What do you need to orienteer?
Compared to many other sports, not much.
- A map. This is provided to each competitor at the start of each course. Learning what the map symbols mean can be done with these guides.
- A compass. A compass is essential for bush events but not for other events such as River and Bay, Summer Series and MetroLeague.
- An electronic stick (known as an SI stick) for controls.
(You don’t even need this to start as you can rent them very often from the event organisers!) - A good pair of running shoes. Eventually you can upgrade to trail or orienteering shoes for better grip and stability.
Please read more about gear in this post.
A Beginner’s Guide
Orienteering Australia have put together a series of beginner’s guides to orienteering:
- How To Get Ready: Registration
- How To Get Ready For Your Start
- How To Start Your Course
- How To Read The Map
- How To Use The Compass
- Finish Procedures
- Route Choice
- How To Speed Up Through Checkpoints
- Things You Need To Know
A Moderate-level Guide
Some videos produced by the South London Orienteers, featuring members of the Great Britain Orienteering Team, show some more slightly more advanced techniques;
- A Newcomer’s Guide to Orienteering
- Setting the Map
- Using the Compass
- Route Choice
- Attack Points
- Aiming off
- Intricate Contours
- Large Contour Features
- Simplification
Where can you orienteer?
There are permanent courses in many parts of Australia, where you can practice your skills over time and at your own pace. We now have two small permanent courses in Randwick at the Randwick Sustainability Hub for kids and those with disabilities to give them a taste of orienteering!
Clubs around NSW and Australia are also constantly hosting little races where you can get amongst the trees and race against other orienteers. You can find up-to-date listings on Eventor (hosted by Orienteering Australia)
There are state-wide and national meets several times a year where you can meet and compete against orienteers from around NSW and other states such as the Easter 3-Days Carnival.
Oceania Championships (for Australia and New Zealand) are held every year in either Australia and New Zealand.
Further afield, there are also the big European meets such as the Swedish O-Ringen, Swiss O-Week and Scottish Six Days which can offer different landscapes and experiences to those in Australia.
How can Uringa Orienteers help?
We host races throughout the year where you can get a feel for the sport and often get a little coaching and advice from club members. Members are very friendly and can really help with tips and tricks.
Read further for a full list of benefits for club members.