent to White or Yellow now) of an incredible 5.5 km. In those days of course, the concepts of Risk Assessments, Health and Safety and CRB checks hadn't yet been invented and I recall being driven down the M1 in a teacher's clapped out car (no seat belts of course), whose bonnet catch had a nasty habit of coming undone.

There was a PE teacher who I thought suspected that we favoured orienteering in order to get out of playing rugby, but his suspicions must have been allayed when we met by chance while he was on holiday in Callendar and I was at the 1973 JK.

Five of us who started orienteering at school are still orienteering now in EPOC, AIRE, NOC, RAFO and SYO and when we meet up at events, I always think how fortunate we were to have been given such a great opportunity at a young age all those years ago.

[Familytaxi driver]

My daughter + later my on started when they went to High School at age 11 as there is an active club there. Daughter faded out in the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001 but son had started aged around 10 follow daughter to local events. Husband joined in to shadow and later transport son - so he decided he may as well have a go whilst he was there.
I felt it would be too hard and I'd make a fool of myself and I wasn't fit enough to run anywhere so didn't bother to try.
We'd always done lots of hillwalking and yes the key thing - I love maps. Last year daughter left for uni and I realised I'd have to join in or be left home alone a lot. So armed with the excuse of having had a back injury 12 months before so I wasn't fit I had a go. Loved it and am now working on progressing and getting fitter. Once son leave home OH and I will carry on so it's probably the reverse of "Family" in that the children dragged us along.

[Red Adder]

Seems to me like common factors (if we ignore coercion within the family / school environment ) are a combination of a basic love of maps and/or running and/or
outdoor activity and meeting a person who is already in the sport and has the skill to pass on their enthusiasm for it.

We know that there are a lot of people in the first group out there, we have to provide the people from the latter to spread the word. Perhaps we should get those clever Koreans from stop messing about with cloning bulldogs for deluded Americans and start producing lots of Mrs H's - about 1 per county should do it.

[brooner]

I'm failing to think of anyone who started with EUOC in the last ten years.

There was a few over the years I was there (krocks is certainly hooked ), and perhaps a fair few more over recent years?

I started through a mix, mainly thanks to a very active school club (or rather, a very active headteacher) which took me away to four evening events (& 4 DNF's - controls kept going missing!) and then the highland schools champs. Winning this resulted in free membership of INVOC along with a pack promoting upcoming events. I dragged my dad and a couple of my friends along to a few of these, and both my dad & I were hooked. Although he doesn't orienteer still I'm still going 15 years on. I'm pretty sure the McCarthy's started in a similar fashion through the Highland Schools Competitions, along with a few others who've started out with INVOC over the years.

I think the crucial bits here were the combination of Enthusiastic School Teachers + Good local club involvement with school competitions.

[distracted]

I think the crucial bits here were the combination of Enthusiastic School Teachers + Good local club involvement with school competitions.

I think the latter, and more generally a set of strong school-club links, is key for those who get introduced to orienteering at school and want to take it further. There must be a proportion of children who are formally introduced to orienteering at school, and enjoy it, but don't have the means of taking things further - I'd guess the main problem for those whose parents aren't involved is transport. I wonder what the uptake would be like if a club laid on some transport for "newcomers" e.g. a minibus doing shuttles to a local event from an easily-accessible meeting point?

My first taste of orienteering was through the annual county scout competition, in which the level of navigational ability displayed by most seemed to be far below what you'd expect... It didn't go much beyond that - I remember looking at a fixtures list once or twice and thinking how far away and inaccessible most of the events were. However, I get to uni and there's a minibus going to an event most weekends, and that barrier is removed...

[andy]

I think the crucial bits here were the combination of Enthusiastic School Teachers + Good local club involvement with school competitions.

I think the latter

My experience was the opposite, pretty much solely because of a very enthusiastic PE teacher at school.

[King Penguin]

School - but like FamilyTaxiDriver as a parent.
Early in our eldest's first term after changing school at 11 he asked if I'd take him to a local Sunday morning event, where he won Yellow. After a couple of weeks of this I realised they were not just schools events and thought I might as well try it myself rather than just hanging around while he ran.
When I was his age my own school didn't do orienteering, but they do now and they took a group to the O-Ringen this year.
I never got round to trying it at Uni, even though there was (and is) an active club, as I was too busy canoeing, fell-walking and climbing. However, I have now joined the alumni club.

[madmike]

Got asked (thanks Mick L) to make up a 4-man team for an RAF event as they were one short for a competitive team. I was asked on the grounds that I had been a good cross country/10 000m runner some 9.5 years before. Only snag was the good runner weighed 144 lbs and the bloke asked to make up the numbers weighed 182 lbs

Had a go on that Wednesday afternoon and was hooked. Ran a Brown on the following Sunday and an M21L the week after (in over 3 hrs as I didn't understand the IOF control descriptions couldn't read the map and was too fat to run much).

Now orienteered in 11 diferent countries and can run M21Ls in only 2 hrs and 58 mins

[Angry Haggis]

I started by spotting a poster in my local pool advertising the Edinburgh and Lothian summer evening series - on it was the list of contacts for clubs in the area. I had done a couple of permanent score courses with my family over the previous few years while on family holidays in Moray, so I kind of knew what to expect.

I was also looking, at the time, for a sport to do for the Physical Recreation section of the DofE award, and orienteering looked easy as all you had to do was turn up to a few events (and run very slowly - the slower I ran, the fewer events I needed to go to to qualify.) Met up with the club president in the car park for my first event and they showed me how it all works.

The only confusing experience was the start flag not being at the start line, so I immediately made a parallel error. To this day, it still strikes me as odd that the two aren't in the same place - the elites had a ~500m sprint from their start line to the start control on Day 4 of the French this year. 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.

Spent the first few years attending the same events as, and getting thoroughly beaten by, some guy four years younger than me called Murray.