Mole Valley Orienteering Club
Mole Valley Orienteering Club wants you to take up a new hobby! David Fisher explains what makes this adventure sport so special
Mole Valley Orienteering Club are very keen to encourage participation in this exciting adventure sport throughout all age groups and abilities. You don't have to be particularly active or competitive to enjoy the challenge of navigating round an orienteering course. Many participants take their time to enjoy the countryside and walk leisurely round their course and still get a sense of achievement at the end. The great thing about orienteering is that at most events there are courses designed for all abilities from the beginner to the most competitive competent athlete. This enables the novice, who wishes to improve, to slowly build up their expertise at each event they take part in whilst the athlete will be thoroughly tested on the more complex courses. There is always help and advice from the host club as to which course would be most suitable for a competitors experience.
Also it's an inexpensive sport to take part in, usually just a few pounds and you get to take home your map afterwards! It also doesn't cost much to join an orienteering club either. Currently, for an £11 annual fee for seniors and £3 for juniors under 20 years, this will enable members to take part on hundreds of events organised by other orienteering clubs for a discount at each event. Very often, MV members pay absolutely nothing to take part in MV events!
Orienteering takes place all the year round in the countryside, in urban parkland or around the streets of local towns and villages. Mole Valley Orienteering Club will be putting on a number of events throughout the Summer using a variety of venues. Their current Winter series of mid-week urban events has two more to run, the first on 18th March at Chessington and the finale in Leatherhead on 15th April. These have been very successful with many new participants experiencing orienteering for the first time.
During the Summer here are some events planned for both mid-week and at the weekends at a mixture of venues:
May 25th: an urban relay event comprising teams of 3 people around the streets and parkland of Dorking.
June 15th: cross country event at The Nower near Dorking with courses for novices and experienced orienteers.
June 25th: a mid-week evening event utilising urban parkland terrain in Morden Park
July 1st: a mid-week evening event at the Howard of Effingham School & King George V playing fields at Effingham. This event will have 2 courses utilising the grounds of a school campus and an urban park. One course is specifically aimed at introducing school children & other novices to orienteering with the 2nd course being a more technical tour around the school complex and park, aimed at more experienced orienteers.
July 13th: this event will either be at Nonsuch Park or Nork Park and is MVOC's contribution to a summer inter-club orienteering competition. There will be courses for novices and experienced orienteers.
August 7th: a mid-week evening event at Gatton Park near Reigate
August 24th: another chance to experience urban orienteering around the historic streets and parks of Dorking.
September 4th: Another cross country event utilising urban parkland terrain in Ashtead Park near Ashtead.
Details of some of these are on the MVOC website now, others will appear as they become available. All are suitable for novices to experience orienteering for the first time.
