Published 31st August 2019

This summer saw over 100 of our members travel north to Strathearn to the biannual Scottish 6 days competition. The first day was held in the super tough terrain of Auchingarrich. SYO got off to a fabulous start with 18 podium positions. There were wins for Will P (M10A), Freddie (M10B), Charlotte (W10A), Anna (W12A), Robbie (M12A), Alex C (W14A), Cat (W21E), Lesley (W50S) and Peter G (M70L). Freya (W14A), Stanley (M10B), Andy P (M40L), Nick B (M45L), Charlie (M50L) and Lucy (W50L) all took 2nd place; while Lawrence (M10A), Max (M16A) and Jamie (M14A) all picked up 3rd place positions.

Day 2 saw us transfer to the new area of Edenchip – the mix of open fell and woodland and less technically challenging terrain providing a sharp contrast to day 1. SYO's early start block in the tough terrain meant podium positions were harder to come by today. However there were still some excellent performances with wins for Freddie (M10B), Charlotte (W10A), Robbie (M12A) and Nick B (M45L). Finlay (M10B) and Jenny J (W40L) took 2nd place; while Jamie (M14A), Alexandra (W14B) and Mary (W21E) all gained 3rd place.

I’m sure many competitors will agree that day 3’s Dundurn and Cnoc a’Mhadaidh provided a superb day of competition - technical terrain, challenging courses, a fab arena and glorious weather! SYO members continued to perform magnificently with 15 top 3 positions. Well done to Freddie (M10B), Nick B (M45L), Charlie (M50L), Tim T (M55L), Charlotte (W10A), Cat (W21E), Jenny J (W40L) and Lesley (W50S) who all topped their classes. There were 2nd places for Lawrence (M10A) and Dave P (M50L), while Freya (W14A), Euan (M16A),Will (M10A), Stanley (M10B) and Andy P (M40L) all finished 3rd.

Day 4 of the Scottish 6 Days provided a complete contrast to day 3, with fast runnable open fell and easy navigation. SYO didn't fare quite so well results wise as the previous day, although there were still 9 podium positions to celebrate. Well done to Freddie (M10B), Tim (M55L), Charlotte (W10A) and Nick B (M45L) who all finished in 1st place; while Stanley (M10B), Anna (W12A), Jenny J (W40L) and Lucy (W50L) all finished 3rd.

Day 5 saw us return to the classic orienteering area of Craig a Barns - a super technical and physical Scottish forest. Despite an early start block there were some good results with Nick B (M45L), Charlie (M50L), Cat (W21E) and Tim (M55L) all finishing their courses in the fastest time. Laura (W35L) and Robbie (M12A) finished in 2nd place and Lucy (W50L) and Stanley (M10B) came 3rd.

The final day saw the introduction of a middle race for all but the shortest courses. Grandtully provided beautifully runnable and surprisingly technically challenging (particularly without a compass) terrain. Surprisingly SYO picked up the least number of podium positions on this day (clearly we love a bit of grot!). Well done though to Brian who picked up a win on M75L, Tim T (M55L) and Dave P (M50L) who both took 2^nd position and Jamie (M14) and Andy P (M40L), who took 3^rd.

Prizes are presented to the top 3 overall in each class, with the best 4 out of 6 races counting. SYO managed an excellent 11 podium places overall. Congratulations particularly to winners Freddie G (M10B), Nick B (M45L), Charlie A (M50L), Tim (M55L) and Charlotte (W10A) – that’s double the number of winners we had in 2017! Well done also to the other podium finishers – Will P 3^rd (M10A), Stanley 2^nd (M10B), Robbie 2^nd (M12A), Peter G 3^rd (M70L), Jenny J 3^rd (W40L) and Lesley 3^rd (W45S).

Published 10th September 2019

The SYO Saturday Series is designed to introduce newcomers of all ages to the sport of orienteering. There are courses to suit all abilities and anyone can come along - just turn up between 12.20 and 3pm and have a go. The series also incorporates the Sheffield Federation of School Sports schools' league. There are 9 league events over the year followed by a fun event and prize giving. The league is open to Y3 and above and there is even now an adults' league; won this year by SYO's Paul Norman!

The new series kicks off on Saturday 21st September at Endcliffe Park. More details here.The other dates are:

Sat 5th Oct - EIS, Olympic Legacy Park
Sat 23rd Nov - Shirebrook Valley
Sat 11th Jan - Whirlowbrook Hall
Sat 8th Feb - Botanical Gardens
Sat 14th Mar - Norfolk Park
Sat 18th Apr - Parkwood Springs
Sat 16th May - Millhouses Park
Sat 6th June - Graves Park
Sat 11th July - Prize giving

We have hundreds of printed flyers if you would like some to give out at a community group or your child's school or you can download a copy here.

The series culminates with a fun event and prize giving. Prizes are awarded to 1st 3 in each age class and there are also team prizes and school prizes. We even reward attendance with a prize for those who attend all 9 events. We celebrated the end of the 2018/19 league with a score event and prize giving at Millhouses Park at the end of July. Well done to all the prize winners - the overall winners are listed below, full list of results here. Thanks to Richard Baxter for the photos.

Primary School - Nether Green
Secondary School - High Storrs

G4 Team - Dobcroft
B4 Team - Nether Green
G5 Team - Hunters Bar
B5 Team - Nether Green
G6 Team - Dobcroft
B6 Team - Hunters Bar
G7 Team - High Storrs
B7 Team - High Storrs
G8/9 Team - Tapton
B8/9 Team - High Storrs
G10/11 Team - High Storrs
B10/11 Team - Penistone

G4 - Imogen, Ecclesall
B4 - Lawrence, High Storrs
G5 - Ella, Hunters Bar
B5 - Oli, Nether Green
G6 - Anna, Dobcroft
B6 - Robbie, Nether Green
G7 - Freya, High Storrs
B7- James, High Storrs
G8 - Imogen, High School
B8 - Conrad, High Storrs
G9 - Carys, Notre Dame
B9 - Euan, High Storrs
G10 - Naomi, Home Schooled
B10 - Max, Tapton
G11 - Alex, High Storrs
G12 - Isabelle, Notre Dame

Published 8th July 2019

On Sunday 7th July our 50 strong team of juniors travelled to Sandringham, home of the Queen, to compete in the final of the 2019 Yvette Baker Trophy. 

It was an early start from Sheffield but the coach made good time and by 10.30am the team were setting up camp in the assembly field ready for the competition. While the juniors chilled and prepared for the races with nail and face painting, the adults rushed straight to the start to complete their runs prior to the start of the competition. Sandringham is a lovely woodland with very little bramble cover but the heavy rain followed by warm sunshine over the past few weeks has provided very fertile conditions for bracken growth! What would be a very easy control normally is significantly harder when you need to navigate your way through head high bracken and a number of the adults recorded some rather long times! At least we could console ourselves that we were creating elephant tracks for the juniors!

Our first juniors started just after 12.30 and it wasn't long before our yellow runners began streaming confidently into the finish, followed shortly by the first of our orange runners. As time passed we had lots of yellow, orange and even green course finishers but no light green competitors! Eventually though, to our relief, they started to return. The light green course was incredibly challenging in the bracken and early light green runners did not have the elephant tracks that the green competitors had. Towards the latter end of the competition the times speeded up thanks to the early runners forging the trails to the controls!

By 2.30pm all our runners were safely back and there was just time for ice-cream before the start of the prize giving. The Shield competition for smaller clubs was won by SOS with PFO in 2nd and HOC in 3rd. Then it was time for the trophy results......HH were announed 3rd in with 862 points, SO in 2nd with 880 and......for the 3rd year in a row.....SYO were announced as champions with a score of 897 (out of a possible 899)! 

As soon as the prize giving was over we bundled onto the coach for the long journey back to Sheffield. However, the celebrations continued on the coach with lollipops (thanks Dave) and the purchase of a new club mascot - Billie the Bee!

Congratulations to our 9 scorers:

Isabelle H - green girls - 100 points
Imogen - light green girls - 100 points
Freya - orange girls - 100 points
Charlotte - yellow girls - 100 points
James - orange boys - 100 points
Caspar - yellow boys - 100 points
Euan - green boys - 99 points
Anna - orange girls - 99 points
Freddie E - orange boys - 99 points
Ella (yellow girls) and Isaac (yellow boys) also scored 99 points but we did so well their scores weren't needed!

However, a huge well done must go to the whole team because even if they didn't score directly for SYO they helped push down the score of our competitors. Perhaps the most impressive statistic was that we didn't have a single retiral or mispunch and every single junior completed their course! 

Thank you to all the parent supporters and particularly team captain Jacky. Next year's final will be held in the South West on Sunday 5th July 2020.