Lotte S

Orienteering is finally back into full swing! After a huge success at the Yvette Baker finals, with SYO taking victory despite a significantly depleted field due to Covid, it seemed only right to talk to one of our younger stars. One of our most consistent juniors is Lotte S, regularly competing in SYO's Saturday series and placing top 3 in her age group overall the past 4 years. More recently, she has also been selected for Lagganlia - a training camp in Scotland for the best 18 M/W14s in the country. This is a huge achievement - congratulations Lotte. Here's what she said...

Pasco R

The sun is shining, orienteering events are starting back up, and big competitions this summer are planned to go ahead! The Yorkshire Schools Champs and the YBT heats are just 2 of the more junior-focussed events that have happened recently, with SYO seeing massive sucess at the YBT heats, scoring 899 out of a possible 900 points. Pasco R had a fantastic performance, winning his course and contributing 100 points towards SYO's total. He also regularly attends the Wednesday night club sessions and shows great potential for the future! Here's what he said...

Hannah C

This May, it's time to get your running shoes dusted down, and out into the terrain again... Orienteering events are slowly starting back up, with more and more races on offer coming up. Hannah has been on fire recently with many amazing runs, including winning her age class at Loxely, a 2nd place at Tankersley, and a great performance at the Ranmoor score! She is also very experienced in national competitions, winning her age class at the White Rose in 2019, and shows amazing potential for the future!

Evan J

The sun is shining, its getting warmer, and it looks promising that orienteering events are starting back up soon! This April we talked to Evan J, who is super enthusiastic about orienteering! Evan is a Catching Features veteran, who always attended our weekly sessions, putting in strong performances every time! He is also a super fast runner, and shows amazing potential for the future! Here's what he said...

Freddie G

After what's felt like months on end of winter, it's finally March! This month we talked to Freddie G - one of our younger juniors who's a real star. Freddie is super enthusiastic about orienteering, and always puts in strong performances in events. He has many wins at national level under his belt, including at the Scottish 6 and the British Champs! Here's what he said...

Alice P

Spring feels like it's just around the corner, and it seems to be getting a bit warmer. However, orienteering events show no signs of starting back up anytime soon. There are many things you can do to keep active over this difficult time, and one of those things is Catching Features - a video game which simulates you running an orienteering course virtually! Alice P is one of our members who is very experienced at Catching Features, and regularly puts in strong performances. She is also extremely proficient out in the forest, and shows amazing potential for the future.

Olmo C

Happy New Year!! Why not try something new this year, like going along to a big multi-day event like the Scottish 6 (providing it goes ahead), or trying your hand at night orienteering? To kick off 2021 we talked to Olmo C: one of our fastest M16s, Olmo has many victories under his belt and has represented England at an international level at World School's as part of the High Storr's school team. Olmo is also very proficient in the kitchen, winning "most ingenious cake design" at the YHJS online training for his amazing gingerbread compass!

Maxwell G

It's nearly Chistmas!! So grab your hot chocolate, throw some Christmas music on and settle down to read December's Junior of the Month! This month, we interviewed Maxwell G, who is a super-talented individual and very keen on orienteering! He has competed in many high-level competitions, winning the 2019 Northern Champs, and shows amazing potential for the future! Here's what he said...

Millie N

November is here. The nights are drawing in and the air is getting colder. For November, we spoke to Millie N. Millie has been orienteering for around 7 years now and is very committed. Regularly attending our Saturday series, she consistantly puts out strong results. She is also an associate member of the Yorkshire squad, showing her strength in the sport - here's what she said...

Euan T

It's October, and this month we have spoken to a real superstar! Euan T is one of our most accomplished Juniors, with many national victories under his belt. He is a member of the British Talent squad and was selected for EJOC 2020 (European Junior Orienteering Championships), proving that he is more than capable of competing at international levels. Here's what he said...

Ciara K

The summer holidays are drawing to a close, and school is starting soon. This month, we interviewed Ciara K, one of 25 Juniors across the country who attended Lagganlia. Lagganlia is a training camp for select M/W14's, usually held in Scotland. However, Lagganlia this year was virtual, so held over Zoom video calls. Aside from qualifying for Lagganlia, Ciara is also very competent at Catching Features, and put in very strong performances at Lockdown Orienteering.

Dom D

August has arrived, it's sunny outside, and real orienteering events are starting back up again! Dom is one of our most sucessful juniors and has been orienteering for over 9 years. Having just finished school he is now looking forward to a gap year, university and eventually senior competitions. As a highly sucessful junior, Dom has excelled in many, many competitions and events - to celebrate this, we made him Junior of the Month for August. This is what he had to say....

Naomi T

It's July, and this month we asked Naomi T some questions. She has been orienteering for 6 years now and is a very experienced member of our squad. Recently she has been excelling at the lockdown orienteering competitions including making her way into the grand final in the online British Open!! She has also been running in the SYO catching features every week and consistently putting down strong performances. Here's what she said:

Robbie L

June is here, real orienteering events are slowly being re-introduced. In the meantime, Lockdown Orienteering is still going strong. For this month, we examined the results from the various virtual Lockdown O's, and one real standout competitor is Robbie L. He consistantly puts in strong performances in all disciplines and is extremely skilled at Catching Features - an orienteering simulation game.....

Conrad R

Outdoor orienteering events are still cancelled, so this month we've taken a look back at some results before lockdown started. This time we interviewed one of the top M14's in the country, with a heap of amazing results under his belt. Conrad has put in super strong performances all year round, but his most recent standout result was at this year's Interland in March, where he ran fastest out of all the England M14's.

Imogen P

Even though all orienteering events and activities have been cancelled, our Junior of the Month series will continue strong. To brighten up your time spent stuck at home, we interviewed Imogen P to find out more about one of our highly experienced Juniors who has been orienteering for 7 years now and represented England in a number of international competitions. Let's here what she had to say...

Will P

After what's felt like month's on end of Winter, we've finally arrived at March! We've got an exciting month coming up as a club, with our CompassSport Cup Heat, and our first shot at getting some national individual and relay podiums at the British Long & Relay Champs (that never took place!). This month we've profiled one of our younger juniors who's a real superstar! Let's find out more about him...

Claudine H

Spring feels like it's just around the corner, but before we get into the big competition season there's lots of events going on locally. Our really popular Saturday afternoon events are the perfect opportunity for Juniors and their families to get experience planning (designing the courses) for an event - and that's exactly what Claudine did recently for the Whirlowbrook event last month. So we asked her a few questions about what it was like...

SYO Junior Squad - 2019

It's been a fantastic year for the SYO Junior Squad; many juniors have had individual podium successes, or been selected for Yorkshire Juniors quad or national training camps. 12 of our SYO juniors competed at the World Schools Orienteering in Estonia, SYO Killer Bees won the Joan George Trophy at the Peter Palmer Relays, and SYO Juniors were the winners of the Yvette Baker Trophy - for the 3rd consecutive year.

Alex E

It's Chriiiiiistmasssss!!!! Less than one month to go now until you can unbox some nice new shiny O shoes from under the tree - or maybe it's a SIAC you're hoping for! But until then, why not have a read of our Junior of the Month - which has a bit of a Christmas twist! Remember that all our previous JoMs are available below - Last Christmas we gave you Anna... This year we've had a chat to Alex E! Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Jamie L

We're well on our way to Christmas, with only 1 JoM to go until the new year! But this month we've taken a look back at October, by chatting to our star performer at the Junior Home Internationals! But Jamie also puts in strong performances all year round, both at junior competitions representing the club, and selection races for training camps and even bigger competitions. He was one of our 3 juniors who went to Lagganlia this year!

Ella B

It's already feeling like Autumn... it's not stopped raining for days, the leaves are starting to fall, and the nights are drawing in! So after a tough bit of training in the cold and torchlight, why not settle down by the fire and have a read of this month's Junior of the Month - and it's a good one! A stiff rival of our JoM from sunny June, Ella is competing amazingly on the national stage, taking all of the British Sprint, British Middle and JK Sprint titles this year!!!

Sam T

As the holidays come to an end, and we all start to head back to school this week, we've had a chat to Sam who's had a great summer of orienteering. He put in some fab runs at the Scottish 6 Days and White Rose - more in his profile about these results! And yet he's only been orienteering 2 years - a great example of how you don't just have to be aged 10 to start orienteering, and can quickly get up to speed to the right Technical Difficulty.

Freya T

Charlotte C

Alex C

High Storrs Boys Team for WSOC

In a bit of a break from tradition, we've had a chat to not one, but FIVE juniors. With less than one month to go until the High Storrs Boys Team jet off to Estonia along with 7 other SYO Juniors, we've asked them about their expectations of the World Schools Orienteering Championships, as well as their preparations for it, and the selection race last year.  Let's meet the team and hear what they had to say...

Will G

One of our strong cohort of M16s, Will and his family have only started orienteering relatively recently, coming up through the Schools series. They now attend almost all of our club events, along with many other regional and national events - check out what big events Will's going to this year at the end of his profile. This is a great way to gain inspiration as to what events you could give a try this year. But without further ado, let's hear from Will...

Carys P

Carys has got really involved, going from the Schools League to being a full member of the Yorkshire Junior Squad. By attending bigger events such as the JK, she's managed to improve her level of experience, allowing her now to compete competently at bigger national events. She frequently represents the club in competitions, such as the Yvette Baker, Peter Palmer & CSC, as well as attending our club night and monthly trainings...

Ryan E

Anna T

Despite orienteering for just over a year, Anna has already excelled herself with her super-keen attitude, respresenting the club in team competitions and national championships with brilliant results (as you'll find out below!). But in addition to this, she's a very active club member - this being proved when she was the first SYO member to recieve a 20 participation T-shirt. Perhaps her greatest success though has been persuading the rest of her family to join the club - ideal for travelling to the bigger events!

Max M

Max is another one of our Schools League Stars. In less than 5 years, he has gone from a total beginner to representing England, at both Interland (a competition between parts of Belgium, France, the Netherlands & England) and more recently the Junior Home Internationals. On top of this, he was selected to go on the Lagganlia training camp this summer. (You can read about these experiences in the Summer 2018 Round-up!)

James B

This month, we've had a chat with James to find out a bit more about him. He's come up through our Schools League, and is now very competently competing at national championships and club competitions. He's even ended up in hospital just to achieve those top results! Let's see what he had to say...

Isabelle H

As our first ever Junior of the Month, we have profiled Isabelle. Now a W16, she competently runs the courses for her age class at national championships, despite being relatively new to the sport (along with the rest of her family). A very active club member, Isabelle often helps out at events, as well as running at club competitions - such as the recent Yvette Baker Final, where she scored points for Team SYO.