Junior Training For 2015

The list of Junior Training events for 2015 are now available. Get them in your diary soon to avoid disappointment.

Map Memory Training

The squad finished this year's training off with a tough map memory session at Musgrave Park, all planned by Billy. We started with some star exercises during which you had to look at a small map showing a single control, work out a route, memorise that route and then run to the control and back.

Following this each junior had to complete three courses that required them to remember the legs as they went round the course. This was made even more difficult in that the control markers were small bits of paper and not the usual orienteering flag. This meant you had to really work hard to find the control site and not the flag. If you were a few meters away you would likely not see the control marker.

Next Junior Training Event

The next junior training event will be held at Musgrave Park on the 30 Nov and will concentrate on map memory skills. We will meet at 1.30 pm. Be sure not to miss out.

NI Champs

The NI Champs and a training session took place over the weekend 4/5 Oct. The champs races were held at Castle Saunderson with the assembly area at the Scout Centre in Cavan.  This is a great location with a mix of open land, runnable forest and more difficult close forest terrain. The LVO team had a great showing securing some excellent results with the awards being presented by WOC Silver Medallist Scott Fraser.

The races were followed by a session of sprint training and then, after dinner in the Scout Centre, an inspiring talk on achieving goals and performance excellence from Scott. Day two was a session in Florence Court, planned by Scott, in which we practiced techniques in the thicker forest terrain before completing a middle distance race.

Junior Inter Regional Championships Roundup

Over the weekend 27/28 Sep 14 a team of 11 NI juniors travelled to take part in the Junior Inter Regional Championships in Cumbria, England. Two adults, Alan Elwood and Steph Pruzina, accompanied the team. One member of the LVO squad, Rachel Collins, was unable to attend due to breaking her arm the night before departure. She was greatly missed, as she has been a stalwart of the LVO Junior Development Squad and is a talented athlete.  It also meant there was no NI female relay team, although the remaining females got to run in an ad hoc team.

The team met up at the ferry on Friday evening and travelled down to Finsthwaite where we stayed in a church hall.  The floor was a bit hard for some of us, who had thin roll mats, but luckily Steph had a blow up mattress and Alan a camp cot so they were fine. This was only but fair, as they had been forced to endure horrendous singing for nearly 5 hours on the trip down!  The next day, Saturday, got off to a bright start. After a brisk forest walk the team headed to the venue at Graythwaite Hall for the first races. This was very technical and physically demanding terrain with a mix of hill, open forest, thicker forest, marsh and crags. It was also a warm and sunny day making the running thirsty work. The team found it tough going on these races but to the credit of individuals the majority completed their courses with top placed finisher being Paul Pruzina who came 13^th in his race.

The second day saw us move to an area of open and complex sand dunes, known as Roanhead, to take part in the relay races. The weather was overcast but warm making it ideal for racing and watching alike.  Each relay team had a M/W16 who ran first followed by a M/W 14 and then finally a M/W18. The girls formed an ad hoc team with a girl from West Midlands who was also called Rachel and who had also broken her arm a while back and still had the support on. Spooky!! Once more it was tough racing for many of our team as they coped with the complex and confusing mapping of the dunes. Our top boys team of James Millar, Andrew Elwood and Paul Pruzina did very well coming a respectable 9^th out of 34 teams. Thankfully for Alan’s nerves the drive back was much quieter as everyone fell asleep for much of the journey. 

The NI JIRCs team included:

·      Paul Pruzina

·      Eoghan Knight

·      Andrew Elwood

·      Peter Reed

·      Conor McGuinness

·      Peter Meehan

·      Peter McClure

·      Gill Stephens

·      Frazer Howe

·      James Millar

·      Sophie Pruzina

JIRCs Team Members Get Practicing

Some members of the NI JIRCs team, Rachel, Peter and Andrew, along with Luke, took part in some training at Lady Dixon in preparation for the competition in the Lake District in England. This was a final opportunity to hone all the skills and techniques that we have been practicing all year prior to the tough races to come. Each junior was shadowed by a coach and had to be able to visualise the control sites, select the right technique for locating the site, work out the quickest route and have the precision to be able to pinpoint each control site on the ground as there were no kites in use. A testing training session in which everyone did very well (even the adults!!)

Junior Inter Regional Champs

The NI team of 12 for the JIRCs has been selected and will depart for the Lake District on the 26 Sep to take part on the 2 days of competition. Day one is a tricky corse in the technical terrain of forest, mountain side and crags near Ulverston. Day two will be no easier with races occurring in the sand dunes near Barrow on Furness. It is promising to be an adventure with nights spent on the floors of school and church halls thrown in. More information will follow plus a round up after the event.

EYOC 2014

A big congrats to the local juniors that took part in the European Youth Orienteering Championships in Macedonia in Jun representing Ireland. The results can be found at the link.  A great effort by Paul P, James M, Fazer H and Peter M in putting in some solid performances across all the days.

Festival of Orienteering

Relaxing after a long day of orienteering in the sun

Lots of the juniors from our club took part in the orienteering festival in Newcastle and Tollymore over the weekend 20 - 22 Jun. The weather, for once, was glorious with temperatures in the early 20OC making it the ideal weekend for camping.

Scene from the camp site

The Sprint Map

The weekend started with a sprint race around Newcastle on the Friday evening with juniors having to negotiated parkland and urban control sites. This was tricky going and required careful attention to the control descriptions.

Start of the Sprint

Saturday saw the main LongO race in Donard Forest in some testing conditions. The heat made it hard work and the terrain was tough with lots of climb and also plenty of thick undergrowth reducing visibility and fallen trees making it hard to run in places.

Part of the Donard Map - Tricky Forest 

Saturday afternoon saw a quick relocation to Tollymore and the juniors take part in a contour only training session. The aim of the game was to locate the control sites using a map with only the contours visible. This was a difficult challenge but a great exercise for reading the shape of the ground and paying attention to contour detail.

Contours only map

Hands up if you thought the training was ace

That evening saw lots of unofficial sports on the open field including football, cricket and hurling taking place. These only stopped, for a short time, to enjoy the BBQ dinner, complete with desserts.

Cricket in action

Sunday was the relay races in Tollymore. We had a junior only team entered while other juniors took part in family teams. It was a tricky race with lots of fine detail on the 1:4000 map with a complex maze thrown in that was overlooked by all those waiting to race - no pressure then! To top it all off an ice cream van arrived at the end of the races. Perfect timing.

Peter heads out on the sprint rely

The relay sprint start line

Andrew sets his map for the start of the relay sprint

Excellent handover between Rachel and Peter

Sophie warms up - ever the professional

Sunny Simplification

The juniors took part in a training exercise at Belfast Castle on a hot sunny Sunday afternoon on the 15 Jun. The name of the game was to locate the exact control point, using the map and control descriptions and to do so by simplifying the map picture as much as possible. Once at the centre of the control circle you had to be very sure as there was no kite to help.  It was hard work in the sun but good fun for all.

Seeing the Tree for the Wood

Juniors took part in training at Barnett's Park in which they had to complete a course that had the control kites placed very low and hard to find. To do so they had to really work hard at visualising the control site location so they knew they were in the right place exactly rather than hunting for the kite itself when in the rough area. They also had to write down the control description for each site and check that off at the end against the answers.  

Juniors Race at Stormont

Our juniors took part in some cones and compass exercises before competing in a race at Stormont, Belfast.  Well done every one it was a tough race with a lot of fences to contend with!!

Ben finds an other use for the control!!

Cones and Map Setting Exercise

The Stormont Course