Events
View all eventsEvent | Date | Venue |
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Urban evening event and club BBQ | Wednesday 14 August | Fulwood |
Orienteering Rotherham - Give it a go! | Thursday 15 August 11:00 - 14:30 | Clifton Park |
Orienteering Rotherham - Give it a go! | Friday 23 August 11:00 - 14:30 | Rosehill Victoria Park |
Orienteering Rotherham - Give it a go! | Monday 26 August 11:00 - 14:30 | Herringthorpe Valley Park |
Results
View all resultsEvent | Date | Venue |
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Evening event | Wednesday 3 July | Whitwell Woods |
Saturday Series prizegiving and score orienteering... | Saturday 29 June | Forge Dam |
Sheffield City Race | Sunday 16 June | Walkley |
Sheffield City Weekend Regional Sprint | Saturday 15 June | Stannington |
About SYO
South Yorkshire Orienteers (SYO) have 300 members ranging in age from 5 to 85. There is a wide range of ability and experience within the club from beginners to elite orienteers, who represent Great Britain all over the world. We offer a friendly and informal welcome to the sport - supporting adult and junior beginners and more seasoned orienteers alike with coaching and a programme of regular events.
South Yorkshire Orienteers is member of the Yorkshire and Humberside Orienteering Association (YHOA) and British Orienteering.
What is Orienteering?
Orienteering is a challenging outdoor adventure sport. The aim is to navigate between control points marked on an orienteering map and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time.
It does not matter how young, old or fit you are as you can choose the course that's right for you and run, jog or walk it at your own pace. It is excellent for adults wanting to shape up, add some excitement and mental challenge to their running and meet new friends. It is also ideal for families as everyone can take part at the level that's right for them and it allows children to develop independence, confidence and decision making skills.
News
Podium Position for SYO at the Compass Sport Cup Final
Forty eight members made the very long journey to Virtuous Lady in Devon for the final of this year’s Compass Sport Cup final and were rewarded with an excellent 3rd place.
Due to the epic distance involved SYO subsidised the cost of the coach. Most of the team took advantage of this and signed up to “Jacky’s Coach Tours”. The initial plan was to get some training in on the way down on the Saturday at an event in the Quantocks but unfortunately the fast approaching Storm Brian led to its cancellation at the last minute. Every cloud has a silver lining though and this meant a departure time 3 hours later at a very reasonable 10am. Following a leisurely drive down we eventually arrived at the youth hostel in Okehampton in the late afternoon and despite the torrential rain and gale force winds a few hardy souls went for a run / walk on Dartmoor before it got dark. A delicious 3 course meal (leek & stilton soup, roast beef and sticky toffee pudding) was served at 7pm and everyone agreed that it was far superior to any other youth hostel meal ever sampled. Some of the childfree amongst the team then adjourned to the pub while the rest relaxed at the hostel.
The following morning saw the team up bright and early for an 8.30am departure. By 9.30am we were parked in our fab parking spot adjacent to the arena where we could smugly watch people traipsing across the moor from the main parking area – it’s not often the coaches get the superior parking arrangements! There was a certain reluctance from much of the team to leave the warm, cosy coach so we instructed the juniors to put the SYO tent up whilst the rest of us stayed put! However, it was eventually deemed necessary to move and we joined the juniors in the tent where face painting in team colours was in full swing (even the SYO chair was spotted sporting the SYO logo on his cheek!)
The assembly field offered a lovely vista over the area and the spectator control meant we could cheer on fellow team mates as they entered the final loop of their courses. The weather remained reasonably bright for most of the day and the courses were surprisingly tricky with plenty of headless chickens on view in the areas of gorse and plentiful paths. Like last year, SYO’s main competitors were BOK and FVO. Whilst we fielded a very similar sized team to FVO, BOK had almost double the amount of runners and as a result they swept away with the competition scoring 2363 points to take the cup, which they last won in 2013. SYO scored 2296 finishing in third behind FVO on 2324 but surprisingly this was actually closer than the result last year when we were on home turf. This is very encouraging for the future as we were actually without a lot of our top runners and just shows how well the club is developing in strength and depth.
Congratulations to everyone who competed. It really was a stirling team effort with those who didn’t score contributing by pushing down the scores of others. Well done in particular to those who did score: Nick B, Bill E, Martin, Peter G, Euan, Alex E, Lucy, Isobel R, Sam C, Colin S, Dom, Nic, Pete T, Ian, Freya, Pauline T, Ryan, Clive, Henry, Isabelle H, Amanda, Bill H, Paul B, Tony and Tim W. Fabulous to see the strength of our juniors and also great to see lots of people scoring for the first time at a compass sport cup competition.
The coach journey home was long but far more relaxing than driving and we passed the time by eating our prize winning chocolates. We were also treated to a surprisingly tuneful sing song by the juniors from the back of the bus!
Many thanks to Jacky for organising the coach and booking the hostel and Tim T for co-ordinating the entries. Next year we are hosting the heat at Canklow on 11th March and the final is at Beaudesert in the West Midlands on 21st October 2018. Please put the dates in your diaries; with the all our best runners out we really could lift the cup again!
Meersbrook Event
The second event of the league at Meersbrook Park had another great attendance. This was a new area - with a map of the park by Dom Dakin and the park linked up to the woods and urban area around Gleadless. Thanks to the Möbus family for planning and all of our helpers who managed to cope with the record numbers.
We have also added a further team competitiong to the league - a year group competition. Up to Y7 it is split girls and boys per year group and combined Y8 & 9 and Y10 & 11. 3 people to count for the team with the best 5 results from the 9 races in the year to count for the league.
We've gone back and calculated the team results for Endcliffe and Meersbook and posted them on the event pages beneath the primary and secondary results.
Ten British Champions for SYO
More than 60 members travelled south at the weekend to compete in the British Sprint and British Middle Championships.
The weekend began with a lovely sunny day for the British Sprint Champs in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes. The Sprint Champs comprises of 2 races - a qualifier in the morning, followed by the finals in the afternoon. For the over 16s the qualifying heats were held in the relatively easy Springfield housing estate, while the younger juniors remained in the park. Racing was fast, furious and uncontentious with no disqualifications for out of bounds transgressions unlike last year!
The afternoon finals were all held in Campbell Park. Starting was quite exciting with around 20 people racing off at once to a number of controls in close proximity. Infact the finals were surprisingly tricky due to the high number of controls and the maze of paths and thickets in the wooded area.
Sprinting certainly seems to be a strength for SYO with 6 wins and another 5 podium positions. Congratulations to the British Champions Nick B (M40), Dave P (M50), Peter G (M70), Freya (W10), Imogen (W12) and Jenny P (W45); silver medallist Amanda (W45) and bronze medallists Robbie (M10), Dom (M16), Andy (M40) and Charlie A (M50).
Sunday saw the action move to Wendover Woods near Aylesbury for the British Middle Championships. Fortunately the forecast rain held off though the car parking field was rather on the windy side. The terrain was fairly technical and courses had been planned to avoid the worst of the brambles. Lots of controls meant quick decision making whilst maintaining a fast running speed. With 4 wins, 6 other podium positions and 4 fourth places, SYO managed this with aplomb! Congratulations to British Champions Nick B (M40), Dave P (M50), Peter G (M70) and Jenny P (W45), silver medallists Amanda (W45), Andy (M40) and Robbie (M10) and bronze medallists Dom (M16), Charlie A (M50) and Freya (W10). Special mention must also go to those who came so close in 4th place - Ella (W10), Imogen (W12), Kim (W21), Lucy (W45) and particularly Conrad (M12) who was 1 second off bronze!