Blog Posts

Recap: Alberta Championships & Camp
2018 AOA AGM
AOA grant applications deadline Dec.1
OFFICIALS Activity Log

Events Recap

2018 Alberta Championships - Edmonton & Redwater Natural Area

It was a true “Summer Farewell ” with white-out snowy periods and cold temperatures but still lots of smiles and great orienteering at the 2018 AOC near Edmonton.
Not even the awful, snowy, cold weather could break the spirit of the Alberta Orienteering Championships. Over 70 participants signed up to have fun regardless of the scary weather forecast.
Thanks to the Edmonton Overlanders Orienteering Club for the great organization, excellent courses and dealing with the difficult conditions (and the soul-warming hot chocolate and warm soup). Three excellent events were put on by the meet director, Dorothy Penner and the course planners - Greg Yarkie (sprint), Robert Gilchrist (middle & long) -with the support of the very friendly and enthusiastic EOOC volunteer team: Angela Pearson, Anton Goulko, Charmaine Berestovy, Cheryl Atchison, Chris Sigvaldason, Don Riddle, Einar Vidal, Garry Atchison, Geraint Edmunds, Jim MacDonald, June Crowthers, Kim Kasperski, Kristin Blades, Mary-Lou Hogg, Matt Hryciuk, Peter Gwinner, Roman Gushchin, Suzanne Quilley & Tom De Vries. The team of volunteers were involved in setting controls, vetting, registration, starts, timing, refreshments, site set-up/take-down, and much more!
Of course, we all enjoyed the AOA BBQ and the Junior participants draw prizes.
This year a new AOA initiative to support the provincial championships through a subsidized AOC camp attracted 23 people including many juniors and four HPP elite athletes. The weekend was an inspiring opportunity to create an atmosphere where all ages/genders and levels of orienteerers got together to not only race but learn from each other and socialize to create a team environment.
We hope to repeat it next year again.

AOA Retreat and AGM November 2-4, 2018 at Deer Valley Meadows

32 club representatives attended from both FWOC and EOOC at this year's Retreat. It was a very productive and busy weekend with sharing of ideas and forming a collective vision for next year’s goals and priorities.
All of the 2018 AGM reports, can be found on our website: AGM Meetings.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Don Riddle and Kim Kasperski, who have both stepped down from the AOA Board, for their many years (more than a decade!) of service to the Board and we would like to welcome Mary-Ann DeVries as a new AOA Board member.
2019 AOA board elected:
President is David Campden from FWOC.
Past-President: Kitty Jones - FWOC
Treasurer: Marion Owen - FWOC
Member at Large: Wayne Best - EOOC
Skill development: Clarence Kort - FWOC
Member at Large: Andrée Powers - FWOC
Secretary: Beth Cornish - EOOC
Member at Large: Mary-Ann DeVries - EOOC
VP Mapping and Technical Director: open positions

AOA will identify the next steps in the strategic plan and continue engaging members to get involved with the board work through committees. If you are interested in helping the AOA board work, please have a chat with one of our board members and please let us know if you want to become more involved.

We think that one of the best measurement indicators is that we show a steady growth in membership numbers and diversity in new outreach areas which is something to be celebrated as a result of the volunteer work everyone offers. Thanks for your continued support to make Alberta Orienteering successful.

Read the AGM reports about the 2018 accomplishments.
Here

AOA Grants for members- Application Deadline Dec 1, 2018

Just a reminder about AOA's contribution to optimize the development of Alberta orienteers as athletes and leaders in the sport, these AOA grants are open for applications:

Leadership Grant
High-Performance Grant
Pursuit of Athletic Excellence Grant

Applications must be received by December 1st.
Visit our website to find out the details and download the application forms.

It's time to submit the
OFFICIALS activity log

If you are an Official in Alberta and helped with event organization in the past 3 years please send in your activity log. This is simply naming the events and your role(s) during the past years. It’s very important for insurance and reporting purposes to keep our records up to date.
Please fill out this form and email it back to the AOA office.
If you are working on a new official level certification or just getting certified for the first time, please also fill out this form, so you can get recognition for your work.
Thank you so much for being an Official to support the orienteering events. We couldn't have fun without you.
Official’s Certification Record

Thank you, VOLUNTEERS for the fantastic season.

We hope that everyone had a fantastic year orienteering and see you back in 2019!

Copyright © 2017 AOA. All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Alberta Orienteering Association
Box 1576 Cochrane, Alberta
T4C 1B5 Canada

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Alberta Orienteering Association · PO box 1576 · Cochrane, Alberta T4C 1B5 · Canada

2018 August Newsletter

8/7/2018

AOA Newsletter and Upcoming Events

What's happening this summer?
Events: highlights and upcoming
AOC CAMP - BE THERE
Be Wildsmart!

Be Social: Please follow us on social media to promote orienteering.

What's happening this summer?

New 2018-20 AOA Strategic Plan

As a continuation of the AOA Retreat and feedback from our members, the AOA Board of Directors created a new strategic plan which outlines the AOA goals for the next 3 years.
The strategic plan is aligned with the Alberta Sport Connection Accountability Framework and Orienteering Canada's strategic pillars to promote and deliver quality sport in Alberta.
The Strategic Plan and 2018 Roadmap
Just a quick review for all the work that the AOA Board has done since last fall:

A face to face AOA Board meeting to work on the strategic plan
A retreat presentation and member feedback collection
An analysis of member feedback
A strategic planning meeting in Red Deer
Club board meeting visits and feedback
Final draft and reviews.

New initiatives:

Team Alberta concept pilot event:

Alberta Orienteering Championships -AOC-CAMP
September 14-16, 2018

After the successful pilot to get more juniors involved that was held at the provincial spring camp (AOA subsidized club coaches to bring a group of juniors to the camp) AOA is offering the next subsidized program to promote attendance and support technical coaching at the competition for the 2018 Alberta Orienteering Championships.
The camp provides carpooling and 2 nights’ accommodation (no meals provided).
Details can be found on our website.

For whom? (First come first served; max 45 participants).
This camp will be open to everyone who participates at the 2018 AOC events

AOC camp fees:

AOA Calgary adult members: $40
AOA Calgary junior (under 18) members: $25
AOA Edmonton adult members: $30
AOA Edmonton junior (under 18) members: $15

Cost includes carpool gas subsidy and two nights of accommodation. This camp is self-catering: no meals are provided.
For more details visit the Registration link on the AOA website: Pre-Registration opens August 1st, 6 pm.

Outreach:

We have been very busy with our Outdoor Adventure Program pilot and implementation projects:
Watch our short Video: Orange Marks the Spot- Outdoor Adventure Program.
AOA and the Be Fit for Life Network have partnered to create a new resource for outreach.
The first year pilot programs were a big success with positive feedback and interest that far exceeded our expectations.
The AOA also partnered with the organizations shown below to implement orienteering grassroots programs. Over 30 activity leaders were trained and more than 1000 kids experienced a fun outdoor adventure program this year.

Westmount Charter School, Calgary
Calgary Community Sports Hub
Vivo Rec Center, Calgary
Elevation Place, Canmore
HeLa Ventures, Rocky Mountain House

Outdoor Adventure Cochrane – Community Program
A partnership was established with Sport 4 Life Cochrane to start the first Outdoor Adventure Program. The first program filled up with 35 participants and received great feedback from parents, volunteers and community leaders. There is a great potential for a permanent program in Cochrane which would fill one of the requirements from Alberta Sport Connect to deliver programs in different zones in the province; AOA will continue with the program in the fall. We also presented the program to the Town of Cochrane council and they are very supportive and would like to see seniors/adults get involved as well.
Be Fit For Life partnership: We receive continuous support and will be working together on the next lesson plans for older age groups.

If you know someone who would be interested in developing a community program please let us know:

Officials and Coaches:

Officials: Thanks to Marion Owen, two officials training courses were held. O200 was held in Calgary and O300 was held in Cranbrook in collaboration with Orienteering BC.

Coaches: A community coach course was held in Calgary with 11 people attending.
For the Introduction to Competition level, the most important next steps will be to complete the multisport module courses and apply for evaluation to complete certification.

For officials and coaches in training: make sure to make note of all related activity you do this season and then report your accomplishments at the end of the year. Please visit ourwebsite for details.

Check out our new Concussion in Sports page to learn about how AOA helps participants to stay safe.

If you are interested in becoming an official or coach to support your local club don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected].

Join us for the AOC Camp at the Elk Island retreat! Registration opens
August 1st.
First come first served!

Events in 2018

Highlights of past events:

The local Wednesday night events and Forest B events had strong attendance from both clubs. Thank you to our awesome volunteers, and keep up the good work.
Junior World Orienteering Championships - JWOC
Outstanding performance from Team Canada at the Junior World Championships in Hungary!
Best place in Canadian history for Jaan Erik Naes for long distance, 13th place, and Emma Waddington in 6th place at the sprint final. Canada’s sprint relay team was 18th. Alberta athlete Michael Svoboda started with a great preparation in Europe but unfortunately injured his knee and so couldn’t perform at his best. Michael managed to participate and had a satisfying result at the Middle distance: M20B (60) - 30 Michael Svoboda.
To read more about the details at the OC BLOG site:
.........“The terrain was a mix of planted forests in nice blocks and very open grasslands somewhat like Kamloops if it were squished so that the highest hills were only around 10 meters high. It made for orienteering where there was very limited route choice as going straight was almost always not only very possible but also the fastest option by far. The trails were also very sandy so did not make for fast running as one might expect based on Canadian orienteering.”........
The Canadian team had a great time at the World University Games that were held in Finland. Emma Waddington earned a respective 8th place and the team was 18th in the sprint relay with Michael Kondro from FWOC running the 3rd leg.
Masters World Championships:
Congratulations to EOOC coaches on their strong finishes in the World Masters Orienteering Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Notable finishes included: Geraint Edmunds placing 34 out of 81 athletes in the A final for Sprint, Marilyn Edmunds placing 18 out of 57 athletes in the C final for the Middle, Geraint placing 8 out of 84 in the B final for the Middle, Marilyn placing 20 out of 57 athletes in the C final for Long distance and injured Greg Yarkie placing 22 out of 84 athletes in the D final for Long Distance.
Here is a cool video link about World Masters long final.
Westerns Championships:
Small but mighty representation with many medals from FWOC this year:
F11-12 1st place (long & sprint) Kylie Astridge
M 10 1st place (long & middle) Justin Astridge
F21 Elite: two bronze medals (middle and long) for Tori Owen
F65 1st (sprint) and 3rd (middle) Christin Lundgren and two 5th places for Lennart Lundgren
Congrats to all!

Upcoming events:

August 15-16 the 2018 Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp will be held before the NAOC events.
August 17-24 - North American and Canadian championships 2018 NAOC and COC in Whitehorse, Yukon. Registration is now closed, but you can follow your fellow orienteers on line during the competition.
September 14-16 – Alberta Orienteering Championships hosted by EOOC.
AOC Camp subsidized and organized by AOA
AOA Retreat and AGM November 2-4 at Deer Valley Meadows.

For a full list of upcoming events, you can always visit our website EVENTS page.

Canadians at JWOC

Be Bear Aware & Wildsmart

CARRY A BEAR SPRAY it's your BEST defence!

Just a reminder that bears are busy and it's berry season!
You can run into a wild animal anywhere, whether it being on a busy trail close to town or in the remote backcountry.
Knowing how to avoid an encounter with a bear (and other wildlife) is the best way to enjoy the Alberta parks safely. In the event you do come across wildlife, it is important to know a bit about their behaviour. How we respond in an encounter with them really depends on the type of interaction that is taking place.
Refreshing your understanding is always a great choice: visit the WILDSMART site before heading out this season.

2018 April Newsletter

4/24/2018

AOA Newsletter and Upcoming Events

About AOA & new initiatives
Remembering Adriann Zissos
Provincial Events: for all levels & Spring Training Camp
Message from the President
Athletes and Junior programs
Be Wildsmart!

Be Social: Please follow us on social media to promote orienteering.

Welcome to the new season of 2018

Remembering Adrian Zissos

As many of you have heard, Alberta’s orienteering community lost a wonderful member last week when Adrian Zissos died suddenly of a heart attack while doing what he loved - being outdoors and skiing at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

We wish Adrian's Family our most sincere condolences in their tragic loss.

For those of you who didn't know Adrian, he was a major presence in orienteering, in addition to just being a wonderful friend to many. He was a driving force behind all things orienteering in Calgary, Alberta and Canada over the past decades.
Sometime in May or June, there will be a celebration of Adrian’s life, to which orienteers from across Canada and all Adrian’s other circles of friends etc will be welcome. This will be planned later and no date is set yet.

To share memories of Adrian, a Facebook group has been set up: Remembering Adrian Zissos if you would like to join to read and express memories and stories.

He will be deeply missed in our community.

What's happening in 2018 ?

AOA Strategic planning and club collaboration

As a continuum from the AOA Retreat and feedback from our members, the AOA Board of Directors has been busy creating a new Strategic Plan, which will outline the AOA goals for the next 3 years.
The strategic plan is based on Alberta Sport Connection Accountability Framework for funded Provincial Organizations to deliver Quality Sport in Alberta.

New initiatives:

Team Alberta:

After the initial excitement and positive respond from the members, AOA and the Clubs representatives established the Team Alberta Committee to initiate and guide this new program development.
Thank you for Clarence Kort, Dorothy Penner, Peter Mckenzie, Magali Robert, Michael Svoboda, Danielle Nadeau-McMillan for their commitment.
AOA Board is in the process of finalizing the committee Program Design and hoping to start finding interested participants, coaches, and resources to start with some program delivery soon. Stay tuned with our communication channels to receive more information.The focus will be on supporting the competitive orienteering experience for all levels.

Outreach:

AOA and the Be Fit For Life Network have partnered to create a new resource for outreach.There are lesson plans that are designed for use in a variety of settings, including school, recreation, sport and community programs. AOA has started to work with communities to raise interest and implement this program which anticipated to raise awareness about orienteering and helping to find "local champions" for O program development. Let us know if you know someone who would be interested creating or supporting outreach programs.Check out the details on our website: Orange Marks the Spot- Outdoor Adventure Program. The first Outdoor Adventure program is on the way to start in May with Sport for Life Cochrane partnership.

Officials and Coaches:

Most of the orienteering events and activities require a qualified Official and /or Coach support and leadership. It takes lots of time, effort and enthusiasm to make orienteering happen. Thank you for the many volunteers who engage in officiating and coaching to make this possible.
Good to know:
The Officials certification process is governed by Orienteering Canada and AOA has been working closely with the OC Officials committee to confirm the certified official's list and keep track of the activities in our province.
The Coaching certification is governed by Coaching Association Canada through NCCP and we are in the process of training and certifying many new coaches to support the growth of the junior programs.
Great website for orienteering specific information about Coaching certification is: Get Coaching!
If you are interested becoming an official or coach to support your local club and have any questions don't hesitate to reach out: [email protected].

Risk management and policies alignment

Great progress started with the collaboration of the Clubs, AOA and Orienteering Canada aligning policies to ensure our sport and operation not only fun and safe but also ensure quality sport experience for everyone.We have a busy workgroup doing lots of groundwork so let us know if you want to join Kim Kaperski, Andree Powers & Kitty Jones with the fascinating word of document review and writing.Thanks for your continued support to make Alberta Orienteering successful.
Check out our new Concussion in Sports page to learn about how AOA helps participants to stay safe.

Provincial Events in 2018

Please support these events by attending to complement the
cross-provincial schedule.

2018 Highlights for all levels from beginners to old-timers:

April 28- FWOC's annual Prairie Opener - Join us at Rumsey for the first event of the season - a terrific run over rolling hills. Hopefully, the snow will melt, check back for updates.
May 6-EEOC's annual Morningside which is a little north of Lacombe.
May 25 - 27 - Alberta Orienteering Skills Camp at Kamp Kiwanis. Join us for some awesome orienteering on 3 different maps, planned by Raphael Ferrand and coached by FWOC's veteran orienteers. Registration is open now! The weekend will conclude with a forest event on the Elbow Bluffs map!
May 23 – WORLD ORIENTEERING DAY the clubs will organize public engagement events.
June 9 - Beaver Lake forest meet A little north of Sundre, Beaver Lake is a new map for many of us. Come check it out!
July (tentative) EOOC Forest event.
August 15-16 the 2018 Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp will be held before NAOC.
August 17-24 - North American and Canadian championships 2018 NAOC and COC in Whitehorse, Yukon. All levels are welcome, if you are contemplating about great summer vacations destination don't hesitate to add this to your list.
September 22-23 (tentative) – Alberta Orienteering Championships and Recreational Orienteering hosted by EOOC.
AOA Retreat and AGM November 2-4 at Deer Valley Meadows.

For a full list of upcoming events, you can always visit our website EVENTS page.

Join us for the provincial camp near Calgary, it will be a great one - for all levels from beginners to veterans!
Click on the picture to REGISTER before MAY 1st to get the early bird price.

Message from the President

It has been five months since I became president of the AOA and I have been very impressed with the support and engagement of all the AOA board members, as well as our outstanding Executive Director, Bogi. It is very comforting to know that there is a wealth of experience I can rely on at times when I feel a little out of my depth. If only I could access that same experience when I’m lost in the forest!
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the members that stepped up to volunteer at the AOA casino in Calgary last March. This is one of the two main sources of the AOA’s funding. The other source is from Alberta Sport Connection, which has recently changed the method it uses to assess Provincial Sport Organisations that receive provincial grant money. The main outcome of this for the AOA is that we need to concentrate on recruiting new members from outside the traditional Edmonton and Calgary areas. Which leads me on to Bogi’s outreach campaign, known as the “Outdoor Adventure Program”, aimed at introducing children between the ages of 5 and 12 to basic orienteering skills. Bogi spent the last year developing the program in cooperation with the “Be Fit For Life Network” and is now busy piloting it in Calgary with a view to getting it started up in Cochrane and maybe Canmore. And then we hope momentum will build to grow it to other parts of the province.
We also have an AOA supported training camp coming up at the end of May, organised in conjunction with FWOC and based out of Kamp Kiwanis, west of Calgary. It is designed for ages 10 and up (including adults!) and for all skill levels. Registration is open now, so sign up to improve your orienteering skills and have some fun with other orienteers. More information and the link to registration.
I’d like to finish with a little food for thought that I hope won’t get me into too much trouble: I have seen and heard that almost all the young orienteers that regularly attend “B” events and up come from families that have been involved with orienteering for many years. With the help of EOOC and FWOC, we are starting up a new concept called “Team Alberta”. Is this something that we can use as a vehicle (literally and figuratively) to get more kids and families out to larger orienteering events.
Here’s to another great season of orienteering in Alberta (and beyond). I just hope it warms up soon!
David Campden
April 2018

Congrats to the 2018 HPP athletes selected from Alberta!

Congratulation to the Alberta High-Performance athletes who have been selected to the Orienteering Canada HPP program. The High-Performance Program (HPP) is designed specifically to support athletes who wish to achieve excellence in international orienteering.The HPP athletes will represent Canada at the international events. Michael Svoboda has been selected to attend the 2018 Junior World Orienteering Championships, Hungary, and World University Orienteering Championships Finland.

Do you enjoy reading event/training blogs?
I find that there is a lot to learn from these young athletes. Their knowledge, dedication, focus, and ability to stay motivated can be contagious, so read on: all the links can be found on ourwebsite.

Do you have a blog or story to share? AOA is looking for people to submit blogs or trip /event/ training reports to post it on our website.

Junior Programs

The Spring season has started for the Junior Programs

KRW and SOGO had a quite cold but strong start of the Spring session. It was great to see that the snow and freezing temperatures didn't scare away the participants.
Great work on raising resilient and adventurous kids who know how to handle the elements of nature.

Want to convince your friends to try your favorite activity? Here is a newly released article from
Active for Life: Make orienteering your next family activity

Did you know about?
SOGO ACCESS in Calgary
SOGO wants to support ALL kids to get outside. SOGO Access enables children with challenged abilities - behavioral, mental and/or physical - to access the outdoors and be a part of SOGO.
SOGO Access offers two streams of programming: separate as a stand-alone group or integrated with each level/hour of SOGO programs. We are very proud of the SOGO supportive community and Bridie Pryce -former Sogo head coach- who spearheaded the start of this program.
SHINE Home School series in Edmonton
Kids Run Wild, under Dorthy Penner boundless leadership, have been providing valuable and fun programming for Home School families in Edmonton.Keep up the great work!

Be Bear Aware & Wildsmart

Just a reminder that the bears are waking up and their home is our playground!
You can run into a wild animal anywhere, be it on a busy trail close to town or in the remote backcountry.
Knowing how to avoid an encounter with a bear (and other wildlife) is the best way to enjoy the Alberta parks, safely. In the event you do come across wildlife, it is important to know a bit about their behavior. How we respond in an encounter with them really depends on the type of interaction that is taking place.
Refreshing your understanding is always a great choice: visit the WILDSMART site before heading out this season.

Enjoy a fantastic 2018 season starting with these events!

ORIENTEERING Canad hall of fame- BUILDER award

12/21/2017

Congratulations to the Alberta Builders- Thanks for all your dedication.
3 significant AOA links on the list! Past AOA President Kitty Jones, Past AOA President Charlotte MacNaughton and former AOA Executive Director Jim Webster.

November 2017

11/27/2017

AOA Newsletter and Upcoming Events

Events Recap: AB Champs,AGM&Retreat
Meet the President
New AOA Honorary Life Members
Save the Date
Athletes' Blog
AOA Grant Application deadline Dec.1st

Please follow us on social media and like our posts to promote orienteering.

To stay up to date with AOA news, events and to receive some interesting, relevant information please connect with us.

Events Recap

Alberta Championships-Canmore, Sept 16-17

A big thank you to FWOC for putting on such a quality event in Canmore!
Despite challenges with bears and permits, all three events brought lots of competitors (117) from many different clubs. Orienteers from FWOC, EOOC, GVOC, Sage OC, KOC, Coureurs de Bois, COC and OCIN (US) and Norway enjoyed the two-day event in beautiful weather on great courses.
Kudos to the organizers - Karen M, Marion, Kitty, Jane, Adrian, John R, Teresa & family, Phillippa and Kurt, Margaret & David C, Clarence & Don B, and Marsha.
AOA provided BBQ, medals, top finisher prizes and the biggest success was the Kids Prize Draw for all the junior finishers. The kids also found ways to amuse themselves with the "Kids Zone" activities.This year AOA tried to add to the fun & social aspect of these events and we hope that everyone had a great time.
We are looking forward to next year's Alberta Championships, to be organized by EOOC tentatively somewhere around the same time next September.

Community Coach workshop - September 30, at U of C in Calgary

Registration exceeded expectations for this course. 11 people signed up, including SOGO coaches, volunteers, and junior coaches - and to our big surprise 3 teachers (with no previous orienteering experience) from Grande Prairie, Airdrie, and Canmore who were interested in bringing the sport back to their communities.It is great to see the growing interest in our sport, especially when it is extending outside of Calgary and Edmonton.

AOA Retreat and AGM November 3-5, 2017 at Deer Valley Meadows

42 club representatives attended from both FWOC and EOOC at this year's Retreat. It was a very productive and busy weekend with lots of successful sessions and, of course, the AOA AGM.
Some of the highlights were the presentation on the World Masters Games in New Zealand by Marsha with Marion, Kitty and Christin's help. We all got to enjoy a glimpse of faraway orienteering! This was followed by Michael Svoboda's HP athlete report about his JWOC experience including some very detailed technical points which triggered many conversations.
The morning ended with a brilliant presentation from Doug Swanson who reminded all of us about the importance of the positive mindset and success in sports.
The afternoon was spent on strategic planning and presentations, which is going to shape the upcoming year's goals for AOA. It was great to see the involvement and feedback from the members which the AOA Board plan to analyze and incorporate into the next 4-year plan.
The AGM meeting went very smoothly and we all had a lot of information to reflect on thanks to the 2017 reports. All AGM reports presented can be found on our website: AGM Meetings.
We are delighted to announce that all the existing Board members continued to stay on the AOA Board and our new President is David Campden from FWOC.
Past-President: Kitty Jones - FWOC
Treasurer: Marion Owen - FWOC
Member at Large: Wayne Best - EOOC
VP Skill development: Clarence Kort - FWOC
Member at Large: Andrée Powers - FWOC
VP Mapping: Don Riddle - EOOC
Secretary: Beth Cornish - EOOC
Member at Large: Kim Kasperski - EOOC
Please feel free to have a chat with them at your club events if you have any questions or feedback.

After all the meetings, the night-O activity was greeted with great excitement: the night was cold, dark, snowy but super fun. Thank you, David C for organizing it. It really helped to shake off the whole day sitting in meetings and helped us to continue to next day with some exciting sessions.
Some mentionable new initiatives :

Team Alberta Concept: for sport performance development for all ages
Outdoor Adventure Program: for community involvement and sport awareness
Risk Management Policy: for supporting organizational excellence

AOA will identify the next steps in the strategic plan and continue engaging members to get involved with the board work through committees. In 2018 we will make a call to join us to develop any new initiatives. If you are interested in any of the above topics please have a chat with one of our board members and please let us know if you want to become more involved.
We think that one of the best measurements is that we show a steady growth in membership numbers which is something to be celebrated as a result of the volunteer work everyone offers.Thanks for your continued support to make Alberta Orienteering successful.

Meet the President

About David

My first orienteering competition was at the 2014 Canadian Orienteering Championships in Whistler. I got lost at the start of my first race, trying to find the location of the start triangle. I have two kids in the SOGO programs (both level 3).

As AOA President and with Bogi's continued great work on outreach, I hope we can add to the existing two Alberta orienteering clubs. Maybe a resurrection of Parkland Orienteering Club in Red Deer?

Favourite map:
Double Duck, near Cranbrook – I love the open pine forests and interesting topography.

2017 O-Adventures:
Travelling to Ottawa (via England) for the 2017 COCs

New AOA Honorary Life Members

Congratulations to Gene & Marg Brenda and Geraint & Marilyn Edmunds on becoming AOA Honorary Life Members.

At the AOA AGM these 4 members of EOOC were made Honorary Life Members of AOA. This recognizes their truly outstanding service to orienteering in Alberta and Canada. Although this newsletter does not have enough space to list all their contributions, here are some nuggets:

Gene and Marg Brenda have devoted themselves to EOOC activities since the early 1980’s, including various key roles in local and provincial competitions. Gene enjoyed course setting, notably for the World Masters Champs in 2005. Marg introduced many a new orienteer to the joys of navigating through Edmonton parks and the forest maps in rural Alberta.

Geraint Edmunds has set courses for all levels of events from local city park weeknights up to national championships. He has spearheaded the EOOC’s junior program, now known as Kids Run Wild, as well as the schools' program. He has done many mapping projects, delivered officials clinics to many EOOC members and put on several Rogaines.

Marilyn Edmunds has served on the EOOC Board, with Geraint, for many years. She focused on membership, communication, and registration at countless Wednesday night events. She welcomed newcomers, kept track of the club’s history and delivered all sorts of statistics to AOA over the years. The EOOC “Volunteer of the year” award is called the “Edmunds Award” to recognize Geraint and Marilyn’s long-time contributions to the club.

Thank you for the many years of service to orienteering in the Edmonton area.

Save the Date

Level O100 Officials Course in Calgary - December 2nd 9:00am-2pm

FWOC is organizing this training/certification course for any club members. After completing this course you will be able to plan weekly club events. The course will be taught by Marion Owen. Sign up at theFWOC website.

AOA CASINO - at Calgary Casino, February 24-25 (Saturday, Sunday)

Please consider volunteering for our upcoming Casino.
We still need 14 spots to be filled mostly in the night shifts as count-room staff.
AOA would like to ask our members to support our Casino to raise funds for our continued operation. You are critical to making this happen. It’s easy, it’s fun, it's social and you’ll receive a free, delicious meal all while helping Orienteering in Alberta. No experience necessary.
Thank you for supporting the provincial development of our sport!

Spring Skill Camp at Camp Kiwanis- May 25-27, 2018

FWOC is planning to organize a spring training camp for all Alberta orienteers (and maybe some from outside Alberta!), with AOA support.
Stay tuned for details to come later.

Our HPP athletes

Do you enjoy reading event/training blogs?

I find that there is a lot to learn from these young athletes. Their knowledge, dedication, focus, and ability to stay motivated can be contagious, so read on: (All the links can be found on ourwebsite.)

Michael Svoboda:
https://attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_11606
http://michaelsvoboda-runner99.blogspot.ca/

We were all impressed with Michael's presentation at the AOA Retreat. He is very detail oriented and focused on navigation techniques. I believe he has some big plans for the upcoming JWOC In Hungary. I bet we can benefit a lot from his training logs. He is currently in his first year of Engineering at the U of C.

Damian Konotopez
https://attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_5789

Damian is from Manitoba (he is still their athlete) but we are lucky to have him supporting the FWOC adult program with his coaching clinics. He is very dedicated to training. I just checked his log - he ran over 100km in the past week as winter preparation for staying in shape. 400km in the past month. (I would love to figure out one day how is that possible?)

Emma Sherwood
https://attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_13820

From Emma's blog, you can pick up some strength training ideas and see how mixing up workouts and cross training can contribute to staying in shape. Emma is a student at UBC and uses GVOC events to stay sharp with Navigation.

Tori Owen

Tori is currently an ICU nurse in Calgary and very busy with her work schedule. Did you know that Tori is the Athlete Representative on the Orienteering Canada Board? Which means she is a voting member of Orienteering Canada’s Board of Directors and also an active member of the High-Performance Committee.If you have any feedback on the HP program and athlete development please share it with her.

Darya Sepandj

Unfortunately, Darya suffered a long-lasting injury which prevented her from participating at JWOC this year. We wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her participating in next year's events.

Do you have a blog or story to share? AOA is looking for people to submit blogs or trip /event/ training reports to post it on our website.

Junior Programs

The fall season is wrapping up for the Junior Programs

KRW and SOGO had a quite cold but fulfilling Fall session. It was great to see that the snow and freezing temperatures didn't scare away the participants. The coaches were so surprised when the first intense snowfall hit the ground and the SOGO numbers were still almost full at the practices.
SOGO attendance continued growing to 1,214 participants in 2017.
KRW is focusing on family engagement with 236 participants and many of them stay with the program year after year.
Great work on raising resilient and adventurous kids who know how to handle the elements of nature.
Read about how: Risky outdoor play positively impacts children's health

Edmonton school programs accelerates

Both Clubs and AOA have provided significant growth in school program engagement: FWOC 332, AOA 172, EOOC an impressive 2056 kids were introduced to orienteering in 2017. Let's keep up the great work - together we are spreading the word that orienteering is a great sport for everyone!

The famous annual SPOOK-O in Calgary was a big hit as usual

With 360 participants in the dark finding controls while Zombies and Werewolves were on the hunt, Spook-O was another great success. Spooky orienteering was followed by games and a yummy dinner. What could be more fun for Halloween?

AOA Grants for members-Deadline Dec 1st

Just a reminder about AOA's dedication to optimize the development of Alberta orienteers as athletes and leaders in the sport and to raise the profile of the sport.

Leadership Grant
High Performance Grant
Pursuit of Athletic Excellence Grant

Applications must be received by December 1st. Visit our website to find out the details.

We hope you all had a fantastic season! See you back at next year's events soon!

August 2017

8/18/2017

AOA Newsletter and Upcoming Events

Upcoming events
Alberta Champs -Fun for everyone
Save the dates
Events recap & blogs