Scotch College

Ten years of orienteering

Almost exactly ten years ago this November, Orienteering started life as a summer sport at Scotch. In the early days there were only about a dozen boys, and the sport was regarded as a bit of a 'soft option'.

All that has changed, and now the sport attracts a training list of over fifty. Far from being a 'soft option' these days, our top students are regularly competing in 10 km events - and there's no walking!

Events are held every Wednesday throughout daylight saving, and during term there is a bus from Scotch. There's a different location each week; spread throughout the parks of the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

The navigation required is not much harder than Melway navigation, but it is still easy to make a mistake, especially when there is a choice of routes between controls.

In addition to our fifty student competitors each week, there are growing numbers of family members and staff out on the courses each week.

Dr Roger Slade is hard to beat in the 10 km event, as is Mr Hugh Wilson and Mr Ken James in the 8 km event. Dr Syd Boydell, the founding coach, is less predictable, and occasionally still beats all the students in the 5.5 km event.

The sport offers great opportunities beyond the weekly races. There is now a regular Scotch Champioinship (the trophy generously supplied by the OSCA Bushwalkers' Club); there is an annual Victorian Schools Bush Orienteering Championship (Scotch have held the title for the past two years - no mean feat when we cannot enter any of the girls events!), and we have regularly contributed members to the Victorian Schools Squad. Last year both Chris Sayers and David Hudson ran for Victoria.

Beyond foot Orienteering there are opportunities in MTBO (using mountain bikes), Ski-O, and Rogaining (events which last between six and twenty-four hours).

Scotch is also the current Victorian Schools Rogaining Champion.

The links with Scotch go back much longer than ten years. The very first Orienteering event in the State was held on the school's Healesville property, and of the twenty-nine finishers, fifteen had Scotch connections. Dave Holt was third home in the senior men's event, whilst Mike Achurch came second in the Novice class, just in front of Steve Glenn and David Alder. By all accounts the first event was a tough one - the winner in the Open class took three hours and fifty-one minutes to finish!

The sport now has a firm place in the school's offerings, and many boys tackle it as a second sport on top of their other commitments. The challenge of the 10 km distance is an appealing one to many, and Dr Boydell has seen several generations of Year 7 boys barely able to run more than half a kilometre tackling 10 km by their last two years at Scotch.

Parents and Old Boys interested in joining us for a run any Wednesday during the summer would be most welcome.

Dr Syd Boydell