News and Notes Archive
The following items were previously posted on the News and Notes page.
2010 Items
Orienteering Videos on the Internet
There has been a recent discussion on the BayONet (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baoc) about orienteering videos on the Internet. I spent some time searching through people's recommendations and YouTube, and came up with this list (PDF/68KB). I tried to pick ones that cover the main aspects of orienteering, showing beginners, how to's, as well as advanced races, relay, night, and Ski-O, plus a few short advertisements for orienteering. I sorted them in what I think would be roughly the order of interest for a newcomer.
I think it would also be useful to add one made at a BAOC event, showing the entire process from finding the road signs to get there, to registering, running, reporting back, downloading, and post-mortem discussions with friends. I also could not find anything good explaining how to read an orienteering map, so we might want to make one of those if we can't find one already done. Anybody interested in helping?
(November 19, 2010)
2010 BAOC Service Award
It's time to provide your nominations for the BAOC Service Award for 2010.
The BAOC Service Award is given annually to a club member who has provided extraordinary service to the club and/or the sport of orienteering. The recipient is chosen by the previous Service Award winners.
The past recipients have been Nancy Lindeman, Gary Kraght, Bob Cooley, Ev & Jean Beuerman, Joe Scarborough, Evan Custer, George Minarik, Gavin Wyatt-Mair, Harold & Penny DeMoss, Robert Lewis, Steve Beuerman, Scott Aster, Jeff Lanam, Tony Pinkham, Mark Blair, and Jay Hann. You can read about them here.
Nominations are now open for the 2010 award. Please contact or any other previous winner with your nomination for the 2010 BAOC Service Award, and the reasons you think the person should be selected. All suggestions are appreciated.
Nominations will close on November 28th. The past recipients will then consider your nominations, and through a highly confidential voting process not quite as complex as the Interscholastic scoring system, or the electoral college, will pick a winner. The award will be presented in the spring at the annual general meeting, or earlier. Stay tuned.
Please do not post your nominations on the Bay-O-Net. "Secrecy" adds to the suspense, and doesn't hurt the feelings of the nominees who are not selected, who might win in future years.
There are many deserving members. Please let us know your choice.
(October 28, 2010)
Important BAOC Vacancies
We have several important vacancies in the club. If you or someone you know might be interested in taking over one of the positions below, or if you would like additional information, please let me know.
Registration Director
The Registration Director coordinates the registration at all events, including equipment, recruiting, training and scheduling volunteers, designs and prints custom registration forms, works with the Board of Directors to set registration fees, and makes sure regional registration kits are kept stocked. The Registration Director holds a seat on the BAOC Board of Directors.
This is a change from the way that registration has been run in the past, and is expected to make it possible for more people to share the work of running registration at events, with one person coordinating to ensure homogeneity of processes.
March update: The Registration Director position has been filled by . Thank you, Steve!
Regional Registration Volunteers
March update: These positions are still vacant. Please see the current news page for details.
EPunch Director
The EPunch Director is responsible for the success of BAOC's electronic punching and time keeping at all events. He/She coordinates the EPunch equipment, including software and equipment upgrades, training and scheduling volunteers, and making sure that the appropriate equipment is available for each event. The workload for this job has decreased with the GeBe printer, allowing electronic punching to be used at most events without a trained volunteer or heavy equipment. The EPunch Director holds a seat on the BAOC Board of Directors.
January update: The EPunch Director position has been filled by . Thank you, Rosemary!
Volunteer Coordinator
The Volunteer Coordinator is a new position, and does not include a seat on the Board of Directors.
On last year's club survey, the number one reason that people did not volunteer was because they had never been asked. Most volunteers at events are frequent volunteers, but I would like to increase our pool by recruiting new volunteers from among club members and frequent non-member participants. My goal is for this person to recruit two new volunteers for each event, for starts, finishes, and other similar positions. People who volunteer feel like they are a part of the club instead of an outsider, are more likely to renew their membership, and are more likely to later take on Event Director and Course Setter positions. If you believe strongly that the strength of the club lies in its volunteers, and are interested in getting more people involved in the club, then this position is for you.
November update: The Volunteer Coordinator position has been filled by . Thank you, Jim!
BAOC President
(September 1, 2010)
BAOC Medalists at 2010 Rocky Mountain O' Festival
The 2010 Western States Championships and the 2010 U.S. Championships for Night-O, Relay, and Ultra-Long Distance were held at the 2010 Rocky Mountain Orienteering Festival, July 17-21, west of Colorado Springs, CO. The event was hosted by the Rocky Mountain Orienteering Club (RMOC).
BAOC's champions and medal winners are listed below. Complete results are available here (http://www.rmoc.org/content/view/194/129/). The event Web site is here (http://rockymtnofest.com/).
Champions
- Western States Championships
- F60+ Penny DeMoss
- F65+ Nancy Lindeman
- M–16 Nicholas van Hoff
- M40+ Deron van Hoff
- M55+ Bruce Wolfe
- U.S. Night-O Championship
- F60+ Penny DeMoss
- M–21+ Jonas Kjäll
- U.S. Ultra-Long Championship
- M–16 Nicholas van Hoff
- M40+ Deron van Hoff
- M75+ Harold DeMoss
Medal Winners
Name Class W.S. Night Relay Ultra
Penny DeMoss F60+ Gold Gold
Penny DeMoss F-21+ Silver
Nancy Lindeman F65+ Gold Silver
Nicholas van Hoff M-16 Gold Silver Gold
Jonas Kjäll M-21+ Silver Gold
Deron van Hoff M40+ Gold Silver Gold
Bruce Wolfe M55+ Gold Silver Bronze(*)
Gavin Wyatt-Mair M55+ Bronze Bronze Silver
Jim Thompson M55+ Silver
George Minarik M60+ Silver Bronze
Harold DeMoss M75+ Silver Gold
Harold DeMoss M-Yel Silver
(*) If appeal is successful regarding a malfunctioning control.
Chuck Spalding
(August 3, 2010)
BAOC Medalist at U.S. Trail Orienteering Champs
Congratulations to Steve Beuerman, who got the Silver Medal in the U.S. Trail Orienteering Championships, Open class, on June 30. Only Eric Bone was ahead of him, and not by much! The Trail-O results are attached.
The course was set in Riverside State Park in Spokane, WA, using a wide variety of features and control descriptions — re-entrants, spurs, rocks, cliffs, paths, a building, dry ditches and so on. Two hours and forty minutes were allowed, and the course was about 5 km long.
Gavin Wyatt-Mair
(July 12, 2010)
BAOC Medalists at U.S. Sprint/Middle/Long Champs
The 2010 U.S. Championships for Middle Distance, Long Distance, and Sprint were held June 26-28 in three venues in eastern Washington, near Spokane. It was sunny and hot (with almost no shade the first two days), and the venues were each very tricky in their own way: Moses Lake Sand Dunes (Middle) has lots of intricate contour detail; the Long race at Fishtrap Lake saw many people run off the map and many others get soaked in swamps; heavily forested Camp Sekani (Sprint) has a "rock garden" that caused many big errors.
BAOC's champions and medal winners are listed below. Complete results are here (http://www.cascadeoc.org/results-list).
Champions
- Middle Course
- F–10 Hannah Kopisch
- Long Course
- F–10 Hannah Kopisch
- F–12 Katie Petersen
- M–16 Daniel Kopisch
- Sprint Course
- F–10 Julia Doubson
- F–12 Johanna Karras
- M35+ Manfred Kopisch
- M60+ Dennis Wildfogel
- M65+ Chuck Spalding
Medal Winners
Name Class Middle Long Sprint
Hannah Kopisch F-10 Gold Gold Silver
Julia Doubson F-10 Silver Silver Gold
Natalie Pelayo F-10 Bronze Bronze Bronze
Johanna Karras F-12 Silver Gold
Sarah Petersen F-12 Bronze Silver Bronze
Katie Petersen F-12 Gold
Marsha Jacobs F60+ Silver Silver
Olga Seredenko F-Yel Silver Gold
Daniel Kopisch M-16 Bronze Gold Bronze
Manfred Kopisch M35+ Silver Silver Gold
Tapio Karras M45+ Silver
Steve Gregg M50+ Silver Bronze
Matthias Kohler M50+ Silver Silver
Dan Greene M55+ Bronze
Dennis Wildfogel M60+ Silver Gold
Chuck Spalding M65+ Bronze Gold
Gary Kraght M-Brn Gold Silver
Nick Corsano M-Brn Gold
Dennis Wildfogel
(July 9, 2010)
Free Entry at National Parks and BLM Areas
All national parks, national wildlife refuges, and many areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management will offer free admission on June 5–6, August 14–15, September 25 (Public Lands Day), and November 11 (Veterans Day). More information is available here (http://www.desertusa.com/desertblog/?p=7558).
Provided by Olive Kearney, LAOC
(May 12, 2010)
WRE Advisor Clinic July 5-6 in Kimberley, BC
There's a rare chance to take a World Ranking Event Advisor Clinic this summer, right here in North America. COF and USOF have joined up to provide this fantastic opportunity at the North American Orienteering Championships this summer. Details are available here (http://www.orienteering.ca/2010/04/world-ranking-event-advisor-clinic-registration-open/).
This clinic is a requirement for those who wish to be an event advisor for a WRE, but it you need not commit to being such an advisor just for taking the clinic. Those who have attended clinics previously say that it is a fantastic course about hosting a high-quality event, applicable to A-meets and national championships just as much as to World Ranking Events.
If you are interested in attending, please fill out the (short) application on the website and send it to . The entry deadline is June 15, 2010.
BAOC President
(May 10, 2010)
Pending Changes to Knowland Park
Wayne Caplinger posted this to the BayONet:
- Attendees at the Knowland Park meet were dismayed to learn that the Oakland Zoo is near approval for their plan to fence a lot of our map area and convert it into a zoo expansion.
- I'm thinking the club might want to have an official response, as well as individual members' responses.
- There is a hearing on Thursday, March 25, 6:30–8:30 at the Zoo.
Here's the response from Nick Corsano (BAOC President):
- Thank you, Wayne, for bringing this to my attention the other day, and now to other club members. The board has discussed the matter this week, and the consensus is that we do not have a compelling reason to make an official response. The main reasons are:
- The expansion is part of the zoo's master plan (which was approved by the City of Oakland long before we started making the map of Knowland), and key club personnel were aware of the plan.
- The zoo has been extremely cooperative toward us, and that relationship is very valuable.
- That being said, however, I encourage interested club members to take part in this dialog as individuals. Just remember that you cannot represent yourself as speaking on behalf of the club.
- Nick Corsano
- BAOC President
- (March 24, 2010)
Park-Relations Task Force Forming
One of the most disturbing events the club experiences is when an agency prohibits, or seriously limits, our access to a park. This has happened several times over the years. Sometimes it has been a new or re-interpreted policy that is invoked, sometimes it is because of external factors, sometimes our own actions have been the catalyst.
In an effort to reduce the likelihood of losing more parks in the future, the club is starting up a task force to look at ways in which we can proactively strengthen our relationships with the park agencies. The task force is holding an introductory meeting at the McLaren Park event this Saturday, March 13. If you would like to contribute to this work, or just share some thoughts, please join us in the registration area about 1:00 PM.
If you are interested in the task force, but are not able to attend the McLaren event, please email me at , and I will make sure that you are included.
Nick Corsano
BAOC President
(March 11, 2010)
2009 BAOC Survey Results
Please see the 2009 Survey Results (http://www.baoc.org/club/survey/2009) for some interesting insight into our club.
BAOC Secretary
(March 3, 2010)
New BAOC Sprint Series Coordinator
First of all, thanks to Rex Winterbottom for creating the Sprint Series, and being involved with so many of the previous sprints. Rex has stepped down as the Sprint Series Coordinator, although you'll still see his smiling face as he is still our Social Director!
We now have a new BAOC Sprint Series Coordinator. Please welcome Shura Kretchetov to the position! Shura is no stranger to the Sprint Series. He has put together the system you can use to track your power and rankings — not just for sprinting, but across all of our events.
The BAOC 2010 Sprint Series is on. We have already had two events, and there are four more this month alone.
What is a Sprint? In orienteering it means a short course where you get to make quick decisions and route choices. The control placements are not as technical as on advanced courses. We typically run them in our urban venues. You do them at your own pace — walk, jog, or run. They are a great training tool for practicing reading the map while moving.
We'll get the Web site updated with a 2010 Sprint Series page so you can follow all the action. Shura will have more details to follow.
BAOC Event Coordinator
(March 1, 2010)
New San Francisco & Tahoe Event Coordinator
Join me in welcoming Scott Novotny as the new Regional Event Coordinator for San Francisco and Tahoe. Scott is now living in San Francisco, but also has roots in the Tahoe area. He has worked with the U.S. Ski Association as a Junior Olympic Coach as well as helping coordinate events and doing course setting for the Alpine Competition Committee. He also likes maps. Thanks to Johanna Merriss, I think he has caught the orienteering bug.
In the same way that Steve Gregg helps coordinate events in the East Bay, and Steve Haas helps in the South Bay, Scott will be helping to coordinate Event Directors, Course Setters, and venues for the San Francisco and Tahoe areas.
If you enjoyed last year at Spooner Lake, or want to see an event up at Tahoe this summer, or perhaps like running in Golden Gate Park, contact Scott and see what you can do to help make it happen.
Introduce yourself to Scott, and help him help us put on some great events!
By the way, the position of North Bay Regional Event Coordinator is still vacant (hint, hint).
Thanks,
BAOC Event Coordinator
(Feb. 22, 2010)
UC Berkeley Orienteering Club Being Formed
We've got a small group of students at UC Berkeley who are starting an official UC Berkeley orienteering club. I want help getting the word out, so if you know somebody affiliated with the university, please pass this message along to them!
The exact nature of the club is still being determined, but we'll figure a lot of this out at our first planning meeting. This will be on March 7th, at the Point Pinole event. After running Steve's excellent courses, we'll gather to discuss the club's format and make some future plans. This should be around 1:30 PM. It should be a very fun afternoon. Anyone who shows up will be an official founding member! (By the way: Point Pinole should be a good event for beginners.)
Point Pinole is a very close drive from Berkeley (about 15 minutes). If anybody needs help finding a ride, place let me know. Hope to see the Golden Bears out there!
(Feb. 17, 2010)