2024 March Newsletter

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AOA News and Events AOA Facebook AOA Website AOA Instagram AOA President's Message 2024 AOA AGM - April 4  Alberta's 2024 Inductees to Orienteering Canada's Hall of Fame! AOA 50th Anniversary! Orienteering Canada Hall of Fame Inductees! FWOC / AOA 2024 Training Camp Red Deer Events (BG) 2024 AOCs @ Sandy McNabb Every Kid Can Play Grant Kids Programs (BG) Orienteering Symbol Updates from IOF  Hello Alberta orienteers, I hope this newsletter finds you happy, healthy, and chomping at the bit to get out and enjoy some spring-time orienteering. But, if you are like me, and feeling dragged down by winter, I am still looking to spring, and orienteering, to help me out of these doldrums. As we did last year, your AOA board met in Red Deer in February to determine the priorities and budget for the 2024 season, to meet the objectives we have as the provincial orienteering association. A couple of key priorities we chose were, one, to increase the public profile of orienteering and toward this end we are hoping to try some new ideas this year. Another priority is to more directly help the two clubs in Alberta, EOOC and FWOC, with financial support for their club initiatives. By the way, if you would like to help set priorities for provincial orienteering, we would welcome any of you who would like to join the AOA board, especially at the upcoming annual general meeting (the notice was sent to all current members; date is Thursday, April 4th, at 6:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required so that you can get the Zoom call invitation). Planning for the 2025 Canadian Championships being put on by EOOC, and the Western Canadian Championships being organised by Foothills Orienteering (FWOC) is gathering speed, with a number of planning meetings already having been held, especially with landholders and users, in order to obtain permissions to use the areas we want. Fingers crossed things go well, but with at least plan B’s, and sometimes plan C’s in place, we hope to be able to manage the curve balls we know we will get. And, while it may seem like a non-sequitur, stay tuned for the new air quality policy the AOA is developing, in consultation with the clubs, that could have an impact on events in coming seasons.  So, welcome to spring 2024 and I hope you will come out and try some orienteering courses that your fellow orienteers have so faithfully created for your enjoyment! Sincerely, Kim Kasperski President, Alberta Orienteering Association Save the date:  Alberta Orienteering Association  AGM April 4, 2024 @ 6:30pm  Zoom meeting Please register below to receive an email with the Zoom link. The link will be also posted on our website just before the event starts. All participants at the AOA AGM will be entered to win a door prize!  It's a win-win situation!   Register for the AOA AGM here Alberta's 2024 Inductees to Orienteering Canada's Hall of Fame The Orienteering Canada Hall of Fame recognizes and honours the individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the sport in Canada. Alberta had an amazing four members inducted this year! Coaching Leadership: Clarence Kort (Foothills Orienteering Club) Dorothy Penner (Edmonton Overlanders Orienteering Club) Gabrielle Savard (Foothills Orienteering Club)      Administrator Award of Distinction: Marsha Fehr (Foothills Orienteering Club) Congratulations and thank you! to these amazing orienteers who help keep the sport of orienteering available and engaging for its participants. Celebrating  Alberta Orienteering Association's 50th Anniversary! The AOA was founded in 1974 so we are celebrating our 50th anniversary!  Thank you to the amazing people who brought orienteering to Alberta, some of whom are still active in our communities. Early promoters of the sport include Orson Gadowsky (Edmonton) and Lyndon Nordean (Calgary) according to details in Orienteering Canada's newsletters from 1976 & 77. Other early members include George Murphy (EOOC), Scott and Raelene Robertson (Calgary Kangaroos), and Ed Lowen and Jim Webster (FWOC). Check out this article about orienteering in Alberta from the 1979 Orienteering Canada Newsletter: FWOC / AOA 2024 Training Camp   Foothills Wanderers Orienteering Club (FWOC) and the AOA are hosting a 2-day training camp near Barrier Lake using the fantastic Lusk Creek map and intriguing terrain from the 2022 Western Canadian Championships. Enjoy two days of coached training activities and spend some social time with fellow orienteers from across Alberta in the group camping option. Get in some challenging forest orienteering in advance of the 2024 COCs and NAOCs! Date: July 5-7, 2024 Details still being finalized. The group campground on-site has been booked! Registration opens soon. 2024 Alberta Orienteering Championships (AOC) AOA 50th-anniversary celebration Where: Sandy McNabb When: August 23-25, 2024 What: Classic two-day cumulative race competition + a fun 1980's style evening event! Join us as we celebrate the  AOA's 50th anniversary with a traditional class race (cumulative results) at one of our oldest maps - first mapped in 1982 by FWOC's own Don Bayly! Awesome prizes to be one and fun times to be enjoyed.  The group campground at Sandy McNabb is booked for the weekend.  Make the AOCs a part of your summer adventures!   Outreach and EKCP grant Exciting news alert! We're thrilled to announce that we've been awarded The Every Kid Can Play, Alberta Government grant for Provincial scope organizations! This grant is a game-changer, addressing affordability and accessibility challenges for sport, physical activity, and recreation programs.This new program will help remove barriers for Alberta families and make kids’ sports and recreational activities more accessible and affordable.We received support for three projects in three different communities! Each project receives $10,000 Red Deer with AOA delivery Calgary – FWOC delivery Edmonton – EOOC delivery Exciting opportunities to reach out to new communities and reachhing more kids! Nice work, Bogi, and the Clubs for working on this collaboration project. AIRDRIE: NEW! Adult group added! Registration for the Airdrie program is officially open!  Don't miss out – sign up now! This year, we're excited to introduce a dedicated group for adults, so everyone can join in on the fun!  Parents, come explore the excitement of orienteering while your kids have a blast.  It's an adventure for the whole family!  RED DEER: GREAT NEWS! We've secured our fantastic, seasoned program leaders (Lisa and Karen) to keep the Red Deer programs going strong! This year we can add school programs too! Stay tuned for the official schedule – it's coming your way soon! Club Programs & Events  Check out the Clubs' Youth Programs and TRY IT opportunities coming this spring. Both clubs are gearing up to offer beginner courses, equipping you with more navigational skills just in time for the season start! Don't miss out on this opportunity to kickstart your orienteering journey with confidence. SOGO programs in Calgary and the KRW programs in Edmonton opened registration for the spring and they offering SUMMER CAMPS! Did you know that you can see most of the events planned for 2024 on our webpage: Events?   Edmonton events: EOOC Club's website Calgary eventsFWOC Calendar Outreach events: Red Deer and Airdrie    New to orienteering and want to learn more? Both clubs are gearing up to offer beginner courses, equipping you with top-notch navigational skills just in time for the season start!  Don't miss out on this opportunity to kickstart your orienteering journey with confidence. Orienteering Symbol Updates The IOF (International Orienteering Federation) has updated its map symbol set. You can expect so see some map changes over the ext year to accommodate these new symbols.  OCAD has create a chart to point out the kew changes for regular maps: There are also changes to the sprint map symbol set.  These changes may be in place for events such as the Canadians and North Americans in Ontario this year! Area with obstacles could include areas that have multiple planters too numerous to map individually. We hope to see you soon! Copyright ©  AOA.  All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Alberta Orienteering Association Box 1576 Cochrane, Alberta T4C 1B5 Canada Do you want to change how you receive these emails? 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