Race For Your School! Victorian Secondary Schools Orienteering Champs, 24 May, Brimbank Park

Entries close Friday May 10 – don’t delay!

Entry is now open for VSSOC 2024, at Brimbank Park on Friday 24 May.  This is an awesome experience for orienteering schools.  All year 7-12 students are invited to participate! We welcome everyone, including experienced orienteers, top cross-country runners who want to try their hand at navigating, and bush walkers.

This is also a World Orienteering Week event, with hundreds of others registered around the world. Be a part of this international orienteering celebration.

There is more. The VSSOC 2024 is one of the selection races for the Victorian team to compete at the Australian Schools Orienteering Championships (ASOC) during the spring holidays in NSW. Ask anyone who has attended ASOC, it is the most enjoyable and memorable orienteering experience available to juniors in Australia.

All the information you need is under the heading below – you can enter as part of a School team, or as an individual.

VSSOC 2024 Information

Information flyer

Start Times: Students will start at 1 – 2 minute intervals. First Start 10:30am.

Finish Time: Courses will close at 12:45pm – 1pm, at this time, all students still in the field will be directed to the finish.

Presentations: The Award Presentation will be held at approximately 1:30pm, and aim to be completed by 2pm.

Final Event Bulletin: Further information including car and coach parking information, individual start times (if needed) and course notes will be sent out in the middle of May.

Entry Categories:  There will be a separate age category for each year level. For state selection purposes, junior year levels (7, 8 and 9) and senior year levels (10, 11 and 12) will run the same course. The expected winning time for each course will be 25 min.

For each age group there are two categories: ‘Beginner’ and ‘Competition’.

  1. Beginner courses will all be set at an ‘easy navigation’ difficulty and can be completed by those who have never experienced orienteering. Controls are located on very easily distinguished Two students from the same school may start at the same time.
  2. Competition courses will be set at a ‘moderate navigation‘ difficulty for both junior and senior categories. Courses are set along handrails such as tracks and fences but include the option to navigate ‘across country’. Participants may need to choose from a range of possible routes between controls. Controls are located either on or adjacent to easily distinguished landmarks.
ENTRY CATEGORIES Girls Boys
Junior Competition

Year 7, 8 and 9

Approx. 3.0km

Moderate navigation

Approx. 3.5km

Moderate navigation

Junior Beginner (Solo/Pair)

Year 7, 8 and 9

Approx. 2.5km

Easy navigation

Approx. 3.0km

Easy navigation

Senior Competition

Year 10, 11 and 12

Approx. 4.0km

Moderate navigation

Approx. 4.5km

Moderate navigation

Senior Beginner (Solo/Pair)

Year 10, 11 and 12

Approx. 3.5km

Easy navigation

Approx. 4.0km

Easy navigation

INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES:

Individuals who are familiar with Eventor (link here) are now able to enter and pay for the VSSOC event using this page (you do not need to email the excel spreadsheet). When you see the Customer Details box under your entry information, please replace the “COUNTRY” text question in your address with your “SCHOOL” name, as you will be competing for your school, not your orienteering club.

SCHOOL ENTRIES:

For teams of students organised by a school coordinator/teacher, please download the excel spreadsheet and complete before returning by email by the 10th May entry deadline. To register for the event, please complete the separate entry form (xlsx file) linked below. Once your entry list is received, each school will be contacted individually to complete the entry process.

To complete the entry form (xlxs spreadsheet), enter individual students’ names in each row and select the entry category from the dropdown list. Please do not copy-and-drag to fill multiple cells.

For pairs’ entries, enter the first student’s full name in the first column. Enter the second student’s full name in the second column.

Once your entry has been confirmed, an invoice will be provided for payment of entry fees. The entry fee is $15 per individual (inc GST). Please process payment promptly once invoiced. All changes to entries (e.g. change of course) must be provided BEFORE the event. Ensure you choose suitable courses for each student when submitting entries.

Entries close on May 10.

‘Champion School’ Scoring

  • The top 3 finishers in each competition age category will be recognised.
  • The top 10 finishers in each competition age category can score points towards the “Champion School” competition: 1st place 10pt, 2nd 9pt, etc.
  • A maximum of 5 finishers from a school may score points in each age category (only the top 5 finishers from each school are counted).
  • A “Champion School” will be awarded for each age category, as well as for all the age categories combined.

Victorian team selection for the Australian Schools Orienteering Championship (ASOC)  

Orienteering Victoria supports a full team of both junior and senior secondary school students to compete at ASOC. The team will comprise of up to 6 competitors in each of 4 age categories, up to a maximum of 20 students. The 4 categories are:

  1. Junior girls and boys: 15 or younger at 31 Dec 2024
  2. Senior girls and boys: 16 or older at 31 Dec 2024

The 2024 Victorian Secondary Schools Championship is one of the  selection races for this team.  More information about nominations for the team and how to get involced will be available at the event, for all students.

For more information about any of the above, contact

Rob Preston
Schools Officer, Orienteering Victoria schools@vicorienteering.asn.au

Find out more about orienteering in schools

Click here

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