MLS/4 Div - Wed 17 Mar - Barossa. RA Championsips and MLS Event. Four courses available with starts from 1115-1430. Ultrasport, Tom's catering wagon and toilets.
MLN/2 Div - Wed 17 Mar - Catterick Garrison. MLN Event with three courses and Starts from 1015-410. Toilets, Changing areas and hot and cold refreshments.
BFG - Fri 12 Mar - Lavesum, Haltern. BFG Individual Championships. Two courses available with Starts from 1145-1415. Facilities: Toilets and Refreshments.
Advanced Warning
The Army Team Championships take place in Germany on April 28-29. The championships will consist of a Harris event on Wednesday 28 which will be held on an area used for the World Championships in 1995. The following day will be a Relay event on Grizzly Creek. A pre-championships training event will be available on Tuesday 27. Further details are available in the preliminary event flier. Units are to make their own transport arrangements - there will be NO organised transport (ie coaches) going to the Champs. The DIN and Entry Form are now available on the Events page.
Results are now available from the 4 Div Harris Championships held at Gore Heath.
MLS League Scores have been updated to include the QECP event on 3 March. See the MLS Results page.
The Combined Services v BUCS match is to be held on 13-14 March in the Forest of Dean. The team selection and admin details for the event can be found in the team Final Details document.
PSUK v ARMY v RAF MATCH - The Police are holding their orienteering championships on Wednesday 28th April 2010 and have invited the Army and the RAF to take part in a combined inter-service competition between PSUK, the Army and the RAF. The event will take place in the vicinity of Sherwood Lodge and the Nottinghamshire Police Headquarters (GR SK575507). Unfortunately this date coincides with the Army Unit Championships in Germany however those runners (including TA) not going to Germany and who would like to form a representative team are requested to inform
by 6 Apr 10, in order that team selection and entries can be made by the closing date 9 Apr 10. You do not have to be at Army/Corps Team standard, just able to comfortably complete a Brown course.
Club Relay Teams for the JK, British Championship and Harvester Relays - If you want to run in one of the teams either complete this entry form and return it to
or send the details in an email. We need volunteers to co-ordinate the relay teams for each of the events, if you would like to volunteer let Tom know. The Club will again be subsidising the cost, each runner need only pay £5 per run. However, if you agree to help at the UK Cup final at Stafford, the day after the British Championship relay, then your entry for this relay will be free.
Orienteering Courses April 2010
12-16 Apr - AOA Basic Skills and Intermediate Skills course.
15-17 Apr - a UKCC Level 2 Coaching Course
Both courses will be run at Longmoor Camp. The level for each course is as follows:
Basic Skills - beginners up to light green standard (C course on the military league events)
Intermediate Skills - course is from Light Green to Blue (B Course)
UKCC Level 2 Coaching Course - should have completed UKCC Level 1
These courses are shown on the Events page with contact details. If suitable numbers are not reached by the closing date the courses will have to be cancelled.
Access to Streetmap from Mil sites - I understand that Streetmap is no longer accessible from sites with the new computer/browser system (the acronym for which I have lost but I'm sure you know what I'm referring to!). Consequently, I will be adding Google Maps links to all UK fliers over the next few days. The links have already been added to this week's Frith & Windmill Hill event flier. An alternative source of converting grids to map site links is www.nearby.org.uk (thanks to John Whittingham for that link).
NEW AOA CHAIRMAN - Col Paul Lane took over from Brig Hargreaves as AOA Chairman on 28 January. Brig Hargreaves served as AOA Chairman for eleven years and is shortly taking up a new appointment abroad. He has made a huge contribution to the AOA over the years for which we thank him. We wish him well with his new posting.
Minutes of the AOA Meeting held on 9 December 2009 are now available on the Documents Page.
Calling All Royal Engineers - The current Inter Corps Champions require "Sappers" who are entering the JK to form relay teams on Monday 5 April. If you haven't yet entered this event (you know who you are - don't make me have to name you) hurry up and sort out your admin!!!!! - Tim Allsopp
Please contact Pete Helme 94451 2566 or Tim Allsopp 07919490370 for further detail.
Travel and Trek's January Newsletter is now available. Travel and Trek offer a 10% discount to BAOC members on any trek it offers to Nepal and Morocco.
Refreshing webpages in your internet browser: Sometimes browsers will not show you the latest version of a web page because they believe the copy they have stored on your PC has not changed. Additionally, those in military sites also have to contend with Proxy Servers that also store local copies for the whole establishment and may not refresh their store with the latest page. We code our pages with an instruction to tell browsers and Proxy Servers not to store the pages but it doesn't always work. Since it's important to see the latest pages at the moment, if you can't see that this page has been updated when expected then the thing to do is to clear your browser's local cache on your PC. Navigate off the BAOC page then:
In Internet Explorer, go to menu item TOOLS > INTERNET OPTIONS and choose the DELETE or DELETE FILES button under Browsing History. Select the Temporary Internet Files option (but leave all other options deselected) and then press DELETE or OK. The file deletion may take several minutes. In Firefox, go to menu item TOOLS > OPTIONS and select the Advanced Panel and then select the Network Tab. Click on the CLEAR NOW button. Finally click on OK to close the Options Window.
Reload the BAOC page after the deletion is completed.
The Royal Engineers Orienteering Club are proposing to take part in O Ringen 2010. If you wish to take part in this amazing event, a deposit of £100 made payable to "42 Engr Regt" is kindly requested by 9th Dec 09. Further details can be obtained from Maj P Helme, WO2 Tim Allsopp and WO2 Jas Edwards, RE.
Three Peaks Yacht Race
An established team with confirmed entry for the PowerBar 3 Peaks Yacht Race starting on the 19th June 2010, a fast boat and full complement of sailors, seek a pair of runners to complete a Service Team entry. Experience as a team at 3 Peaks or similar racing would be an advantage but not essential, however enthusiasm and total commitment are.
Ideally runners should also be available for the Scottish Islands Peaks Race starting on the 21st May 2010 as a pre-cursor to the 3 Peaks Race, this race is probably as much fun as you can have in Scotland over a long weekend with running kit on.
Some pictures from the Inter-Corps Day event are now available on the Photos page. Artistic soft-focus effects courtesy of the rain...
The Inter-Corps Results have been updated to include the Prize-Winners List.
The MLNI Event 6 Results are now available. This event was run as a fund-raiser for Help for Heroes and raised £200 for the charity by charging double price in return for double league points. Read all about it in the organiser's report.
UNIT TEAM CAPTAINS PLEASE TAKE NOTE AND PASS TO ALL TEAM MEMBERS
The Organisers of the MLS event held on the 11 Nov at Deepcut received various complaints about Orienteers cutting through buildings during the 'In Barracks' part of the courses. Buildings are Out of Bounds at all event venues UNLESS otherwise stated. Competitors will be disqualified for cheating if caught. Units will refuse to allow Orienteering in camps if we (all MLS runners) do not stick to the rules.
Team Captains must inform the Organising Unit in advance if they are going to turn up with a bus full of runners so adequate amounts of maps are prepared. Also advise the Emit operative so that adequate manpower and emit cards are available for your registration.
Do not allow novice runners to enter a course they are not capable of completing. Runners should regularly finish in the top half of a course before they move up to the next course level. Novices should start on the Red course or Score course. The Light Green, Blue and Brown courses are NOT suitable for novices.
Runners MUST download even if they withdraw from the event. All runners MUST receive a printout of their splits WITH THEIR NAME ON IT to ensure they have been correctly logged off the computer system. This is required for safety purposes so that the organisers can account for all competitors and confirm that no one is missing in the forest.
SSgt Colin Holcombe
Secretary, Military Orienteering League South
New pictures are available on the Photos page from the Scottish 6 Days and the REME Championships. Two albums are available from the Scottish 6 Days and include photos of the RE, R Sigs and REME tours plus some interesting signs from the Edinburgh Festival...
Tickets for Troops! - Thousands of tickets are being made available for top Premier League football matches, rugby games, cricket matches, boxing, horse-racing, athletics meetings, big music acts, tennis tournaments, snooker halls and West End theatres. To register go to the Tickets for Troops website.
MLS Controllers
All Event Controllers are asked to note the following:
Proximity of controls Controls on different courses placed too close to one another can mislead runners who have navigated correctly to the control site. According to BOF Rules (and therefore MLS rules) controls shall not be sited within 30 metres of each other (15 metres for map scales 1:5000 or 1:4000). However, this applies only when the control features are distinctly different in the terrain as well as on the map. If similar features are used they should be placed no closer than 60 metres (30 metres for map scales 1:5000 or 1:4000).
Placing of controls BOF rules (and therefore MLS rules) state that the control flag shall be hung at the feature indicated on the map in accordance with the control description. The flag shall be visible to competitors when they can see the described position. Please refrain from trying to make the course harder by hiding the flag; this is orienteering and not a treasure hunt! If you think the control is too easy go back to the planner and get it changed. This rule is particularly relevant when using pits as a control, the flag should not be in the bottom of the pit if it means you have to be standing next to the pit before you can see it.
Lt Col C Metcalfe
Chairman, Military Orienteering League South
Minutes for the recent MLS Meeting are now available on the Documents page.
Personal Detail Updates
LEAGUE RUNNERS: If you have been promoted or changed units, or you are new to the League, please email with your details before the first league event. For those new to the Leagues, I need your Service No., Rank & Initial, Surname, Unit, M/F, DOB and Emit card number (if you own one or have one permanently allocated).
BAOC Members: If you have recently changed address please email
with your new details. Where possible, a military address is preferred.
Website Update: we have revised our website update plans due to some technical issues. As a consequence there should be no time when the website is unavailable but unfortunately the new site will not be available for a few months now. We will keep you updated on progress.
2 Div League 2009-2010 Season
The new 2 Div league season will start on 23 September and run each second Wednesday from that date. Units/clubs wishing to take part should complete the registration form in the Instruction Letter. Volunteers are required to organise the season's events and units/clubs will receive a generous amount of league points for doing so. See the Instruction Letter for further details and available fixture dates.
Travel and Trek's latest Newsletter is available on our links page.
Photos from the Nick Bateson Memorial Races on 24 June are now available on the Photos page.
The new Travel and Trek website is now live; have a quick peep, you know you want to! - www.travelandtrek.com.
Results are now available for the Nick Bateson Memorial Races. The event raised £1,320 for Help for Heroes - thank you all for your generosity and support. Some photos should be available later.
Selection Criteria for both the Inter-Services and the Combined Services orienteering events can be found in the 'Documents' section of the BAOC website. For further information please contact
or
USE OF SN MAPS
With effect from 01 Apr 09 all units requiring SN (Southern Navigators) owned maps must be booked through the AOA/BAOC Mapping Officer
. The SN Mapping Officer has been directed not to issue maps direct to units/individuals. When the Planner is issued with the map and Guide to Use, any map adjustments they make must be logged after the event through the AOA/BAOC Mapping Officer. This will ensure that there is not overuse of areas, the accuracy of the map remains high and avoids clashes with other major planned events.
Calling all Aldershot Area Orienteers - Dave Rollins writes: Sarah and I are regularly involved in informal and more organised orienteering training in the local area. As there are so many active military orienteers in the area it seems like a good idea to share these opportunities. I suggest that an email group is created for all that want to get involved and share their training. A quick message with details could then go out prior to the training. If you would like to be included email
with the subject 'AAO' (link will add this title automatically).
BAOC O Suits
The club have the following O suits for sale:
Long sleeve BAOC tops in S, M, L. Short sleeve BAOC tops in S, M, L, XL. The cost is still £30 per top plus £2 for postage.
Trousers in S, M, L, XL. The cost is still £15 per pair plus £2 for postage.
Cheques should be made payable to BAOC. Send your cheque, size requirements and return address to: WO1(SSM) Tom Murphy, Management Accountancy Services (Army), The Former Army Staff College, Slim Road, CAMBERLEY, Surrey, GU15 4NP.
No credit, no discounts, no post-dated cheques.
The new AOA Handbook is now available on the Documents page. Any comments or feedback would be appreciated by the AOA Secretary Capt Eddie Walsh.
CompassSport now have a photos page on their website which is indexed by event and searchable by club.
If you are intending to bring a large number of runners to compete on a league event course, please inform the organiser so they can produce sufficient maps for the event. This applies particularly to the shortest course which normally attracts the fewest entries and therefore may have just 30-40 maps printed.
Units that regularly bring a large number of runners to MLS events are encouraged to download and complete a Runners List Form (Excel spreadsheet) and use this for their weekly entries. Regular runners should be permanently entered into the spreadsheet which is optimised to speed up data entry at Registration. At busy times, you can leave the form with us SO THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO WAIT IN THE REGISTRATION QUEUE. This saves time for yourself, the Registration team and your fellow competitors.
If you have been promoted or changed units, or you are new to the League, please email with your details before you turn up to your first league event. For those new to the Military League (South), I need your Service No., Rank & Initial, Surname, Unit, M/F, DOB and Emit card number (if you own one or have one permanently allocated).
E-Results LiteOperating instructionsare now available. These instructions have been revised on 14 July 08 to clarify some of the details relating to course setup and results.
All units and individuals are reminded that full leg cover must be worn when orienteering. This is not just to protect the runner's legs but to prevent the transfer of
infections through scratches at common points such as a control site. The wearing of shorts is not allowed.
4 Div Start & Finish banners are sponsored by Travel and Trek. Travel and Trek offers a 10% discount to any BAOC member on any trek it offers to Nepal and Morocco. They also offer an adventure training planning service for units looking to go trekking in Nepal or India thus taking the pain out of planning such trips. Contact Terry Crosby through the Travel & Trek website for more details.
The membership structure for BAOC and British Orienteering changed on 1st January 2007 and with it British Orienteering senior members may now receive a discount of £2 at most
civilian events. Membership is available at either 'National' level (receiving discounts at events throughout the country) or 'Local' level (receiving discounts only within the member's
Regional Association area). Membership of BAOC gives many benefits which are enhanced with British Orienteering membership. If you orienteer regularly, in the army or at civilian events,
you should join BAOC. Full details of the membership structure and a membership form are available on the Membership page.
