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West Anglian Orienteering Club

WAOC Juniors

Last Updated: Fri 1 Apr 2022

WAOC offers a number of options for Juniors to progress.

Almost every event we run offers courses suitable for children and newcomers of all ages.
We offer training sessions for club juniors at a number of our events, and juniors of all abilities are encouraged to take part in inter-club junior competitions which can be great fun and a good way to get to know other junior members.

We award colour coded badges to recognise achievements at the various course standards.

At Events

Almost every event we run will offer a range of courses, including ones that are suitable for children and newcomers of all ages.

A junior as young as 8-10 should be able to tackle a white course, accompanied by an adult to start with. As confidence increases, they can run by themselves, perhaps shadowed if need be, and then completely independently. It is also quite OK for juniors to run a course in pairs - up to Orange standard, a pair can run together and be considered competitive. A keen junior may want to have a second run after they have finished their first course and we encourage this - second runs are free of charge!

As you progress you can earn awards such as Colour Coded Badges and British Orienteering's "Navigator" awards, even if you are not the competitive type (as well as "Racing" awards, in case you are).

Safety of Juniors

We assume juniors will travel to an event with someone responsible for their care - normally parents but could be a teacher or coach for a school group for example.

Courses are planned with safety of competitors in mind, and this is especially true for courses aimed at juniors, so junior course are always planned to avoid any hazards wherever possible. British Orienteering has laid down very clear rules regarding juniors and traffic. We cannot allow anyone who is under 16 on the day of the event, to run a course which involves road crossings where there could be heavy or fast moving traffic, which may be the case in urban orienteering in particular.

Training

WAOC offers training sessions for club juniors at a number of our events. These sessions will be advertised in advance.

We also provide two junior training nights each term, while older juniors, that have reached orange standard and if accompanied on training exercises by a parent/guardian, can attend any of our midweek training sessions.

WAOC juniors who have reached a certain standard can also join the East Anglian Regional Squad, where there is a chance to get to know juniors in neighbouring clubs and take part in dedicated training sessions locally and further afield. Find out more about the EA junior squad.

Successful juniors can develop their skills further through Summer Training camps organised at national level - the EAJS site gives some examples of this, and a description of one WAOC junior's trip can be found here.

East Anglian Junior Squad

The East Anglia Junior Squad (EAJS) exists to develop the orienteering skills of committed East Anglian youngsters. The squad is open to those who have at least reached a good Orange standard. The squad's monthly training sessions are on a Saturday morning in different areas throughout  East Anglia and there is usually an annual weekend away to find some hills. 

Junior Regional Orienteering Squads

Junior Regional Orienteering Squads (JROS) is the umbrella organisation for the 12 Regional Orienteering squads based on the British Orienteering Regions.

JROS was set up to further develop the junior orienteering talent which is nurtured by the Regional Squads.