Ginny Catmur – Editor

The discussion also threw up the need for the club to have more qualified coaches; we only have one currently – Andrew Leaney – plus several whose qualification has lapsed owing to the demanding requirement to attend a first-aid course every two years to keep the qualification valid. If anyone is interested in becoming a coach – please get in touch with Chris Fry.

Our junior development discussion was informed by the BOF Club Development Conference which Anne Leaney and I had attended a few days earlier in York. This was a very well attended event (75? delegates) with some interesting presentations and lively discussion. (See Anne's report.) Anne and I came away with the following conclusions: development takes an awful lot of volunteer time; there is money out there if you have time to apply for it; wonderful development activities are no guarantee of increased membership, but just introducing people to the sport is a highly valid aim in itself – they may one day become land-owners, sponsors or local councillors making decisions about orienteering.

Other suggestions from our development discussion were that we should compile a list of orienteering videos which SLOW members own or have access to. Please send me details if you have any. We were delighted that Julianna Grant, the South East's Development Officer, was able to attend our meeting. Julianna was even more delighted as this was the first time in two and a half years that any SE club had approached her in this way! Another first for SLOW. With Julianna's help we also hope to provide some 'training' for absolute beginner juniors later this year.

Finally ... congratulations to Simon Turner and Edward Catmur on their recent selection to compete for England in Belgium.

See you at the CompassSport Cup match. Your club needs YOU!

May 28: Scottish Champs, Devilla, Kincardine

Peter Huzan – Captain

The Bridge section have successfully negotiated another two rounds of the London Trophy (Plate) taking us into the last 16 teams. Unusually we played two teams from the same club (Sutton Highfield LTC) in the last two matches.

Their second team proved no match for us at all. A combination of winnowing defence and red-blooded bidding left the opposition trailing by over 2000 points at the end of the match.

The next match was not greatly different. We led by 620 points after the first half and extended that lead by over a 1000 more points by the end of the evening. Bearing in mind Andy and Pete had a deep misunderstanding and bid 7ª missing one Ace (our opponents didn't even sniff at slam and languished in 3NT) the result was all the more remarkable.

Generally at Teams you bid "skinny" games. The following hand was a good result for us in the first half. I am dealt the following hand at love all:

Bidding is 1¨ - 2¨ -

?

When Ned bids like this he isn't too strong! He might have A¨ , but then he'll have little else. But then if the defence doesn't get everything right, or something turns up, 3N should stand a chance. So I bid 3N which completes the auction. The lead is Q§ ; at least it wasn't a ª. Partner tables:

Oh well! I suppose the clubs might break 4-4, so up with the A§ before they smell a rat and switch to v's. Knock out the A¨ and right-hand opponent takes the next trick with K§ , then thinks and leads a ©. No, § 's weren't 4-4, they were 6-2! Lucky for me they were blocked. Contract made, whilst in the other room they were playing a feeble 4¨ which went one down anyway giving us a net plus of 450 on the board.

Why not round off a superb day's orienteering and training with a chance to socialise with fellow club members? This year's annual dinner has a new location – a lovely hall in Thames Ditton, called the Vera Fletcher Hall – and will be an informal, relaxed event with buffet food, drink and music. It would be great to see our new members and juniors at the dinner; it's not just for the old-timers (welcome as they are of course!). The approx. price will be £10–12 for seniors and hopefully less than a fiver for juniors. Do fill in the slip return it to me if you wish to attend.

This is an advance notice as there was a general intention to take it a bit more seriously this year. LOK beat us by 45 minutes last time and we don't want that sort of embarrassment again. So please make a note in your diaries and let me know if you are available. It would be nice to get out two teams again and if so Chris Owen did volunteer to organise the second team (I wonder if he remembers saying that!). With 16 in a team that's 32 runners or perhaps plenty of opportunity to run twice - just what you wanted! So I'd like to hear from:

There'll be a place for you somewhere!

Although we'd like a few faster people it's not that serious. LOK's time last year of 15-47 was over two hours outside our record from 1993, and besides I expect to be in the first team (and maybe the second team). As usual it's volunteers to run the early legs that we'd like to recruit first - Dover at 5 a.m. is so refreshing?! I will be collaring people at events from now on. You have been warned!

Christine Robinson and I were among some 70 orienteers from around the country who attended the BOF Club Development conference in York at the end of January.

I had taken the opportunity to travel up the day before and spent the afternoon as part of a small group having a guided tour of York Minster. This magnificent building has undergone major works in recent years and contains some spectacular stained-glass windows. A contrast in architecture was the YHA building just outside the city, which provided ample accommodation for school groups and those wanting a quiet night before a long day!

The Club Development day was organised by Andrew Kelly, BOF English Development officer. He had packed a series of speakers into a busy programme which covered many aspects of development of an Orienteering Club.

The first speakers came from Teeside and had benefited, over many years, from funding aimed at underprivileged areas. They were the first to stress the commitment needed to ensure successful results but as the day went on it quickly became clear that this voluntary work and the time and effort involved meant no one expected overnight success. Unfortunately we didn't hear all about the Teeside O-Zone as Andy was keeping a tight rein on the programme right from the start.

An area that SLOW should pursue is the availability of grants to cover the costs of the development idea. Two particular examples were given, one for a Permanent course in Dorset which had come about following long-term work with the local authority and Forest Enterprise. The other was an inspiring talk from Dick Denton (father of Tim, known to many SLOW members). He admits to being a lousy orienteer but a superb fundraiser and aims to cover his club's (SMOC) mapping costs by fundraising.

Donald Petrie, Scottish Professional Officer, explained how the 6-Day events were used to develop new clubs and new maps. There seems to be no shortage of areas for mapping and the organisers are invited back to areas by councils and retailers. Again, he stressed the long-term planning involved working with Sport Scotland and local authorities.

Part of the planning for the 6-Day 2001 involves having a map which includes part of Fort William town centre so that the local community can see the event at first hand (you will be finishing in the town on Day 1) and have a map which will be of use in trying to develop a club in the area. They also provide media facilities for anyone who goes to the 6-Day to report back successes to their local papers. So expect to see me running around with paper and pencil as well as map and compass next year.

The development of volunteers for events was covered with respect to a voluntary scheme for encouraging Organisers/Planners and Controllers to be involved more and to progress. In one region a coordinator arranges training courses for O/P & C's and maintains a record of who does what and when. This has cleaned out the semi-retired O & C's and encouraged new P's and C's to develop. They no longer have a problem in finding Organisers/Planners or Controllers for events in the region.

Two examples of Schools leagues were given, one in Dorset which is a new scheme and just getting off the ground. The other from Lancashire has been 10 years & more in development and now has a separate Orienteering Association with its own web site. The participants go on tour to Norway, for example. The League itself is well planned to fit in with the Orienteering calendar of events and has a Final and lots of medals and certificates for the children's Achievement records.

The day was ended with a presentation by Walton Chasers – Sports Club of the Year. They won a £10,000 award as a result of the Club Secretary completing a form sent to all clubs thinking they might get £100. Again this had not happened overnight; the Club has a small catchment area and they made a concentrated effort to get known in area. They have got good links with local press. A lot of effort went in to developing a club spirit. They gave free entry for CompassSport Cup matches which they also won this year, with free or subsidised transport to club competitions and club kit.

At the end of a long day we trudged wearily back to the train station with ideas and thoughts going round a very tired brain. So much was packed into the day that it could have been a weekend meeting. It was sad to note that none of the speakers could point to a dramatic increase in Club membership as a result of their efforts but the overall impression was of the time and effort people had made in the name of the sport we all enjoy so much.

The gaijin cursed. In Anglo-Saxon. Japanese is, apparently, a better language for praising the beauty of the autumn moon than for commenting on matters of consanguinary relationships with the local canine population. The gaijin was, not to put too fine a point on it, lost in his car somewhere in west Tokyo. It was already 6.00am, and the gaijin was now going to be late for the meeting of the finish team helpers, scheduled for 6.40am (sic) at the event centre. It was his West Tokyo club's annual event, the district junior championships. But, despite having Toyota's top-end GPS navigation system (admittedly with text and spoken navigational instructions only in the Emperor's finest Japanese), the gaijin could not, after three attempts, find the on-ramp to the expressway to get him there. In a nutshell, this was the Tokyo equivalent of not being able to find the M4 when under the Chiswick flyover.

An hour and a half, and a five mile deviation back into Tokyo, later the event centre, a large sports hall (they are everywhere in Japan), is reached. The gaijin is handed a copy of the organisation plan - an eight colour print-out analysed in ten minute blocks, scheduling the forty or so helpers (none of whom are to run) individually.

To say Japanese events are organised within an inch of their lives would be an alarming understatement - the gaijin had been to a preparation session at a community hall the previous Sunday, and had spent three hours mostly ironing pre-marked and already bagged maps to ensure they had no air left inside.

The "go-ru" (work it out for yourself - there is an art to understanding what the Japanese can do to the English language) team had already left for the finish area a kilometre or so away. So the gaijin strolls there - and finds no-one ready to greet him and accept his abject apology for lateness. It emerges that minor navigational difficulties (which had not befallen the gaijin, who knew where the finish was having found it while looking for the event centre), and the need for the team number two to have a fag (or two), had delayed the team en route by car.

All goes much better from then on. Everything is ready by 8.45, just in time for the first expected finisher at 10.30. Seaweed flavoured toffees are sucked to keep out the cold. Once finishers start to arrive, subtle differences from the British way become evident. Most finishers are greeted with an expression that translates roughly along the lines of "we humbly hope that you found a feast of pleasure", and M and W 45's and above are bowed to. Drinks are distributed - half-litres of "Pocari Sweat" (a sports drink sold widely, and which tastes better than it sounds).

The team melds together well, despite further absences by the number two to ensure prosperity at Japan Tobacco, and busy spells pass without incident. By half past two, 380 Japanese orienteers have apparently feasted on pleasure (not a word of complaint has been heard), and three are pronounced still in the woods. Shortly afterwards, a fat twelve year old boy and two giggly first year university girls appear (from the wrong direction), and the team disperse. There is relief that there is no repeat of last year, when the team waited for an hour in heavy sleet for a Boy Scout ultimately located in his bath at home in Yokohama (some things are the same the world over).

The gaijin returns to Tokyo, fortunately without further navigational travails. In the car he reflects on what has been a surprisingly enjoyable day - the simple pleasures of a few hours standing in a frosty field with people who have a common interest, working as a team (even if one doesn't speak much of its language), are indeed a tonic to the pressures of millennial corporate office life.

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