To enjoy orienteering! Forming
your own orienteering club will allow you to participate in orienteering events
in your own back yard. You will be able
to share your enjoyment of orienteering with others and eventually to benefit
from their enthusiasm.
WHO STARTS A CLUB?
The beauty of orienteering is that anyone willing to read and learn can
begin a successful club program.
Sometimes existing groups take up orienteering as a side interest. This is a great way to start. It assures an available group with
established leaders, shared interests, and sometimes even a sponsor.
But if you are an isolated enthusiast, take heart,
many clubs have been started by people just like you. Try to meet other people in your area
pursuing related activities who would welcome the chance to learn about orienteering,
if only they knew what it was and how to find it. Try contacting outdoor interest groups of all
sorts: scouts, runners, ski clubs, bicyclers, etc. Contact the physical education and recreation
departments of any local college or university.
Your most important contact of all could be your local Parks and Recreation
Department. Your parks department
manages the areas you will probably eventually want to use for orienteering
activities. They also often offer
informal classes in various outdoor pursuits.
Most would welcome your offer to teach a basic orienteering class and
some even have financial backing which could help with maps and expenses.
GETTING STARTED
Once you feel confident that interest in orienteering does exist, you
should make contact with other established orienteers. Check out the U.S. orienteering Federation’s website www.us.orienteering.org
for any specific information, contacts, or help you may need. Find the Club nearest you and try to attend
at least one of their events to get a feel for orienteering.
PEOPLE ARE IMPORTANT, BUT SO ARE MAPS
Just as you can't play tennis without a tennis court, you can't orienteer
without a map! Even novice and non-orienteers can make maps (yes, that's YOU!).
Your club's first few maps should be of popular areas which are easily
accessible. Be sure to get permission
first, even if the area is public.
Familiar areas make people feel secure about trying something new. Remember, too, that very few people are
willing to drive great distances to try something for the very first time.
Your first few maps should not be too large. Choose either a small city park or a section
of a larger park. Areas with many easily
identifiable features are best for beginners.
By tackling a smaller area, you will not only have your first maps done
and ready to use sooner, but you will be able to do a better job of making the
map before you tire of the task or run out of time. The time spent on these first few "easy"
maps will be time well spent investing in the future of your club. You can use these maps to refine your mapping
skills, to teach others how to map, and to introduce
newcomers to basic orienteering skills long after you and your early recruits
seek more challenging areas to use.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST MAP
Orienteers use a special variation of
topographical maps. Most local club maps
in this country use aerial surveys for their contour base. Use sources of existing maps which may be
available online and ask land managers about using their park maps, forestry
maps, soil and water conservation district maps, and county engineering maps as
base maps for your orienteering map.
When you have found a beginning base map, you will have to field check
it for orienteering use. This means
walking the area and adding all the features you want to use for precision
navigation, as well as confirming the features already on the map. If necessary, take the map to a printer and
have it enlarged to an appropriate scale.
The simplest scale for beginners is 1:10,000 although even larger scales
work well, but avoid scales smaller than 1:15,000 as they are difficult to
read.
Field checking involves:
(1)
Verifying that features on the map do indeed exist as they are represented on
the map;
(2)
Deleting or changing those which do not; and
(3)
Adding other details and features which will be helpful to the orienteer.
Remember, no one would even
recognize the fact that your map is not perfect. What is important to orienteers
is that all of the features of a map relate to each other correctly in direction,
distance, and sequence. There are various
mapmaking resources online to help you with the details.
Once you have completed field checking, draw a clear final copy of your
map. You might want to use a free
download version of OCAD www.ocad.com . Be
sure to add a legend, a scale, and information on how to contact your club. Take your map to a printer and you’re all
set. Check out the USOF website www.us.orienteering.org
for information on how to put on an event.
Be sure to charter your club with USOF
so that you have access to USOF’s liability insurance coverage, too.
5/2008