Previous news and announcements

Looking for some family fun? Orienteering can provide that!

Learn the adventure sport with our newcomers' full day program. Run by experienced coaches, you will receive clear instructions, fun practice activities for all ages and an orienteering course to test your new skills. Start your orienteering adventure!

Are you ready to MetrO? Our first event for the 2024-25 season is fast approaching. Come along to the riverside suburb of Ashfield in the Town of Bassendean. The assembly area will be in Sandy Beach Reserve, on West Road.

The Orienteering Association of Western Australia (OWA) held the Go for 2&5 2024 Primary Schools Orienteering Championships at Garvey Park on Wednesday 7 August 2024. The organising team and participants were happy that the event was almost rain free. Over 120 students from 4 schools participated. Twenty-two volunteers from OAWA helped run the event and City of Belmont permitted us to use Garvey Park.

The 2024/25 Summer Series of Orienteering will commence on 9 November 2024 with the opening event in Ashfield. MetrO events are designed to cater to all skill levels, and the series offers an excellent way to stay active and sharpen navigation abilities throughout the summer months.

All our events are suitable for beginners and families, with newcomer briefings held before each MetrO event and instructors available at Sprint events. Many MetrO events are also suitable for mobility restricted, prams,...

Almost 100 competitors, including EODs, were greeted by a warm day, a pleasant arena, and carpets of Cape Weed that was very pretty but rather a drag on the feet in some parts of courses. Courses had been well set for length and anticipated running speeds with only a few classes, notably M14A, taking advantage of the good visibility and open running to post winning times substantially below specification.

The sun and the wildflowers were out for the 2nd-to-last bush orienteering event of the 2024 season. The Malmalling map showed its age in some parts with noticeable changes to the vegetation and an older style of mapping for the rock detail which proved challenging for many seasoned orienteers.

This year we have a new access route to Peterdine which has allowed the Long Distance Championships on September 22 to be centred on the SE part of the map that is unfamiliar to most members and probably completely new to people who normally enter shorter courses.

Entries for championship courses are now closed, but entry to non-championship courses will be available on the day.

The Western Australian Schools Team are preparing for the Australian Schools Orienteering Competition (ASOC) in Armidale NSW, 28th September to 6th October.

This competition, part of the Australian Orienteering Championships, will see the team compete in seven events over the nine days - two sprints, two long distance, two relay events and one middle distance. Fortunately there are two rest days for athletes to recuperate - and catch up on washing.

We were lucky with the weather, as there was no rain at the event. This made it easier for orienteers to navigate around the rocks, large and small, farmland and thick bush, explore the tracks, and generally find their way from start to finish.

Nearly 70 intrepid orienteers turned up to the event - some later than others as it is a long drive to Frazzle. There was even a FIFO orienteer: Russell Buchanon flew his plane to and from Frazzle and made use of the air strip there!

After perusing some old (paper!) map bank reports held in the O-Shed, we (Nick D and Tony S) decided to investigate ‘the other side of the road’ at Mt Billy and we found some nice terrain that had not seen an orienteering event for several years. We discovered an excellent assembly area right next to the road and close to the Helena River but realised that the map needed updating.

A wet and wild weekend greeted the course setters and the small number of intrepid competitors who turned up to Dwellingup for some fabulous courses set by Veronika Kubinova. There were more controls on the courses than we are used to in WA - a bit of European influence. The courses tested endurance, route choice, and fine navigation, and the variety of tracks tested riding skills (and wading through the high water in a creek crossing).

This will be the second-last event of the OWA bush season, so come along and practice your orienteering skills leading up to the OWA Long Distance Championships.

The second double-header weekend this season saw two WA state championship races: a spint on Saturday at Murdoch University, and middle distance on Sunday at Hill Park Dale map in Westdale near Beverley.

Frazzle comprises mostly open farmland with several detailed rock areas and many clearings and rock surfaces. Camping is allowed at the assembly area on the Saturday night (toilet will be available).

This event is in a part of the Mt Billy map that has not been used for several years and has open Wandoo forest with granite outcrops. There are some areas of slower running but all the controls are out of the green!