Chairman's spot
Here we are again with the summer nearly over and looking forward to the start of a new season. It doesn't seem two minutes since I last penned my thoughts so it is perhaps as well that we have reduced the EMEWS output to only four a year.
Whilst on the subject of this newsletter I would again ask members to consider relieving John Cooke of this additional role to the many others he holds down.
John does an excellent job but did take it on board as a temporary measure.
If anyone has an interest in the idea of desk top publishing why not speak to John without any commitment and just find out what is entailed.
On a different tack this is your newsletter and contributions on any subject which you feel might interest other members are more than welcome.
Looking forward to the season ahead we have an exciting Galoppen in prospect as detailed elsewhere in this letter. We have thirteen scheduled events spread throughout the region and your best six efforts will count towards the league. The rules of the Galoppen have be refined and are also outlined by Roger Williamson, the co-ordinator.
Presentation to last year's Galoppen winners will take place at the C4 at Ratby Woodlands on October 7th which is the opening event of this years competition and next year we hope to revert to normal practice and present them at the first C4 after completion of the league. As the league finishes slightly earlier than some years terminating with the LOG event at Twyford Hills on April 28th this presentation at present looks like being Burbage Common on May 12th giving members an opportunity to run on this new map of an extended area.
We also have an interesting programme of night events for the sadists amongst our planners (and the masochists who appear to like taking part). There are seven events, two each from NOC, DVO and LEI and one from LOG. We intend to run these as a league as has been done in the past and are currently looking for a volunteer to process the amalgamation of results. Not an overly taxing task given the numbers who usually participate.
I would impress upon clubs and their organisers that it is imperative that results are sent in promptly to assist this task.
Whilst on the subject of fixtures Ian Whitehead has expressed a wish to give up the fixtures secretary role and we are looking for a volunteer to replace him. As I understand it the job largely involves exchanging emails but the jobholder would have to attend most of our six meetings each year.
The winner of the competition for a development grant was from DVO and was to extend their Urban Events project. This complied with the guidelines of bringing the sport to new areas and populations and they have been awarded £500 towards their project.
This competition in it's present form will not be run next year as we hope to appoint a development officer and will await that person's views and suggestions as to how to stimulate development within the region. In any event the development fund is now fairly depleted and we will have to agree some mechanism for topping it up. One suggestion put to me was for an element of levies on badge events to be allocated to this purpose but no doubt there will be numerous other suggestions and, as they will all have an impact on our budgets, may well have to be deferred till next year when allowance for whatever is agreed can be made in reviewing that years budget and fees.
At the AGM, we received members approval to create the role of Development Officer which function has previously been shared amongst other members of committee and would like members with an interest in that field to consider putting their names forward for the position. This role does have a seat on the EMOA committee giving an opportunity to have a say in how we manage the affairs of the region.
We also needed a new Treasurer as Bob Alderson has completed his three years tour of duty and I am pleased to report that Roger Edward's has volunteered to take over the role.
The housekeeping amendments to the constitution as detailed in the last EMEWS were supported by the members present.
I am pleased to confirm that as promised the AGM was brief, lasting 45 minutes as it did and would ask you to bear this in mind when deciding whether you can afford the time to come to next years. After the formal meeting an open forum took place to allow members to have a chance to discuss the various major changes taking place within the sport and their implications at club and regional level.
Amongst the items causing much discussion at present is the report of the BOF Membership Working Group chaired by our Vice Chairman, Ranald Macdonald and this was discussed fully with a contribution from John Woodall as BOF Chairman.
Ranald was not able to make the meeting being out of town but as I understand matters the main aims are to simplify membership structures, define the relationships between BOF, Clubs, Associations and ordinary members and to give more of a say to clubs and members by the vehicle of an annual club conference. It also addresses the definition of 'family' membership. It concedes the need for the retention of local members but suggests these would be de facto members of their regional association if one exists, without the need to pay additional membership fees. The refining of membership structures will have an impact on how regions run.
The working group also suggest which events BOF and non BOF members can compete in and suggest that at events where non BOF members can compete, BOF members should be given a discount of at least a pound. This will not be mandatory to allow flexibility where CATI and introductory events are concerned.
The first such conference is to be held on the Saturday afternoon before the Newborough Forest BOC2001 event in October. As an added attraction Sir Chris Bonnington will be a keynote speaker. This will of course be followed by the BOF AGM (October 20th).
Looking further ahead, we are to run day 2 of the 2004 and still require a planner. Many members have offered to assist in either putting out controls or actually planning some of the courses and we now have one volunteer to take overall responsibility but it should in fact be very much a team effort. If anyone else is interested please make the fact known before our next committee meeting when the matter will be aired.
It just remains to wish you all a good season ahead
Roy J Denney
And what did you do during the foot and mouth disease of 2001, Daddy?
A final word from me as I finish my time as Chair of DVO. Not that I'm disappearing as I'm still Vice-Chair of EMOA as well as one of your BOF Councillors!
The last six months have obviously been frustrating for everyone and foot and mouth disease doesn't appear to be finished yet; I heard an item on Farming Today suggesting that it might go on well into 2002. It has obviously played havoc with our fixtures lists but, like many other clubs throughout the country, we have had to show some ingenuity to keep our members active. So, with a slimmed down schools league, six street O events, Sunday runs, weekly circuit training, summer evening events and our Club Championships, together with a number of social activities, we at least managed to keep a core of the Club involved. However, also like many other Clubs, we don't seem to have kept contact with our less active members during this period, despite regular mailings and regular emails on our discussion list. It obviously means that, as orienteering does get going again, we are going to have to make real efforts to encourage them to get involved again.
We obviously lost our Badge Event at Shining Cliff in February as it became one of the early victims of FMD. We have also now had to postpone the Badge Event at Chatsworth as the planners are not allowed off the paths. However, we are still hopeful that both will take place next year - in March and October, respectively.
On the matter of fixtures, I was more than mildly irritated to hear that there is a rumour going around DVO is only putting on Badge and local (C5) events to make profit from the former and avoid paying levy on the latter. This is completely untrue and, as a member of the Fixtures Sub-Committee as well as chairing our committee meetings, I can assure those so concerned that the issue of levy is never considered when we put together our fixtures list. We have been putting on a lot of C5s recently - and will continue to do so - after a period when we put on none. They form part of our Schools League as well as offering an opportunity to provide dedicated help for newcomers, something we committed ourselves to in our Development Plan. We are trying to increase participation in the sport by putting on low key events which don't require large numbers of helpers of use our better areas. Further, our last Badge event at Eyam Moor in November 1999 actually made a loss!
Over the period September 1999 to July 2000 we had planned to put on one C3, seven C4, six C5, two N5 and nine local events as part of our summer evening series. By contrast, in the year September 2001 to July 2002 we will be putting on one C3, six C4, five C5 and two N5 events, in addition to our summer events. Admittedly one our C4s may have to go as we had to reschedule the Shining Cliff Badge Event and another may be downgraded to reduce possible attendance because of parking problems. We are also going to put on more street O events as part of an award received from the EMOA - for which thanks! In addition, we are organising and planning the qualifying and training day for the British Schools event in November.
As I said above, none of the decisions about fixtures are taken with regard to either profit to be made or levy paid. We aim to put on about two Badge Events every 18 months, with a consequent easing of other fixtures so as not to put too great a burden on a few people who typically do most of the key jobs at events.
Anyway, having got that off my chest, on to lighter manners - at least for those involved - it's worth reporting that DVO has been making great efforts to ensure we have a successful relay team in the future with the appearance this year of Sarah Chaffey, Sarah Duckworth and Matthew Jackson, with at least one more on the way. Sarah D and Matthew got their first taste of big events with their participation in the Swiss 6-days - part of an enthusiastic, if not wildly successful, DVO contingent. At least the food and wine were good, the event centre facilities were excellent and, when there weren't the dramatic thunderstorms and lightning displays, the weather was hot. Some of the orienteering was quite good as well! (The full story is in Newstrack - well, at least the editor's version - www.dvo.org.uk)
Back to events, is there interest out there in the East Midlands for a one-day inter-club competition? It's just an idea floating around at the moment but it could involve a short race in the morning followed by relays in the afternoon. It could be competitive but also allow for scratch teams between clubs to ensure that everyone gets a run. Let me have your views and I'll put it to the EMOA Committee.
Ranald Macdonald
Outgoing Chair
Derwent Valley Orienteers
Sports Personality of the Month
My nomination for sports personality of the month this month goes to Graham Johnson of DVO for putting his sport above mere monetary concerns. On day 4 of the Swiss/Italian 6 Day Event Graham got his spectacles caught on a branch within 20 or 30 yards (sorry, metres!) of the finish. The branch whipped off the spectacles clean as a whistle leaving Graham with the decision whether to stop and look for his spectacles or carry on to the finish and come back to look for them. Some people would have said that, as these were not cheapo reading glasses but relatively expensive varifocals, Graham would have been quite justified in stopping there and then to search for them. However Graham's competitive instincts drove him on to the finish. Needless to say his subsequent search for the spectacles, despite assistance from a number of people including yours truly, proved fruitless. I feel that this shows a true competitive spirit regardles of the consequences.
Ed
ps. A late contender for the title was Pete Leake of LEI. His claim originates from day 2 of the Twin Peaks event at Macclesfield Forest. Pete decide that a 2.5 Km walk to the start was an insufficient warm-up for the event so he decided to run back to assembly to get properly warm (funnily enough his decision to return coincided with the moment when he went to clear his SI card at the clear station). I believe that the driver of mini bus for the very young and the very old (the organisers description, not mine) decided that Pete by this time looked sufficiently aged to deserve a lift to the start so he only had to run 5Km instead of the 7.5Km he might have had to run.
East Midlands Galoppen 2001 - 2002
The Galoppen is an informal competition with no entry forms or entry fees - it is open to all members of East Midlands Orienteering Clubs and affiliated schools and groups. To take part you simply compete as an individual at the Colour Coded (C4) events within the region which have been nominated as part of the Galoppen. Once you have run a given colour course on at least two occasions, you will be automatically included in the league for that course. There will be a handicapping system to enable juniors, seniors and veterans to compete against each other with a fair chance of success.
The handicapping system will be the same as in previous years; It has been refined over the years and found to be as fair as possible. There are 13 events included in the Galoppen this year; in each league the best 6 events will be counted.
The results will be processed by computer; for the system to work efficiently it is essential that you enter the same details on your control card at each event: ie forename, surname, sex & age class and club or group.
The Galoppen events for 2001-2002 will be: Ratby Woodlands (7 Oct), Sherwood (28 Oct), Bourne Woods (11 Nov), Eyam Moor (2 Dec), Harlow Woods (23 Dec), Walesby (13 Jan), Stapleford (27 Jan), Burrough Hill (3 Feb), Grace Dieu (24 Mar), Swithland (6 Apr), Byron's Walk (14 Apr), Crich (21 Apr) and Twyford Woods (28 Apr). All events especially the later ones are subject to permission being obtained. See next EMEWS for updated information. It is proposed that the prize-giving will be at the LEI Burbage Common event on 12 May 2002.
Inclusion in the Galoppen leagues is automatic. If you do not wish to be included please let us know.
The prize-giving for last season's Galoppen will take place at the LEI Ratby Woodlands event on 7 October.
The Williamson family, 63 Loughborough Road, Quorn, Loughborough, Leics LE12 8DU Tel: 01509 412132
East Midlands Galoppen Rules 2001 - 2002
1. The Galoppen will take place at a number of specified Colour-Coded (C4) events and will be open to all members of EMOA clubs and affiliated schools and groups.
2. The Galoppen will comprise 14 leagues, with separate male and female leagues on the Colour-Coded courses White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green, Green, Blue and Brown. (There will be no league for Red courses.)
3. Any member may participate in any of the Colour-Coded leagues, with the exception that M/W 14s and above who are members of the EM Junior Squad will not be counted as competitors in the Orange league or below. When a person has run a given Colour-Coded course at 2 Galoppen events, s/he will be included as a participant in that league. A person may compete in more than one Colour league, both within the Galoppen as a whole and at any individual event, only the first course tackled will be deemed to be included. No person will be given more than one prize at the end of the Galoppen.
4. The results for each Colour-Coded league will be calculated on the basis of the best points scored by each participant at 50% of the events (rounded down).
5.
At each event points will be allocated to each participant as
follows
(i)
The race time of each competitor will be adjusted by an age-based
percentage handicap (see below).
(ii) The winner of each league on
the basis of these adjusted times will be given 1000 points.
(iii) Other competitors will be given
points according to the formula:
competitor's score = 1000 x competitor's
adjusted time / winner's adjusted time
6. The
percentage handicap adjustments will be as follows:
M/W 10: 62%
M/W 12 : 68%
M/W 14 : 73%
M/W 16 : 79%
M/W 18 : 85%
M20 : 97%
W20 : 94%
M/W 21 : 100%
M/W 35 : 94%
M/W 40 : 88%
M/W 45 : 82%
M/W 50 : 76%
M/W 55 : 71%
M/W 60 : 65%
M/W 65 : 60%
M/W 70 : 55%
M/W 75 + 50%<
The above percentage adjustments will be applied to the race time of all competitors on all courses, with the exception that any Senior or Veteran competing on White, Yellow or Orange courses will be given a handicap of 100%.
7. The age class used for each person will be that which applies at the date of the event. (The class for some people will change as we move into 2002.)
8. The Organisers cannot guarantee to include competitors whose full details (name, sex & age class and club) do not appear in the official results of a given event. If a competitor uses different names at different events the computer will assume that they are different people. (Please use the same details at all events!)
9. Appeals against the results of any event in the Galoppen should be made in the first instance to the Organisers within 10 days of publication. If necessary, the Organisers will refer the appeal to the EMOA Committee.
