Something I wrote recently - for Australia!
Barriers to go Orienteering
An often-heard complaint in Orienteering is that the workload falls on the same few people or that there is a lack of new people coming into the sport.
How do we fix this? Let’s look at some of the barriers we put up to discourage people from going Orienteering.
Pre-Entry
This is probably the biggest one. Pre-entry makes it much easier to plan ahead with map printing etc. but it makes it harder or impossible to tap into newcomers or busy people. The best prospective non-orienteers are active people with a range of interests. There is always something else on that Sunday, usually something which you can enter on the day (e.g. Parkrun), or at least at less notice. Job, family and other sports compete for attention.
Orienteering’s best product is its Championship and other showcase events. They are on the best maps and have the best chance of hooking someone for life. Often, for these events people are travelling on holiday – maybe with friends…. who might take up orienteering given the chance. If you've got one enthusiastic orienteer who wants to go to an event, but either hasn't got a car and needs a lift or has a car but doesn't want to drive hundred's of km on their own. Then they have to persuade others to go along, people who may be prospective orienteers. That is why entry on the day should be available at all events.
Entry on the day (EOD) should be available for most courses* and should not be advertised as “Limited” – that is a turn off. I understand that this has been the usual practice to encourage people to pre-enter. The solution is to charge more for EOD: most orienteers are cost-conscious and will still pre-enter. And also, EOD should be listed in the results with no distinction between “Official” and “Unofficial”. Too often organisers are dismissive of EOD, and many don’t publish their results. Ask yourselves – how do you think would that make people feel about the sport?
The hard work is done: the mapping, the setting, the organisation. Why not cater for newcomers and returning orienteers to grow the sport?
* Just one anecdote here – I’ve got a lot – one organiser refused a newcomer to do any of the courses at an event but persuaded my 25-year-old friend to do the string course – which she did reluctantly. That was her introduction to orienteering.
Allocated Starts
Orienteering is supposed to be “solo navigation with a map and compass”. Allocated starts actually work against this basic principle as they force classes to start in a small window, meaning that they will inevitably cross paths – look at any event in Winsplits “Pack running”. The most egregious example would be in the M or W 12 when you would often get all of them meet up. But its not confined to Juniors – I once ran in a State Championship M21A where all 6 competitors met up at a control halfway around.
Essentially the start time does not matter relative to finding controls and completing the course. Its not a skill requirement. There is a false argument around “tracking” – but all allocated starts do in this instance is hand a perceived advantage to the later starters. Course setting with multiple controls on different courses in a small area would help fix the long grass problem.
That is why a “punching start” should, at the very minimum, be available at all events. Newcomers are not familiar with this rigmarole around starting and we should make it easier for people to get going.
Organisers should provide a product and service which suits and attracts a wider range of people. It is a competitive world: lots of sports and activities vie for attention. Ultimately, orienteering needs new people if it is not to stagnate. These people must be attracted and encouraged to get involved and it is the challenge and novelty of top class orienteering which is the sport's best appeal. Events need to be promoted, people need to be attracted to participate, organisers should be concerned with maximising the entry numbers.
