Diluting the brand

[Glucosamine]

Grauniad on Saturday:
"Alex Ranson, also 11, said: 'when you think of summer camps you think of boring things like orienteering, dreary things that your parents make you do because that's what they had to do. This is much more lively and fun'".

Good luck to Alex at his Rock Sessions summer camp, but this seems to say something about how the outdoor education industry may still be corrupting the perception of our sport in the UK. Does this happen in other countries? Hopefully some positive press coverage from the Scottish Six Day for the more competitive end of the spectrum might help redress the balance.

[mharky]

Suspicious, what 11 year old uses the word 'dreary'?

[ifititches]

It wouldn't be surprising for a young person who already orienteers, as it sounds as though Alex does with his family, to be a bit put out if their "exciting" outdoor activities holiday featured a some basic orienteering; my daughter was sometimes asked to take on the orienteering tuition whan she went to one outdoor centre as a tennager, because she'd done it before! I guess any sport done at a non-specialist summer camp by some-one who's already involved in the sport is going to feel a bit dumbed-down to them.

Maybe the junior group who've been to the pre-6-days training camp in Scotland should write a letter to the Guardian, giving a more enthusiastic review, with reference to all the brilliant events of this summer; chances are the Guardian would publish it and perhaps Alex would be inspired to aim for the British O team!

[Copepod]

I'm not familiar with Rock Sessions summer camps, but perhaps they are rock music related, rather than rock climbing related? Anyway, if that's the case, it's sad that children are sent to either music or outdoor activity camps, when they could be integrated, with session of sports, music, art, natural history, whatever...

Over the past 5 or so years, I've run 22 - 29 children's activity birthday parties a year at a country park, with about a third including orienteering, often 1 session of orienteering with another session of pond dipping / den building / running round woods & Iron Age earthworks etc. I hope that the children who attended, mostly 5 to 8 years old, enjoyed the experience - and the feedback forms and comments on leaving seem to confirm they did.

There is always a need to adapt sessions to the audience, and it is difficult to accommodate a range from experienced orienteers to beginners who've never even handled a map before - any experienced orienteering child will be disappointed, and it's a bit tough to expect them to teach less experienced children, instead of getting a good session themself.