New 4-tier Event rules and guidlines

[greywolf]

Do we have names for the four levels? Names were considered very important to the sport when we switched from "badge" to "regional" and "colour-coded" to "district" a few years ago.

The new website has updated garbage for the 4 tier era:

"Types of Events
There are four types of orienteering events from Level A to Level D. Level A are Major Events such as a British Championships, Level B are high quality competitions for people wishing to travel, Level C are events in your Region and Level D are local to your Club. There are also Night Events, Relays and Score Events. Young children can also take part in string courses where they have their own map and follow a line of string which takes them around a set of controls marked by fun characters. Clubs also club training, summer evening events, Saturday morning events or come-and-try-it events. These can be a little less frequent than district events depending on how active the club is. All different types of local events are ideal for newcomers."

FFS

[Nimby]

Yes I skimmed all that before posting and couldn't see any kind of naming convention mentioned. Yet the FC agreement's table heading does seem rather definitive.

[Clive Coles]

My guess is that they avoided giving the levels titles so as to avoid folk thinking of old definitions.

[EddieH]

Greywolf's quote is utterly scintillating reading I am sure any newcomer reading that would understand it all at once.

It's as informative as this famous cricket description but sadly lacks the humour,

•You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
•Each man that's in the side that's in the field goes out and when he's out comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
•When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
•When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.
•Sometimes, there are men still in and not out.
•There are men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
•Depending on the weather and the light, the umpires can also send everybody in, no matter if they're in or out.
•When both sides have been in and all the men are out (including those who are not out), then the game is finished.

[SJC]

The FC Agreement uses A=Major, B=National, C=Regional, D=Local. Is that the new naming scheme?

It certainly looks far better A=National, B=Regional, C=District, D=Local, as District doesn't, and never had, any meaning in orienteering terms. (Dreamed up by a committee somewhere no doubt).

The new names also fit in with the way the fixtures are now scheduled, either by the club (D), region (C) or nationally (B).

[graeme]

Do we have names for the four levels?

tradition might suggest
A aquitani
B belgae
C celtae
* me, I'm with the Menhir delivery man...

[awk]

I can think of several instances in other sports where levels/categories are lettered/numbered without problems. I don't see why we need names - they are just as, and potentially more, confusing for newcomers as letters/numbers (is 'Major' bigger or less than 'National'? Why are regional leagues being hosted at National events, and yet National rankings being hosted at Regional events? And so on, and so on). Cat A, B, C and D races really aren't that difficult a concept to get one's head around, especially for a sport that is supposed to need a modicum of intelligence. If road cycllsts can hack it, then I'm sure orienteers can.

[SJC]

Why are regional leagues being hosted at National events, and yet National rankings being hosted at Regional events?

Perhaps this demonstrates some of the confused thinking that needs to be sorted out.

Regional leagues should be run at regional (level C) events.
The National rankings should be based on the results of national (level B) events.

In trying to be all things to all men (and women) the result has been to confuse rather than simplify, especially for newcomers to the sport.

[rebbid]

Redundant orienteering language is hard to eradicate. Regional events are still called badge events, the OMM is still the Karrimor, and controls are still punched.

However for those wishing to replace the random Orienteering english with something more logical, I propose the answer, and will solve the sport's funding crisis. A language levy ie:

Local: £0.10 (first 50 uses levy free)
Regional: £0.20
D1bber: £0.15
District: £2.50

[Clive Coles]

The trouble with meaningful labels is that they mean different things to different people.

I have no problem with Local for level D, after that there is confusion.

We didn't like District because the boundaries were indefinable.

We use Regional when we probably now mean Association ~ for example the Regional Championships and Regional Leagues

We are suggesting using National when we mean Area ~ for example the English Area Championships. (Northern, Midland and Southern areas). But the areas are not Nations.

We are suggesting we use Major when we mean British

And we have Scotland and Wales which are both Nations and Regions (in BOF terms).

I would give up ~ let's just call the levels A, B, C, D It's nice and simple and does no more than indicate a four level structure.

[Mrs H]

Oh but letters are so dull can''t help but think it's an opportunity wasted. Try saying it out loud:"I'm going to an A Event this weekend!" boring. Much better to say to your friends :"I'm going to a national event this weekend" and who knows if you say you're going to a local event they might ask if they can come with you.

It's a bit like naming your children. always try the names out by shouting them out in a crowded place and seeing how stupid you feel before you commit.

"TARQUIN!" "PETROX!"

How about
A. Huge!
B. Big!
C. Medium!
D. Small!

No not as names for children - but now you mention it I've got three that fit the bill

[AndyC]

how about animal names

Wolf,
Badger,
Fox
& Rabbit

come to mind.

Seriously I'm just going to keep turning up with my kit and "competing" and planning to a spec that fits the area and the competitors when I'm asked to.

[NeilC]

I'm going to an Awesome event this weekend or perhaps a Beast of an event. Nothing springs to mind for C and D at the moment.

[SeanC]

Oh but letters are so dull can''t help but think it's an opportunity wasted. Try saying it out loud:"I'm going to an A Event this weekend!" boring. Much better to say to your friends :"I'm going to a national event this weekend" and who knows if you say you're going to a local event they might ask if they can come with you.

If you use the competition name, or give the event a special name, you don't need to do this. I'm going to the Compass Sport Cup this weekend, and I have no idea what level it is.

However there are some events that are part of no competition or at least the competition is not the main point of the event, like our Level C event at Chelwood in Feb which is not a South East League event, though I guess we could call it the "Chelwood National Ranking event".

[Clive Coles]

If you want something that means something to all comers call it the Chelwood Open2all event