World University Champs

[rascrutt]

WUOC starts tomorrow in Estonia and GB is sending a strong team. It's a pity BOF hasn't managed to get anything up on its website yet. No pressure, guys, but how about one of those Gold medals? The very best of luck to everyone.

[Oldman]

WUOC starts tomorrow in Estonia and GB is sending a strong team. It's a pity BOF hasn't managed to get anything up on its website yet.

Is it just me, or would others rather that BOF used its resources on things that have more definite and tangible benefit to UK orienteering than giving significant pre-event coverage to something like WUOC? After their WOC coverage, I think criticising BOF on this when there are as yet not even any results is absurd.

[Gross]

Nobody asked for major pre event coverage for WUOC. What is / was expected / hoped for is a follow up to the WOC success & the WOC coverage. Oldman seems to suggest supporting the elite is a waste of time & resources.... To quote from another thread....

"that is a valid alternative viewpoint"

Not sure what the weather in Tartu is looking like this week but if it's like Liepaja (where I am now) then WUOC will be a great week.....

And for Oldman.... elite orienteering is much more than the 90 mins each week racing in the forests.... the greatest thing about elite orienteering (IMO) is the strong friendships that are built up over the years throughout the world! They will last for ever & produce a very balanced life approach to some of our more intelligent citizens

[awk]

Is it just me, or would others rather that BOF used its resources on things that have more definite and tangible benefit to UK orienteering than giving significant pre-event coverage to something like WUOC?

BOF's primary job is all things national in orienteering: there is no other body to do that. That has to include publicity, and a major contributor to that is elite competition. If you are going to get any publicity, you have to lay the ground work and make certain people know both before, during and after. However successful, only doing the after bit is only a fraction of the whole: you can't just pop after the event and say "We won something" - you have to keep plugging away. It's harder at national than local level for a sport like orienteering, but the principle still holds.

The results of that are rarely tangible, I agree, but taking a lead in keeping the sport in the public eye is an absolutely vital function of the national governing body. Having said that, it can be soul destroying - just look at the coverage of the gold at WOC (at least it got on Swedish TV!).

[geomorph]

If you are going to get any publicity, you have to lay the ground work and make certain people know both before, during and after. However successful, only doing the after bit is only a fraction of the whole: you can't just pop after the event and say "We won something" - you have to keep plugging away. It's harder at national than local level for a sport like orienteering, but the principle still holds.

So, we've missed the 2008 opportunity. Let's lay the groundwaork for 2009.

Both Domestic and international (lead by, but not confined to, Elite) arena s need coverage.

We do not have the in-depth resources for extensive coverages so we need to be selective.

In both arenas what is needed is sustained presence. WOC and BOC/JK do not do this. At Elite level we have World Cup. Frequent, high quality, on-the-day, and overall competition. But do our performance targets encompass success here? If they don't our marketing needs are in conflict with our fund-raising needs.

At home it is Sprint competition that provides the best marketing opportunity. Visible, local, and with an established 'league' structure to sustain interest. Of course with the understandable absence abroad of many Elite, it may be difficult to build a consistent competition at that level, but maybe that is a challenge that can be met through making attendance desirable and financially acceptable.

[SIman]

World University Championships
Estonia 28th July-3rd August

Men: Oleg Cheplin, Hector Haines, Scott Fraser, Ewan McCarthy and Neil Northrop.
Non travelling reserve: Doug Tullie and John Rocke

Women: Lizzie Adams, Rachael Elder, Heather Gardner, Mhairi Mackenzie and Helen Palmer.
Non travelling reserve: Laura Daniel.

Can someone confirm who has gone? The WUOC web site doesn't have any lists of names yet.

[Tatty]

No races until Wednesday!

[Oldman]

If you are going to get any publicity, you have to lay the ground work and make certain people know both before, during and after.

Accepted, but how many people whom we wish to influence / make aware will do so from the BOF web site?

And Gross, I am not at all anti-elite, just putting a perspective on priorities (at least as I see them, and I'm entitled to my opinion, even if you disagree!).

[awk]

Accepted, but how many people whom we wish to influence / make aware will do so from the BOF web site?

According to friends of mine in advertising, websites are one of the most effective methods of communicating if kept up to date, and one of the most damaging if not. It is the closest to a shop window that a sport has, particularly one like orienteering which is rarely 'in your face'. It may not provide the first point of contact, but it's increasingly essential after that.

From where I'm seeing it (and that might admittedly give a poor view), far too much time has already been and is being expended satisfying those we 'wish to influence' - to the detriment of the longer term health of the sport. If we spent more time on what we wanted to achieve, and how we wanted to do it, so much the better.

[Oldman]

From where I'm seeing it (and that might admittedly give a poor view), far too much time has already been and is being expended satisfying those we 'wish to influence' - to the detriment of the longer term health of the sport. If we spent more time on what we wanted to achieve, and how we wanted to do it, so much the better.

This somewhat opaque comment seems to contradict what you're saying. Is putting things on the web site for the reasons you state not doing exactly what you criticise, that is, trying to "satisfy those we wish to influence" ??

[awk]

This somewhat opaque comment seems to contradict what you're saying. Is putting things on the web site for the reasons you state not doing exactly what you criticise, that is, trying to "satisfy those we wish to influence" ??[/quote]

No, although I may be guilty of putting my own slant on the words "those we wish to influence".

I'm all for promotion, publicity etc., and see the website as a vital part of that - hence my comments above. However, I have long held the belief that we have expended far too much energy on fitting in with Sports Council etc. objectives in order to obtain funding that we have now become over-dependent on when it comes to squads and other areas, rather than identifying what we want to do, then finding the resources for it. That's what I meant by focusing on those we wish to influence - which I didn't see the website as primarily being about - which may have been a different interpretation to yours. Hope that makes it clearer - it wasn't meant to be opaque, just shorter!

[Oldman]

OK, clearer now. We seem to have been overtaken by events as there is a news item up today.

[Kitch]

Aye

a bit perfunctory.

during my lunchtime trot I was thinking how to pitch such an item:

the World University Orienteering Championships -WUOC - kicks off tomorrow in Tartu etc....

The British team have an excellent record in recent years at WUOC and will have high hopes of emulating recent success at the World Champs - where the British men's team took the relay gold medal.
In the last WUOC - Slovakia 1006 - the women's team took relay Gold (following on from Bronze ? in 2004 and Silver in 2002.?) (I think thats right) and Helen Bridle took the silver medal in the long distance race.
Short race specialist Scott Fraser will hope to go at least one better than did Murray Strain 2 years ago when he took 4th place in this discipline. Scott who has shown blinding form this year took 4th place in the European Championships short race earlier this year and will be looking for a medal at WUOC.

[Gross]

The item posted on BOF website is a definite valid alternative to the suggestion above:)

[EddieH]

Quote: In the last WUOC - Slovakia 1006 - the women's team took relay Gold

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