Learn to Orienteer session 2
Waggaroos will host the 2nd of four Learn to Orienteer sessions this Sunday, 12th May at Rawlings Park in Wagga Wagga, starting at 9:00am. The sessions are open to people of all ages (children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian) and are free to attend.
A Waggaroos club event will follow the training and participants are encouraged to stay and take part in this. A small fee ($11 for seniors, $10 for juniors) is payable for this event. The club event will offer a range of courses, from easy to moderate navigation, in the delightful Rawlings Park bushland.
The meeting point is at the eastern end of Angel Street. Full details are in the brochure below. Numbers are limited, so booking are recommended.
Riverina Schools day an great success
The 2024 Riverina Schools day was a great success, with 122 students from five schools in Wagga Wagga and Colleambally taking part, the latter making the 2.5 hour bus journey each way for the day! Many students were experiencing orienteering for the first time.
Warm, sunny conditions made for a pleasant day on Willan’s Hill in Wagga Wagga and the students performed very well, with close racing in both the individual and relay events. All schools enjoyed success in the individual races.
Ready to start in the Relays
Interclub series to start this Sunday
The 2024 Interclub series with Albury-Wodonga club (AWOC) starts this Sunday 28th April. The Interclub series comprises six events, three hosted by Waggaroos and three by AWOC.
The first event will be hosted by AWOC and will be held at 9 Mile Hill reserve on the Gerogery Road just north of Albury. Waggaroos are looking to regain the trophy after a couple of years, so a strong turnout is needed down south!
There will be four courses offered on the day:
| Long Hard (5.3 km) – challenging navigation and control locations |
| Short Hard (4.3 km) – challenging navigation and control locations, but shorter and less physically demanding than Long Hard |
| Moderate (3.3 km) – easier navigation with options of using linear features (tracks, paths, fences, watercourses, etc.) or short-cutting cross-country, medium distance and generally not too physically demanding |
| Easy (2.3 km) – easy navigation following obvious features, shorter distance and not physically demanding |
Assistance will be available for newcomers. Starts will be open between 10:00am and 11:00am, course closure 1:00pm.
Event location:
9 Mile Reserve (aka Knowles Hill)
Gerogery Road, Ettamogah
OpenStreetMap : zoom to marker
Good turnout to Waggaroos first Learn to Orienteer session
There was a pleasing response to Waggaroos first Learn to Orienteer session at Willan’s Hill, with six families (16 individuals) participating. After a couple of activities to demonstrate the difference between navigating and treasure hunting, and the importance of orientating the map, the group went on a map walk in which various symbols were matched to ground features, and techniques associated with route choice planning and execution were practiced. Participants were then able to complete a short course by themselves, and all managed this successfully. A few then followed up by undertaking the 1.6km Easy course of the Waggaroos local event that followed the Learn To Orienteer session.
Harrison Moore and William Rennison ran together for most of the way with Harrison just edging William out for second place. Fastest time on the Easy course was by Waggaroo Eddie Mestan.
Pauline Moore just held off Wes Campbell on the 2.8km Moderate course, and Goldseeker member, James Lithgow, won the Short Hard course ahead of WaggaRoos Chontelle Dailey. Caleb Addison was the only participant on the 4.8km Hard course and posted a time that would have been competitive on the other shorter courses.
Full results can be found here
Learn to Orienteer with Waggaroos
Waggaroos will be running a series of orienteering training sessions for people of all ages (children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian) as part of the Learn to Orienteer program, which was introduced by Orienteering Australia at the end of 2023.
There will be four sessions, each of about one hour in duration, and they will be held prior to a scheduled Waggaroos club event. There is no cost to undertake one or all of the sessions. Participants are encouraged to stay for the club event, for which there will be a small fee ($11 for seniors, $10 for juniors).
The program is detailed in the poster below, which also includes booking contact details and the locations of each session. Numbers are limited so bookings are required.
Waggaroos annual club training weekend
Waggaroos will hold their annual club training event this weekend, 23rd and 24th March.
Activities will commence around 1:00pm on Saturday near the Music Bowl on Willan’s Hill with a series of short exercises aimed at improving map reading and location skills.
On completion of the afternoon session, we will gather for a BBQ meal followed by the club AGM. Capping the day will be a short, fun night O race!
At 9:00am on Sunday morning we will meet at Peter Hastie Oval at Charles Sturt Uni for some discussion and exercises in the granite rocks. We will be targeting attack points, map simplification, route planning and control picking. If there is time, we will also do a short map walk through the university campus buildings to discuss the mysteries of sprint orienteering.
Waggaroos AGM
In accordance with Rule 23 of our Constitution, notice is hereby given that the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Wagga and Riverina Orienteers Inc (Waggaroos) will be held on Saturday 23rd March at 7:00pm in the BBQ area adjacent to the Wagga Wagga Music Bowl. Business of the meeting will be the presentations of report(s) and the election of the Committee for the next 12 months.
Nominations of candidates for election as members of the Committee:
a) shall be made in writing, signed by two members of the Club, and accompanied by the written consent of the candidate (which may be endorsed on the nomination form); and
b) shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Club not less than seven days (18th March 2024) before the date of the Annual General Meeting.
If no nominations are received to fill a vacancy on the Committee, nominations shall be received at the Annual General Meeting.
The nomination form can be downloaded here
Meeting agenda can be downloaded here
Minutes of 2023 AGM can be downloaded here
Waggaroos to hold Introduction to Orienteering session
On Sunday 10th March, Waggaroos will hold an Introduction to Orienteering session at Pomingalarna reserve on the western edge of Wagga Wagga.
The session will provide an introduction and basic skills training so that newcomers can get an experience of what is involved in the sport of Orienteering. Club members will be on hand to provide assistance and explain the varies intricacies of the orienteering map and the modern technology used. There will be a series of short courses set out, ranging from very easy to moderately difficult, so participants can try the sport for themselves.
Anyone wishing to try Orienteering should meet at the western gate to Pomingalarna at around 10:00am. Look for the Waggaroos banner! Individuals and groups are welcome. Participants should wear running or walking clothes and shoes, and bring water, a hat and sun block. The session will run for about 2 hours and it is completely free to attend.
Summer Series final event for 2023-24
Waggaroos Summer series will come to a close this Sunday, 3rd March in Kooringal. Starts are open from 9:00am to 10:00am with the usual format of a 30 or 45 minutes score event. Make sure you bring a watch or phone as there are points penalties for a late return!
The start/finish is in the park on the corner of Sherwood and Kilpatrick Streets.
Tatton Summer Series results
Warm temperatures greeted a small group of runners at Waggaroos Summer series in Tatton on 4th February. Seb Addison was the winner of the 45 minute course, just ahead of John Oliver, with John loosing 5 minutes for being overtime! The Earl family group were clear winners on the 30 minute course. Full results can be found here.
Summer Series continues this Sunday
Waggaroos Summer series of street and park orienteering will continue this Sunday, starting from the playground in Fitzroy St in Tatton. Starts will be open between 9:00am and 10:00am, with course closure at 11:00am.
The normal 30 and 45 minute score courses will be available. View the full summer calendar here. Thanks to Julie for organising this event.
Wagga Beach Summer Series results
Waggaroos 2023-24 Summer series resumed last Sunday morning at Wagga Beach where, despite an earlier than usual start time of 8:30am, temperatures were already very high. It’s a new year but the Addison’s continue to dominate the results with Caleb leading home his brother Seb with another promising young competitor in Gabriel James close behind in 3rd place. The Addison’s are clearly enjoying their orienteering and have now all become members of Waggaroos, along with their father Brad.
There were a couple of newcomers at the beach, with Michael Osbourne completing his first event (and unfortunately, likely his last with Waggaroos as he is leaving Wagga!) and the Roche group also enjoying their first taste of our sport.
Thanks to Chontelle for her course planning and day organisation.
Full results can be found here on Eventor.
Summer Series to resume
Waggaroos Summer series of street and park orienteering will resume this Sunday, 4th February, starting and finishing at Wagga Wagga Beach. The map covers the beach precinct and the centre of Wagga Wagga. The usual Score event format will be used – find as many controls as possible within a set time limit of 30 or 45 minutes, so make sure you bring a watch or phone as there are points penalties for a late return!
Starts are open between 9:00am and 10:am with course closure at 11:00am. It’s looking like a warm day so why not enjoy a swim in the river after your run.
The calendar of all our Summer Series events can be found here
New MapRun courses are now available
Two new Waggaroos MapRun courses have been created and added to the already available list of courses, so while our Summer Series is in recess, you can keep your navigation skills up to date, and work on your fitness, by running (or walking) a MapRun course. The new courses are in Glenfield Park and Bourkelands. Browse to the MapRun link in the menu bar for full details.
Summer Series #2 at Estella
The Addison family continued to dominate Waggaroos Summer Series last Sunday at Estella and this week, a 3rd member joined the party, with Seb joining Caleb and Brad in a clean sweep of the placing on the 45 minute score course.
John’s course setting meant a lot of territory had to be covered to get a high score and Caleb led the way with an impressive 290 points (including a 15 point penalty for being overtime). Seb was just behind on 275 and Brad scored 210.
Chontelle Dailey was a clear winner on the 30 minute course ahead of Alex Davey. Full results can be found in Eventor here
The next event in the series is on 17th December with the start/finish at the park in Bedervale Street, Bourkelands. Starts available between 9:00am and 10:00am. The full calendar can be found here
Summer Series at Lake Albert
Caleb and Brad Addison were the winners at Waggaroos first Summer Series event last Sunday.
Pauline set some hard-to-get to control sites, requiring a bit of extra running around. Caleb was the top point scorer with 170 in the 45 minute score, 25 points ahead of Brad. John Oliver would have matched Brad’s score but gave up 15 points for being late back!
Alex Davey was the only competitor on the 30 minute event, finishing with 40 points. Full results can be found in Eventor here
The next event in the series is on 3rd December with the start/finish at the park in Schooner Place, Estella. Starts available between 9:00am and 10:00am. The full calendar can be found here
Waggaroos Sunday Summer Series starts this weekend
Waggaroos 2023-24 street and park orienteering summer series will start this Sunday 19th November. The series will run every 2nd Sunday with three (3) events prior to Christmas and three more in February and March.
A Score format will be used – find as many controls as possible within a set time limit of 30 or 45 minutes, so make sure you bring a watch or phone!
At each control location you will need to find the answer to a multiple-choice question. Points are earned for corrects answers; points are deducted for exceeding the time limit. Start anytime between 9am and 10am.
The full calendar can be found here
New Waggaroos website
After some technical issues which shut down Waggaroos old website, we have now launched a new website. It is a work in progress, so please bare with us as we build more content.
Wagga and Riverina Orienteers Incorporated 