At the final meeting of the OACT Board on 24 March before the AGM, the Board formally endorsed the Strategic Plan prepared with the assistance of Gavin Macdonald. The measures of effectiveness will still need more attention in future, but are a good starting point. A carnival-themed day is to be added as a deliverable. It is anticipated that one good way to approach monitoring will be to conduct a deep dive into one pillar of the plan per meeting.
President: Susanne noted this was due to be her last meeting as President as her term ends after three years at the AGM. She reminded members we had advertised for nominees for the Board. We also need to encourage more people to become controllers, but for the purposes of succession planning we should also try to better document the descriptions and risks associated with roles that have been filled by key individuals over a long time.
We have two coaches-in-residence coming this year, starting with Hedda from Denmark in May. While schools coaching is a good opportunity for them, the coaches should also be involved with our other initiatives including L2O and Blue Lightning. Susanne will speak to various families about the possibility of coordinating the coaches’ stay and their community coaching activities.
Finance: Andrew and Phil reported that our $31k loss for 2023 had become a $7k surplus in 2024 mainly due to three marquee/double-header weekends, a vacancy in the development officer role (effectively doubled up by Susanne for most of the year), a profit from the MTBO Carnival (as a result of some expected expenditures not being incurred for various reasons), a profit arising from the junior development camp at the end of the year and stronger financial governance. Several of these items would require close attention by the new Board in 2025 as they are not necessarily expected to be repeated in the coming year. Phil also reported that as OACT was one of only six sporting organisations to be recognised as achieving ACT Sport & Rec governance goals this year, our funding bids had been successful, including for: a drone to enhance mapping capability by utilising LIDAR technology; and purchasing Mesh-O services from the Mesh-O company. Success in these areas also enabled us to unlock $10 000 in additional financial support to be tied to initiatives (other than wages) in 2025-26 that will encourage participation.
Events: The Event Planning Sub-Committee has recently met and confirmed arrangements for holding a NOL round over the March long weekend in 2026, with two sprints on the Saturday (to be hosted by Red Roos and Abominable O-Men) and a middle distance event on the Sunday (Parawanga). A double-header weekend is again scheduled with ONSW on 16-17 May in Cootamundra, co-hosted by Waggaroos on the Saturday and Bushflyers on the Sunday. Phil also noted the next regular meeting with ACT Parks is scheduled for 10 April at Athllon Depot.
MTBO organisers welcomed proposed terms of reference for a sub-committee and a budget, but felt that $500 with any surplus to be reinvested in MTBO mapping was inadequate. The Board acknowledged that re-mapping, while relatively easy, is very time-consuming and therefore can be expensive, as essentially the mapper has to ride the whole map to check for changes to trails etc. On balance the Board agreed to no change but is open to an approach for a specific proposal, for example for re-mapping for a flagship event or area.
Participation
- ASOC Rules – the Board noted OACT and several other States had made representations to OA about the proposed changes to the ASOC Rules, but these appeared to have been disregarded. No formal report has been circulated yet.
- Oceania – preliminary discussions with ACT Parks had indicated there was good support for events to be held at ‘Boboyan Pines’ in the Bogong Creek area, Honeysuckle Creek, Mt Stromlo, Mt Ainslie and Pine Island, with possible sprint locations at three or four schools. These sites had been embargoed accordingly.
- Event Status Updates – Susanne reported 2025 Summer Sprint Series had gone well; Autumn SC-ORE 2025 was on track, though numbers are down; L2O is still popular – an intensive short session is now also planned in addition to the 7-week program.
- Prizes – The Board had been approached for funding for prizes for the MD/LD events, which had apparently not been included in the event budget/entry fees. The Board ratified the decision taken out of session not to provide additional funding but to agree the organisers could provide certificates to first, second and third place-getters as well as small prizes for under 14 year-olds if desired.
- Jamboree – Alison reported that the response from participants following inclusion of an orienteering element at the Scout Jamboree in Queensland had not been particularly positive, but on the local level there had been some interest from scouts resulting in participation in the L2O program.
Next meeting: AGM on 10 April – The Annual report has been finalised ready to be circulated to members with the audited accounts.