The 2020 Interland Cup was held at Burnham Beeches and Egypt Woods on Sunday 1^st March. England were emphatic winners with a 48 point lead over the Belgians! Particular congratulations to Lucy, who won W50, and Nick B, who won M40; Jenny J who took 2^nd on W40 and Alex C (W17) and Freya (W14) who both took 3^rd place in their classes. Well done also to the other 5 SYO members – Sam T, Conrad, Max, Andy and Imogen – who all played a vital role in securing England’s victory. Next year’s Interland match is in Belgium on 28^th February.

This years’ British Night Championships were held on the smooth, fast terrain of the Chilterns at Hambleden near Henley on Thames on Saturday 22 February.  Only a small contingent of 10 SYO members took part but they all put in excellent performances resulting in 8 podium finishes!

Congratulations to our 3 new British Night Champions - Max (M16), Ian (M70) and Jenny P (W50). Well done also to silver medallist Nick B (M35), our 3 bronze medallists Martin (M50), Ryan (M20) and Matthew (M16) and also Lesley, who won W50 short.

The 2019 annual club champs were held on the gloriously Autumnal Blacka Moor on Saturday 7th December. There were 4 different mass start courses with gaffling to split the pack. 53 adults and older juniors set off in waves to complete the super challenging courses.

Nathan took the victory on the long course, while Sam T topped the medium. The short course was won by Freya and Charlotte took the victory on orange. However, once Peter G's fiendish handicapping system had been applied and the results from all courses amalgamated the club champs prizes went to Jamie (first male junior), Anna (1st female junior), Robyn (1st senior woman), Dan (1^st senior man), Alex F (1st vet man) and Hilary (1st vet woman).

Once the more experienced orienteers were out on their courses, it was time for our younger juniors to get out on the yellow course. It was a real battle at the top with Lawrence and Maxwell tying in first place. Fastest female was Abigail H. 

Post-race members adjourned to HSBC for a delicious Christmas Curry. Lunch was followed by the very brief AGM before it was time for the annual awards ceremony, which honoured our members' best achievements:

Best male performance at the CSC: Conrad
Best female performance at the CSC: Pippa
Best Junior Relay Team: JK junior – Sam T, Will G and Alice
Best Senior Relay Team: British Women's Open Team - Cat, Mary & Kim
Best Individual Junior Relay Performance: Oscar & Robbie
Best individual Senior Relay Performance: Tim
Best Male Junior Performances: James & Lawrence
Best Female Junior Performances: Charlotte & Ella

Best Senior Overseas Performance: Nick B
Best Junior Overseas Performance: Euan
Best Senior Male Performances: Pete T
Best Senior Female Performances: Amanda

Best Veteran Male Performances: Peter G
Best Veteran Female Performances: Lucy
Most improved junior: Alex C

Most improved senior: Markus
Wooden Spoon Award: Dave T!

The final part of the day concentrated on thanking the club's volunteers for the hundreds of hours they dedicate to orienteering. All the major officials and coaches received a small prize and the club's mappers (Oli, Henry and Colin S) were presented with a framed copy of their maps. Nick L and Kim were thanked for their coaching commitment to club night and were presented with a small award. The Junior volunteer of the year award went to Dom, while Mark D won 'Senior Volunteer of the year'.

Nick L was awarded the trophy for the 'outstanding contribution to orienteering’ for his long term services in coaching to the club and the sport in general. Finally thanks were given to the planning and organising team of Cat, Jacky, Tim T and Colin L for the fabulous job on this year’s club champs.

Well done to 10 SYO members selected to represent England at the forthcoming Interland match: Sam T (M14), Conrad (M14), Max (M17), Nick B (M40), Andy (M40), Freya (W14), Alex C (W17), Imogen (W17), Jenny J (W40) and Lucy (W50). We wish them the best of luck on 1st March!

Wow – what a day! More than 60 Sheffield School pupils travelled to Black Park near Slough on Sunday 17^th November and took 26 podium positions across the whole school, age class team and individual competitions at the British Schools Champs!

In the whole school competitions High Storrs lifted the trophy in the large secondary schools competition for the first time while in the primay competition there was a reversal of last year's positions with Hunters Bar taking the top spot with Nether Green in 2nd place.

In the primary age team competitions Hunters Bar won the year 6 girls' trophy while Hallam took 2nd place in the year 5 boys competition. In the secondary team categories, High Storrs took the national title in the year 8, 9 and 10 boys classes and girls' year 12, while the girls in Y8 took 3rd. 

In the Individual categories there was plenty of success for SYO members; well done to:

G6 1^st Ella, 3^rd Alice
B5 2^nd Will P, 3rd Lawrence
B6 3rd Oscar
B7 1^st Robbie
G8 1st  Freya, 2^nd Ciara
B8 3rd James
B9 2nd Jamie, 3rd Leni
G11 2nd Naomi
B10 2nd Matthew M
B11 2nd Max
G12 2nd Alex E
G13 1st Isabelle H

Check out the SYO Facebook Page for photos of the day. Next year’s British Schools Champs will be held on Sunday 15^th November at Wormley Woods near Enfield.

Forty members of SYO braved the long drive to Pippingford Park (and the appropriately named Windy Ridge) in Sussex yesterday to take part in the CSC Final against 9 other clubs from across the country. 

Pippingford Park is a Mole Valley major event favourite having been previously used for the British Night Champs in 2014 and the JK relays in 2017. The area offers varied terrain comprising of wooded valleys and well contoured heathland. Early starters were hampered by bracken and heather but the courses soon sped up with some very quick times posted as the event progressed. Courses were enjoyable and although not particularly technically challenging, plenty made mistakes. A late surge of good results saw us race up the leaderboard into a surprise second place behind Forth Valley Orienteers and ahead of Southdown Orienteers. 

Well done to everyone that competed - you all made a difference - but particular congratulations to our 25 scorers: Pippa, Nick B, Amanda, Alex C, Peter G, Mary, Kim, Dom, Lucy, Martin, Conrad, Charlotte, Pete T, Charlie, Freya, Aidan, Imogen, Alex E, Colin S, Pauline, Mark C, Richard, John, Tom and Sam C.

Next year the final is at Sutton Park on 18th October - put the date in your diary; we need to win that trophy back from Scotland!

The Home Internationals for orienteering are held in September and October, with the relay and individual competitions taking place over 2 days. 

The Senior Home Internationals for M/W20s and 21s were held in early September on complex sand dune areas in South Wales. Nick B and Cat were both selected for the English team and helped England to a 9 point win over Scotland.

Next up was the Veteran Home Internationals for M/W35 to M/W65. This time the English team travelled to Scotland. The six SYO team members selected all performed strongly. On the individual day on the Pentland Hills Kim took 1^st place on W40, Amanda (W45), Lucy (W50) and Nick B (M45) all took 2^nd place and Rachael and Andy P were both 3rd on W35 and M40 respectively. England delivered excellent results over the 2 days resulting in an impressive win overall by 57 points!

The final Home International competition was for the juniors in the M/W14, 16 & 18 age classes, which this year was held in Northern Ireland. Jamie was the only SYO representative but he had a super run to finish 2^nd on the individual day. Unfortunately despite some very good English performances, Scotland’s particularly strong showing in the relays ensured the win for them overall.

Forty seven SYO juniors travelled to Heaton Park in Manchester on Saturday 12^th October to compete in the British Schools Score Championships. The sun shone, which was lovely for spectators and competitors alike and made a decent change to many recent events! Competitors had 45 minutes to find as many of the 30 controls had they could. Four juniors, including SYO’s Euan and Dom, managed to score the maximum 300 points in the time allowed. The SYO juniors all excelled themselves with 19 individual medal wins! Congratulations to:

Y5 Boys - Will P 3^rd
Y6 Girls – Charlotte 1^st, , Ellen 2^nd
Y6 Boys- 1^st Oscar, 2^nd Jake
Y7 Girls – 1^st Anna
Y7 Boys – 1^st Robbie, 2^nd Joseph, 3^rd Ben A
Y8 Girls – 1^st Freya, 2^nd Ciara
Y8 Boys – 3^rd Isaac
Y9 Girls - 2^nd  Millie
Y9 Boys – Sam T 1^st, Ben T 2^nd
Y10/11 Boys – 1^st Euan, 3^rd Olmo
Y12/13 Girls – 2^nd Alex E
B12/13 Boys – 3^rd Dom

There were also excellent results in the team competitions. In the primary competition Nether Green won the primary boys while Hunters Bar took 2^nd in the primary boys and 3^rd in the primary girls. In the secondary competition, High Storrs won the lower secondary girls and lower secondary boys competitions. Visit the SYO Facebook page for more photos of the event.

Next up is the British Schools Champs on Sunday 17^th November in Black Park near Slough!

At the end of September eachyear the country's best juniors gather for a weekend of fierce competition at the Junior Inter-Regional Championships, which this year was hosted by SYO. An amazing eighteen SYO juniors (out of a possible 24) were called up to run for Yorkshire.

The individual day was held on Cowm's Rocks - a brand new orienteering area behind the Snake Pass Inn. This was always going to be a physical and technical challenge but even more so in the brutal conditions experienced on the day! True Yorkshire grit showed through though with some excellent results by SYO juniors. Congratulations to Imogen for winning W14 and for Jamie taking 3rd on M14. There were also very well-deserved top 10 positions for Euan (4th M16), Alex C (4th running up on W16), Freya (5th running up on W14), Alex E (8th W16) and Dom (10th M18). Well done to Dylan, Ciara, Sam T and Claudine for making their Yorkshire debuts and to Max, Sam C, Isabelle H, Conrad, Sam D and Will G for also performing well for the team - you all made a difference and helped Yorkshire to a tie on 2nd place with North West after day 1.

Following the individual competition the teams transferred to an overnight stay at Kingswood Outdoor Centre near Doncaster. Warm showers and food were followed by the prize giving for the individual and then a ceilidh just to ensure everyone was thoroughly worn out!

Relay day dawned and it was still raining torrentially, although spirits seemed to be high as the teams arrived at Tankersley. There were some excellent relay performances, particularly Imogen, Alex C and Evie (from AIRE) taking the win in the girls relay! There were other notable performances from Dom and Sam T who brought their teams up 5 places and Freya who took her team up 4 places; although all our juniors performed well to help Yorkshire to 3rd place in the relay competition. Overall, over the 2 days competition, Yorkshire finished in 3rd (just six points) behind the North West in 2nd and Scotland in 1st.

A massive thank you to all the volunteers who completed some very long shifts in cold, wet conditions over the 2 days but particular thanks to Jacky for organsing the overnight accommodation, Pete for managing all the SI, Charlie and Dave P for planning, Amanda and Mark C for organising, John (DVO) and Tony (AIRE) for controlling and Pauline for her role as weekend co-ordinator. 

Check out the photo album for the weekend on the SYO Facebook Page.