Are our Elite spoiled brats or prima donnas?

[Gross]

Majority of the major elite races in GB in the build up to WOC 99 were organised away from BOF fixtures & any official WOC organisation (one reason , amongst many, that I referred to WOC 99 as a joke). Elite races were organised by people who knew the elite & in the right time & the right place..........

[Muddy Boots]

Yes, if entering a Level A event run in accordance with the rules, you can expect a litho printed map.

Not next Sunday at the southern champs according to the final details.

Which is presumably why the final details also say "Laser printed by Print5 by permission of British Orienteering". I take that to mean that Map Group has approved non-litho printed maps, which is what Appendix H allows it to do.

Almost all our orienteering maps are now digitally printed. So why does a club or association still have to go to the Map Group to use a digital print for a Championship event? Could this not just be a simple matter of a decision between the event Mapper and the Mapping Adviser who after all is appointed by the Map Group.

[AndyC]

1) because the rules say so (see my post above)
2) See comments about the improvement in clarity (was it you MHarky?)

[Spookster]

Almost all our orienteering maps are now digitally printed.

Which is fine, because almost all events are not Level A Championship events.

So why does a club or association still have to go to the Map Group to use a digital print for a Championship event? Could this not just be a simple matter of a decision between the event Mapper and the Mapping Adviser who after all is appointed by the Map Group.

Simply because the currently agreed rules say that it should be Map Group that make this decision. Of course rules can be reviewed, but in the mean time events need to use and follow them.

[Dave]

So why does a club or association still have to go to the Map Group to use a digital print for a Championship event? Could this not just be a simple matter of a decision between the event Mapper and the Mapping Adviser who after all is appointed by the Map Group.

If it was left to a club to decide, In the majority of cases they'd look at price and cop out giving people a poorer map.

[Muddy Boots]

Almost all our orienteering maps are now digitally printed.

Which is fine, because almost all events are not Level A Championship events.

Only in England as BO Rule I states 'Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales may opt to register their Area Championships as Level B events'. In which case the requirement to consult with the Map Group on the method of printing does not apply.

[JennyJ]

By the way, is Wharncliffe now a good enough area for them, as last time they didnt wish to take part at the British as it wasn't deemed a good enough area!?

I think this should be seen as a positive and not a negative. Another positive is that there are lots of elites helping!

[Freefall]

You jumped my post - I was just saying that we are litho printing for the Northern Championships (and will bear the loss) apart from 3 courses - White, Yellow and Long Orange. The juniors might blow away with an A3 map on a windy day like today. As we have done our bit, maybe YOU can do yours by turning up for a nice day out, no pressure, and perhaps impress on the M/W18 and 20 Elites what they have to look forward too (such as Nopesport threads).

[SeanC]

Oh, and how many people know that the 'elite' get discounted clothing and shoes - sees like the rest of us are subsidising them of ther £80+ shoes

Good idea purley1. I like the idea of clubs sponsoring elite athletes. If it was a voluntary scheme then a reasonable sized fund could be built up quite easily without the usual disagreements about levy fees etc. I think there are about 100 clubs, so assuming an average small club sponsors for £100 per year and a big club for £300 that would raise maybe 15K. No where near enough to replace the lost Sport England money but a useful sum nonetheless. From the clubs viewpoint that kind of sum is fairly small and will have negligable impact on the budget?

If the elite athlete could find some time for the club that would have benefits for the club. Perhaps writing an occasional article for the club newsletter - perhaps on why they choose to go to certain events and not others or what all the different international events are (it can't just be me who finds it a bit confusing)? Or some training tips? An occasional word of encouragement to some promising newcomer? Or some development ideas from abroad?

In my club, and several local clubs, the highest ranked person is about 500 on the list and about M45 in age and the elite world seems a long way away...

[Big Jon]

Interestingly enough there has never been history of anti-elite feeling in Scotland (until recent spat ). Not sure why, but I was regularly shocked by the intensity of anti-elite comments when working in England in '80s and '90s. My view has always been that everyone has a limited amount of time to commit to orienteering and for the elite this is spent on training and preparing for major races (WOC etc), later in life there is plenty of time for these elite to help the sport in different ways - and the vast majority do spend a lot of time coaching, planning, organising etc. A lot of elite runner's however, find time to help with orienteering activities while still committing vast amounts of time to competing, training etc. The elite have been and probably always will be at the forefront of the development of orienteering in Britain; they should be respected for this not pilloried.

[Freefall]

Hear, hear. Young Mark did a fine job promoting the sport for us on TV tonight.

[frog]

I agree, shame it didn't really show much actual orienteering just Mark casually jogging through the trees with a knackered looking bloke next to him. At least it showed top orienteers look like athletes not tubby scout leaders. As the programme only had a few minutes I suppose a detailed discussion of route choices, not going so fast your brain stops working etc was out of the window. We had the nighto programme for that I suppose.
5 years embargo seems OTT for the world champs. It was only 18 months since I ran at Dalrulzion and I couldn't remember any of it except the drive up there.
The mtb event was interesting, madder events than night orienteering do exist, made the Tio Mila look very wimpy in comparison.

[Freefall]

The programme is now on iPlayer. We are about 40 minutes into the show after lots of muddy folks falling over on bikes. Not too much influence over the content - there were things that we were asked to say and not say as well. Mark just did his own thing anyway.

[frog]

Asked to say and not say by who?

[Freefall]

Event Scotland are a major sponsor and have a lot of experience of big events e.g. Ryder Cup, Commonwealth Games. In consultation with the various stakeholders (British Orienteering, Scottish 6 Day Company, SOA) we discussed what was appropriate and were advised accordingly. We were never sure what might appear in the programme till we saw it last night.