Is Orienteering a sport?

[seabird]

It's dreadful being picky over any publicity that we achieve - but when I read the Express article the bits that came through to me were that strolling around in family groups was primarily what orienteering is about - even down to tortoise and hare type comparisons such as the suggestion that runners lose out as the walkers read the map better. The picture had a nice family group sat down poring over a map.

Another article possibly aimed at "the family" - but not to athletes!

[RJ]

If this publicity attracts 'families'..... then great. There is certainly plenty of room for more families at our events. You can't expect the advertising, the newspaper story, to attract ALL those you would like to come along to the sport. But it will attract some people.

The basic work on attracting new people into the sport is done on our own doorstep. We, the clubs design the image/message that we want to convey, and deal with the specific influx of new people that we generate. Urban races with 'athletes' racing about the streets will attract runners, or at least build awareness amongst runners. Promotion in schools, and holding school events will also provide new members.

We have several excellent models being constructed by many clubs around the country, with new members coming into the sport. Keep it going.

It doesn't matter what the publicity is.... it is all good. The Express article will attract people. Your report in your local paper will increase awareness in your local community. That is all we can expect.

Having events that are regular, frequent, accessible and fun will attract and KEEP new members. Start with your event programme.... and then through reporting on your events you will increase awareness.

[Mrs H]

Malvern Gazette Friday Oct 8th: Top left hand corner BACK PAGE and referred to as "Hartmann" in headline and story - that MUST mean it's definitely a sports story

[SeanC]

You can't just rely on the clubs though. There is a role for the centre or regions. Many clubs don't have a publicity officer and I suspect this is because the work is hard and sometimes unrewarding. Many failures might be needed before there is success and volunteers need support to get to the success phase as soon as possible.

BOF has done some good work with the print portal etc. but there needs to be a much higher priority IMHO. For example we have many committees for the product of Orienteering ... rules, coaching, maps... but none for publicity ( I know it's part of the development committees remit). There are coaching courses, and mapping courses, but nothing on publicity. This comes back to us though providing some money. Would we, to fund more than a part time marketing officer?

I wonder how much of a commercial organisations time and money is spend on advertising and promotion? 10 - 20 - 30 %?

[andypat]

You can't just rely on the clubs though. There is a role for the centre or regions. Many clubs don't have a publicity officer and I suspect this is because the work is hard and sometimes unrewarding.

A bit of an aside, but I had the "job" of publicity officer for Clyde for a couple of years. Mostly this involved organising the set up of a new website. The problem with local newspapers (from my point of view) was that our geographical area covers Glasgow and several smaller towns including 5 different council areas. I found it too time-consuming to try and keep tabs on around 10-15 different local papers including the freebies and even the National results barely make it into the Herald. My local paper in Renfrewshire doesnt want to know about the Clyde event in West Dunbartonshire for example, but ran a nice story on the Sprint selection races in Erskine (together with a slightly made up quote from the controller).

http://www.clydesideorienteers.org.uk/home/news/paisley-and-renfrewshire-gazette-article-on-recent-erskine-woc-selection-ra/

For our club the best solution is probably the one we are trying now which is enabling members to send copy to their own local paper. Its not too difficult and they more or less printed this word for word (and on the sports page!)

[Mrs H]

Sean - years ago I offered to do some publicity work for BOF on a voluntary basis - I was told in these precise terms - and I quote:" If we thought it was a good idea we'd get someone in", by which I construed "someone paid" but in any case it wasn't deemed "a good idea". BOF Central are of course perfectly at liberty to think I wouldn't be any good at it and I cerainly don't need telling twice but I don't think publicity has ever been seen as a priority at BOF Central.

Fortunately I have found a much more rewarding niche thanks to Ravinous who has given me a platform on which to stand my free cannon and I continue to promote the sport locally which is also fun.

[seabird]

Basically agree RJ - but it would be great if the main theme of our publicity was the achievement of sporting excellence, with the sport's inclusiveness - which is a wonderful feature of orienteering - being an important secondary theme. Rather than vice versa.

The photo in the Express was too reminiscent of all these photos about so-called orienteering in the link from one of the first posts on this thread.

[graeme]

I don't think publicity has ever been seen as a priority at BOF Central.

I thought the local coverage they* got for the JK was not only excellent, but concentrated on the most important thing in the sport: me .

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/ ... ticle.html

Background to this article: my dad (football fan who doesn't really think O is a sport...) met the reporter Mark Jenkin (sub-71 half marathoner) at a game and mentioned I liked running and was coming down to the JK. Mark got interested and 'phoned me, I tried passing him on to BOF/DevonOC but he seemed more interested in the "local" angle. Almost everything in the article is a misquotation of what I told him, much of it is plain wrong. But the tone is right, so IMO thats good enough. I almost persuaded Mark to come to Cookworthy, but in the end he opted to stay dry.

[Scott]

I think I mostly agree with Seabird. I don't really understand how publicising orienteering as a wander round at your own pace, walkers often beat runners sport is going to make it more appealing to "the family" anyway.

I spent a long time as a referee in junior football leagues, and in the (much) hazier past I competed in junior cross-country and rugby, and my recollection is that highly competitive sport is exactly what many small children (and their parents) are looking for. The government is even on a big push for more competitive sports in schools, which orienteering is going to be involved in.

As graeme says, that JK article is a superb example of how publicity can be done:

For those unaware of the sport's unique appeal, orienteering is loved by fans for its test of mind and body.

Setting off at two-minute intervals, athletes must find their way around a course, reaching various markers with the help of a map and compass.

The top athletes dash between checkpoints to complete the course in the quickest possible time.

Ackland, who first tried the sport while at university, said: "Most people spend a fair bit of time lost on the course.

"You've got to think and you've got to run fast.

"But you mustn't run so fast that your brain goes to mush because then you get lost and you lose time. You basically run at 90%.

"It's pretty wearing but it's not quite as tiring as running a marathon where you're in bits for days afterwards.

"The fact you have to think saves a little bit on the legs."

The promise of some high-pressure map reading has certainly attracted people from far and wide for the annual event.

...

"The best orienteerers actually have to be world-class runners.

"One of the guys was the fastest 5k runner in Scotland a couple of years ago."

Ackland himself has an excellent pedigree in athletics having clocked 2-38 for the London Marathon when aged 40.

However, the sport is popular with people of all ages and abilities. This weekend there will be several competitors aged over 80, including one woman in the 85-plus category.

While Graeme and his wife will be competing in the over-45s, their son James goes in the 10 to 12 age group.

Usually staged in mountains and wooded areas, orienteering has given Ackland, a physics professor at Edinburgh University, the opportunity to explore many scenic rural areas in the UK and beyond.

[Scott]

It seems to me that we spend a lot of effort at the moment trying to persuade people that orienteering isn't too difficult/hardcore/strenuous for them to enjoy. I'm just not sure that there are many people who think that in the first place.

Thinking about it, I would be happy if BOF were to pay some money (within reason) to a proper market research organisation (YouGov or similar) to find out (a) what the general public's current perceptions of orienteering are and (b) given a description of orienteering actually involves, what kind of people would be interested in trying it. Then maybe we could target our (rather limited) national publicity resources more effectively. Unfortunately I have no idea how much that would actually cost, and I suspect it may be beyond our current budget...

[Becks]

Hadn't read that JK article before, think the pitch is pretty much perfect.

A local photographer came to one of the AIRE events during the snowy winter this year, as Orienteering was one of the few things not cancelled, and he was amazed at how difficult it was to capture people as they "move so fast all over the place." Unfortunately he did get me:

http://bradfordtelegraphandargus.newsprints.co.uk/view/13905341/heatonorienteeringms2_jpg

Along with some other photos - you can search "orienteering" under keywords to get them.

[EddieH]

that's a great photo Becks

[PhilJ]

we are lucky to have a publicity officer in the club and we often get articles written in the paper - South Wales Evening Post

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Silver-medal-joy-Kristian/article-2403232-detail/article.html

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Katie-stars-Scotland/article-2658371-detail/article.html

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Park-paths-cash-injection/article-2715357-detail/article.html

However when we tried the Western Mail - Wales' National paper...usual response...we don't cover orienteering. I did send a snotty email to the paper's editor...nothing. So my advice stay local.

[PhilJ]

Does BO have a portfolio of photos that we can use for publicty? Is Caroline Povey back in work yet (I know I can call but it is 18:00 on a Friday night).

I have taken the role of publicity officer for CROESO 2012 (aswell as lots of other exciting roles ).

I am after some generic photos but don't want to breach any copyright. I know Rob Lines may have some and can request some from him, but I am also after some of a vibrant assembly field, elite runners - running quickly in fabulous terrain etc..They must have some as there are plenty of good photos that appear in the Focus each edition, time to share them?

[AlanB]

Hadn't read that JK article before, think the pitch is pretty much perfect.

A local photographer came to one of the AIRE events during the snowy winter this year, as Orienteering was one of the few things not cancelled, and he was amazed at how difficult it was to capture people as they "move so fast all over the place." Unfortunately he did get me:

http://bradfordtelegraphandargus.newsprints.co.uk/view/13905341/heatonorienteeringms2_jpg

Along with some other photos - you can search "orienteering" under keywords to get them.

Unfortunately??? That photo sums up perfectly what the sport is about (plus the play aspect I was talking about earlier).

Like others, I am not too sure about stressing this angle that orienteering is 'a stroll in the park'. You can stress the competitive/running nature of the sport whilst also making it clear that it is open to all abilities.

I am probably towards the lower end of the ability range in my age class, but what still attracts me to the sport is the competitive nature of it. I compete against the terrain, the course planner and my previous performances, as well as my fellow competitors. When I get home I can't wait to see the results posted so I can see if I have beaten someone new, or whether I am nearer to one of my longstanding 'targets'. Similarly, as some of you may have noticed, I eagerly anticipate the ranking points being released so that I can judge may latest performance against an 'objective' measure.

We do need to market the elite, competitive nature of our sport but we also need to stress that the competitive aspect exists at all levels. People at all levels of ability are attracted to competitive sport; that is true for elite athletes but also to, like I was, unfit and overweight* 50-somethings who haven't competed in any for years. Being 'inclusive' and highly competitive aren't mutually exclusive.

*although this is getting better all the time, thanks largely to me wanting to compete.