| 1. What do the Terms in the Fixture List mean ? | |
| Badge Event | Events whose courses comply with BO Badge standards. See ‘Badge Events’ |
| BO | British Orienteering Federation, the UK parent body for the sport, (a Federation of national associations, including the English Orienteering Assoc.) |
| CATI | Come and Try It Event. See ‘CATI's and CC Events below. Also called TryO. |
| CC | Colour Coded Event. See ‘CATI's and CC Events below. |
| CD | Closing Date for entries to a badge event. |
| EAOA | East Anglian Orienteering Association, a forum for
organising orienteering in the region. For list of Clubs click here. |
| EA League | An East Anglian seasonal competition . It is based on the results of a series of events, one from each club. To see the EA League Calendar click here. To see the EA League results, click here. |
| ESSOL | Essex & Suffolk Schools Orienteering League. To see data and results click here |
| EOD | Entry on the day. |
| Maps - Master | Competitor supplied with blank map. Copies his own course from a master-map. |
| - Preprinted | Competitor supplied with map having his own course overprinted. |
| NSL | Norfolk Schools League. |
| Registered | All orienteering events are registered with BO. The BO registration fee includes an insurance premium which covers competitors and event officials against mishaps directly resulting from Event activities. |
| SI | Sportident electronic punching equipment. (See below). |
| String Course | Courses for the very young, with a string handrail. |
| SWESO | South and West Essex Schools Orienteering League. |
| Local Event | New, standard orienteering term for a Colour-Coded event with limited courses, focused on beginners and intermediate orienteers |
| District Event | New, standard orienteering term for a Colour-Coded event with a range of courses which covers experienced orienteers |
| Regional Event | New, standard orienteering term for a Badge Event |
| National Event | A more stringently organised Badge Event aimed at national and international competition |
| 2. What are CATI’s and CC Events? | |
| CATI’s (also called TryO’s) are Local events
specifically arranged to introduce newcomers to the sport. Help is always
available for beginners. They are usually held at the beginning of the
season (Sept). CC (Colour Coded) or District Events are the bread and butter Sunday competitions within the sport. They also provide courses and support for newcomers. Both types of event have a similar format, offering a range of courses designed to common standards of physical and technical difficulty used throughout UK orienteering. Each course standard is identified by a Colour Code. (See Colour Coded Course Standards below.) These standards ensure that you can attend similar events in the fixtures calendar confident that you will be able to do your usual type of course. At both types of event, entries from the general public are accepted on site on the day 10.00 to 12.00. Competitors start 10.30 to 12.30. Courses normally close at 14.30. Events may use pre-printed or master- maps according to club style. Event fees in the region are in the range - seniors £3.50 -£4.50 juniors and students £1.00. - £1.50. Slightly higher fees (say +£1.00) are now usually charged for senior non-club members and also where Sportident electronic punching is in use. Not all colour-coded events offer a full range of courses or a string course. Check the event description.
| |
| 3. How difficult are the Colour
Coded Courses.
| |
| Beginners and the young
-
White
1 - 1.9k Controls sited on
paths
-
Green
4 - 4.9k ) | |
| 4. What are Badge Events or Regional Events? | |
| Badge events provide courses for experienced
orienteers. The courses conform to national standards which prescribe
appropriate difficulty and distance for both genders in the following age
groups:- 10-11,12-13,14-15,16-17, 18-20,21-35,35-40 so on up to 70-75. Badge events use pre-printed maps and require pre‑entry, though entry on the day is often possible until spare pre-printed maps run out, and usually for an extra fee. To pre-enter, use the BO standard entry form found by clicking here. Enclose a cheque made out as directed in the event details and include one s.a.e. for the return of start information. Include a further s.a.e. if you want a paper copy of the results. (It is speedier and less work for everyone if you take the results from the event web site. (Click here to find EA Club websites.). Most Badge events also include, on an EOD basis, beginners CC Courses, aimed at Junior family members who are not ready for badge courses. | |
| 5. What is Sportident or SI Electronic Punching. | |
| Where electronic punching is not in use, competitors
carry a paper-based Control Card marked out with a small square for all
the controls. on the course. They punch the appropriate
square using a unique punch hanging on the Control.. This enables
event officials to verify that each control has been visited, but not that
the controls were visited in the correct sequence. Electronic punching replaces the Control Card with a small 'dibber', containing electronic memory, which attaches to one of your fingers. When you insert this device into the electronic controls in the forest, the dibber records in time sequence the control number and the time of punching. At the finish you transfer this data to the results computer, after you pass through the finish funnel and are handed a print-out containing your final and intermediate times for each control. All clubs in the region now use electronic punching equipment for CC and badge events. Manual punching is often used at TryO's and CATI's which are often held in popular locations where the controls may be subject to vandalism and theft.. Occasional orienteers can hire dibber’s at EAOA events for .75p per event. Regular orienteers may wish to purchase them, (£18) from the usual specialist orienteering kit & equipment distributors. (Click here to find Sportident website.). Throughout the sport there are two brands of electronic control equipment in use, Sportident and Emit. The equipment is not interchangeable. Sportident is close to being a national standard and is by far the most common. It is used in EA and adjacent regions. | |