a quick vitriole courtesy of the N.O.C

[mharky]

2nd: regarding the doubling in price: if you get on a bus on a Monday, you don't expect the price to be double than that charged on the Friday without prior notice. Effectively this is what we got.

Is it, or did you actually get a fantastically cheap bus one September, and the following September you got a very reasonably priced bus...

[Kitch]

hello everyone, it's your favourite hate figure again! And guess what? I'm not going away!

do people hate you ?
thats very sad

[andypat]

I guess youve probably put the kybosh on your club getting any sort of a deal for the next wee while though.

[HilaryQ]

Rants written at silly-o’clock are hardly worth responding to, but Ba-Ba’s facts are simply incorrect. In the same way that this year’s invoice doesn’t show the charges that I’ve waived, similarly invoice no. 924, issued to Dave Abrams on 1/9/09, did not show a charge for Achlean because your group were putting the controls out for me. Absence of an item on the invoice proves nothing.

As those who attended the coaching weekend a few days later will confirm, the controls were in the right place, but for over half you had used WRONG NUMBERS, which totally stuffed the coaching exercise. That’s why you weren’t offered that option this year.

[Sunlit Forres]

If this were football there's be some charges of bringing the game in to disrepute.

[Scott]

Great! Orienteering desperately needs to grow the number of university-age orienteers.

Indeed - student clubs are great both for bringing new people blood into the sport and for retaining some of those M/W18s who are leaving the sport in droves.

Sadly, though, there are a lot of grown-up orienteers who do see subsidised student entry fees and BOF support for student clubs as a waste money, and this kind of public rant isn't going to help to convince them otherwise.

[Becks]

(Can I just add that while I think an effort should be made to keep student fees with Junior fees across the board at BOF, I would happily have paid £20 for a week of excellent training and find that cost totally reasonable).

[Mrs H]

Yes Nic hasn't done himself or his club many favours here, but totally irrespective of this particular matter I am generally concerned about the level of support being given to this demographic group.

We had a BOF University Development Officer for a very short time which I would consider a pretty essential post - and then we didn't. (and yes I have already talked to Ed about this whom I'm hopeful is going to do something about filling the hole).

I have felt for some time that the M/W20s are being actively marginalised within the sport, as of this year they no longer count for the YBT and what with the down grading of the FCC and the cutting back of various national junior tours, unless they are in the squad there appears to be fewer rather than more opportunities for them to encouraged be within the sport.

Perhaps some formal support of training opportunities like this might be a way of redressing the balance, as Spookster says perhaps from local club level, but perhaps also regional and BOF level as well.

[awk]

3rd. Regarding Blanka, Awk etc. moaning about student subsidies: See spooksters'/Becks' comments regarding getting new people into the sport.

If you read my postings, you will see that, rather than moaning about student subsidies, I am completely in favour of them. Please get your facts right.