Thank you very much to Toni Brown and David Poland who generously hosted our recent Bushies swarm.
It was great to have some new families join us, and for us all to catch up with the various travels and adventures that we’d been enjoying over the previous few months. Thank you, too, to the Speier/Terrill family who shared their amazing orienteering adventures they had in the southern USA. Their stories of 30m high canyon walls, desert camping and trail orienteering were indeed a highlight of the evening.
Welcome New Members: Mary Bullock; Chris, Emily and Sarah Hinchcliffe; and Felix von Oertzen.
2018 Awards – presented at the Swarm
Congratulations to all of the Bushies mentioned below.
(If you have yet to receive your award, Valerie will have them with her over the coming weekend at both events).
OA Merit Badges
| Chris Andersen | M55 Gold | Patrick Miller | M21 Gold |
| Bruce Barnett | M55 Gold | Tamsin Moran* | W21 Gold |
| Toni Brown | W55 Gold | Ari Piiroinen | M55 Gold |
| Carys Connick | W20 Bronze | Nic Plunkett-Cole | W45 Silver |
| Lynwen Connick | W55 Bronze | Ivy Prosser | W20 Bronze |
| Geoffrey Dabb | M80 Silver | Roy Prosser | M16 Bronze |
| Michael d’Ascenzo | M65 Silver | Silke Speier | W45 Silver |
| Robert d’Ascenzo | M21 Bronze | Chris Stocks | W45 Silver |
| Paul de Jongh | M21 Gold | David Stocks | M16 Gold |
| Tom de Jongh | M55 Bronze | Ryan Stocks | M20 Gold |
| Daniel del Dot | M21 Silver | Bodie Terrill | M12 Gold |
| Susan Hallissy | W21 Bronze | Greg Terriill | M55 Silver |
| Andrew Johnson | M45 Gold | Zoe Terrill | W14 Gold |
| Ellen Johnson | W16 Silver | Joseph Wilson | M16 Silver |
| Tenzing Johnson | 20 Gold | Caitlin Young | W20 Gold |
| Toby Lang | M16 Gold | Kelly Young | W45 Silver |
| Robin Mennet* | M20 Gold | Ken Young | M55 Bronze |
*Both Tamsin (UK) and Robin (Switzerland) have had their badges sent to them.
(These badges are awarded each year only if you improve within the class, or when you move up a class). To find our more, check out the OA website.
The Fly Swat Award
For the silliest mistake, biggest blunder, heroism under fire, most humorous moment etc. has been deservedly won by Daniel Del Dot, now residing in Queensland! Dan will receive his award at the coming event in Hill End at the end of March. If you are around, you might like to ask Dan about how much organisation is necessary to travel from the Gold Coast to Tasmania for the major Easter 3-days Championships: leave from work, travel, rental car, accommodation etc. What a pity that he forgot to actually enter…!
The Ian Booth Award, for the Most Improved Masters Competitor
Congratulations to Chris Andersen, who was a very clear winner
Chris will receive a voucher from the Runner’s Shop in recognition of his efforts and commitment last year.
Previous winners have been:
| 2017 | Anita Scherrer |
| 2016 | Valerie Barker |
| 2015 | Chris Stocks |
| 2014 | Carol Harding |
| 2013 | Toni Brown |
| 2012 | Robyn d’Ascenzo |
| 2011 | Pauli Piiroinen |
Oceania Championships – YOU ARE NEEDED!
Bushflyers have been asked to organise Days 2 and 3 of the Oceania Carnival (Sunday 29th – Monday 30th September), which are being held on the same map at Winona near Cootamundra – the Australian Long Distance Championships, and the Oceania/Australia Relay Championships.
This is a significant challenge which we have accepted, as indeed have several ACT (and Victorian) clubs for other days of the Championships.
What does this entail?
- We provide a Day Organiser (DO) for each day. This Day Organiser will assemble and lead a team to do the following tasks. (And, yes, they can run on the day if they have not been to the control sites in advance)
- The Course Planner/Controller will have taped and placed controls already. The DO will liaise with them to know when those activities are taking place/done and how many stands etc. will be needed (we will probably need to source these from multiple/interstate clubs in advance) and are to be collected, any taping required e.g. for dangerous spots, fence crossings, finish chute etc.
- The team for the day would need to set up and pack up (but NOT the finish tent or any IT equipment), liaising with the logistics manager/truck driver/s to ensure equipment is in the right vehicle ready to go to the next location. It is planned to have two of these leap-frogging each other, so they have more time to set up.
- There is a separate Start team (as well as the Finish team) who function independently of the Day Organiser, although the DO would need to liaise with them for continuity. That is, the organising team does NOT need to manage either the Start or the Finish.
- We are using SI Air rather than the usual SI units. The downside to this is that the controls need to be woken up on the day (otherwise such advantage as there is for contactless punching is not available to the first runners).
The DO could be the same for both days, or could be a pair, or could be different for each day.
There is a strong Carnival Support team available to assist the DO(s), led by Stephen Goggs.
Be aware that a number of Bushflyers are already committed to major roles in the Carnival. For example, Valerie is the OA National Schools Coordinator and is organising and managing the full ten days of Schools Championships and competition for almost 200 students and their officials and managers. Jo and Andrew Hobson are the financial managers for the Oceania Carnival – that’s a very important role! In previous years, Jane Barnett, and Tom de Jongh have managed the ACT Schools Team (across the whole carnival).
Please consider what you might be able to do, either as a/the Day Organiser, or as part of the day organising team. I hope to approach some of you who have experience and expertise, but enthusiasm is just as important a quality! Please contact me if you have any questions or to express an interest in making an important contribution to the success of the Carnival. It would be great if we could confirm the names of the Day Organisers before the Easter Carnival.
2019 Membership Renewal
Thank you for your continued support of our club. We do hope that you’ll continue to be a part of the Bushies family in 2019. It is now time to renew your membership for this year, if you haven’t done so already. The easiest way to do this is via Eventor. If you need assistance, please contact the OACT office ().
REPEAT ITEM – Club Tops
Thank you to those who have already indicated to me that they would like to order some new uniform items.
Bushies Uniforms – New Order Date and Details Here!
Last year we redesigned our Bushies O-top, and also introduced a Club jacket. Both look great and we have received quite a few compliments. If you would like to place an order, read on!
Please email your order (sizes(s) and quantities) to Valerie Barker () by SUNDAY 24th MARCH. This will mean that we will not have our new O-tops by Easter but they should arrive before the OACT Saturday Metro Series starts. I will order a few extra, in case of sizing problems, but in general, it is not easy to exchange tops.
Cost: $65 – or possibly less, depending on the quantity ordered. Arrangement for payments for tops will follow.
Sizing – this is always the tricky part, unfortunately. You might like to go to the Siven (Bryzoz) website, especially if you have never had a Siven (or Trimtex) shirt before. If you have a Trimtex shirt, the sizing will be similar. In general, you are recommended to err on the side of ordering a size larger than you might usually choose.
As a rough guide (for women), I wear Trimtex Women’s Small, I have a Siven XS, my usual clothing size is 8 (-10) and I’m 160cm tall.
In the meantime, please remember that I have a small number of both the old-style and new Bushflyers orienteering tops at hand, if you would like to purchase them directly from me, as well as a few of the new jackets. They are as follows:
- O-top new-style (as above) Women’s L (x 1). Cost $55
- Jackets: Men – 1 x Med, 1 x Large; Women – 1 x Med, 1 x Small. Cost $65
- O-tops old style (Trimtex) – Women’s XS (x 3), Men’s XL (x 1) and Men’s XXL (x 1), and will cost you only $50. (Many of us are still currently wearing these)
- I also have two of our ‘aprés-O’ tops (a white t-shirt style), both Women’s 12. Cost $15
- One pair of three-quarter O-pants in Club colours, but no logo, Medium. $50
Jo Hobson is taking over our Children’s O-shirt Library, which has been in abeyance for the past few months. To have this running successfully again, especially for next year, we need your help:
- If you have had shirts on loan from the Library that your child no longer fits or needs, please return these to Jo as soon as possible. (There will be a collection point at the next few events). Please be sure to indicate who has been using them, to help us manage our records.
- If you have a Library shirt on loan – and you would like to keep it for the rest of the season, or for your next child – please also let Jo know. Ensure that she knows the size of the top. This will help us develop an accurate inventory of our stock.
- If you have any Bushflyers children’s O-tops that you would like to pass on to other children to use, as a donation through the Library, these would also be much appreciated.
- Jo can be contacted by email at . We have families keen to borrow from the library – let’s use this opportunity to re-stock it and have it functioning well again.
COMING EVENTS
Thank you to all members who have offered assistance with our Orienteering ACT 2019 Main Program events as Organisers, setters, controllers (for ACT League events) and on-the-day helpers. Matt Stocks coordinates the roster so please watch for further requests for help and consider how you might contribute. Every hour that you are able to volunteer ensures a more successful and enjoyable event for everyone.
- The Twilight event on 13th March at North Ainslie was organised by the team of Toni Brown and David Poland; the courses were planned by Noah Poland, and again demonstrated the skills strength and commitment of our juniors. Thank you to all involved at this event.
- Thank you to Joseph Wilson for his great efforts in course-planning for the Twilight event at the Aranda Bushlands on 20th March; thank you too to Susanne Harryson, the organiser and her team, and to Greg Wilson, for his parental support of Joseph.
- Susanne Harryson is currently coordinating the Autumn SC-ORE program. The first two (of four) events have been enthusiastically enjoyed by over 110 primary school-children, competing at Curtin and Gowrie Primary Schools. The final two events will be held at Wanniassa Hills, and at Garran Primary Schools.
- This coming weekend, on Sunday 17th March, Bushflyers is responsible for the AL#1 event at The Gib (Bungendore). Andrew Barnett is the Course Planner, and Matt Stocks is the Organiser for the day, which follows the ACT Sprint Championships on Saturday 16th March.
- The Australian Easter Carnival, 19-27 April, based around Perth and Narrogin, WA comprises a range of events, including the traditional Easter Three-Days series of events, and the Australian 3-day Championships on the weekend of 20th-22nd April. Note that some of these annual championship events are being held at Easter this year, because the national Carnival (September/October) will focus on the Oceania Championships.
- The Easter events are significant selection events for our younger orienteers who have goals of JWOC, and World University Champs, and both weekends also offer challenging and exciting orienteering to competitors all ages. If you are competing, at whatever level, we wish you well. The Bushflyers banner will be flying at all events over the whole Carnival – if you are there, please join us!
- Bushflyers are responsible for the first Metro event (May 4th), and the AL event at Kowen Forest. Watch for further details.
OACT Annual General Meeting; New Roles for Bushflyers
- The OACT AGM was held on Thursday 28th February. David Poland retired as President, having reached the end of his three-year term. David made a significant contribution to OACT during his term, overseeing a number of new approaches and initiatives to welcome and retain orienteers, at all levels of expertise. Thank you, David, for your commitment and energy during your Presidential term.
- Bushflyers are traditionally well represented in the administration of Orienteering ACT, at a wide range of levels. On the OACT Board this year are Peter Miller (Treasurer), Valerie Barker, Jane Barnett and David Stocks. We also thank Anita Scherrer, who has retired, for her contributions to the Board over the past couple of years.
- Thank you to Ken Mansell, who has taken on the (joint) Coaching role of the Blue Lightning team, bringing a strong athletics background with him. Susan Hallissy continues as BL Manager. Toni Brown has stepped down after several years of dedicated commitment to the BL squad, although she will chair the Selection Panel for the 2019 Schools team.
Remember that Bushflyers has a Facebook page. “Like” our page and keep up to date with what’s happening in our club.
Valerie Barker (Club Convenor)
6251 5459 / 0410 151 554
For Bushflyers Orienteering – where no-one gets left on the bench!