Editorial
It appears that our current chairman is committed to retaining some collective body to represent the clubs of the East Midlands, even if the BOF restructuring does get the go-ahead at the AGM. This should assure the future of EMEWS, the junior squad and the galoppen, leaving only issues around funding, etc. to be decided. Several of the English regions have already decided to discontinue their activities - from what I've heard this has not been for the greater good of orienteering in their areas. I hope EMOA survives long enough to demonstrate its worth in the new regime. Editorial address: E-mail: k.h.bedwell@lboro.ac.uk EMEWS is printed by Audio Visual Services Ltd. COPY DATE FOR NEXT ISSUE: Mon. 15 May. Contributions are always welcome but especially on 3.5" IBM PC format discs or by email. Please use plain ASCII text for email -we know your latest version of Word produces superb presentations but we cannot read it! Please send printed copy if possible, and check the arrival of email. Next committee meeting: Monday 15 May, Chilwell Olympia Sports Centre 7-30pm.
Time has passed so quickly; it only seem like yesterday that I did the last Chairman's Spot. It's probably because I've been so busy, but with lots of good events to keep me sane. There were a few points in the last EMEWS that I would like to follow up. First, Dai Bedwell's query about whether EMEWS will reach 180? In my opinion there is no doubt. If BOF restructuring goes ahead it will take 18 months to implement, so we will pass 180 easily, and even after restructuring I see an urgent need f or an association newsletter. EMEWS should therefore keep going for as long as there are editors. Secondly I would like to remind you of the £500 prize to the club coming up with the best "development" idea. Details to EMOA Committee in time for the May meeting. And thirdly, as a result of the throwaway remark about a Premium Rate number for the proposed new answerphone, yet another orienteer's profession was revealed! One of our members phoned me to say that he sold premium numbers and perhaps the suggestion was not such a joke as it was intended to be. While I guarantee that we will not be profiting from your enquiries, we may actually have some help with the cost of running the service. As you know we are investigating the ins and outs of electronic punching and we have a sub-committee studying the situation. They will be giving a progress report to the next EMOA Committee meeting and we should make a decision in the near future. It is my hope that we will have electronic punching by next season. Finally, another plug to let either Ray Barnes, our Council rep, or me have any views about BOF restructuring. All clubs should have received, by now, a copy of the BOF proposal which will be discussed at the AGM. I hope a reading of that paper may answer a lot of your questions, but no doubt raise others. John Woodall
A reminder to all DVO members: JK and British Relay entries; ring Liz Godfree now on 01332 515862 to guarentee a run.
Yes, with the lighter evenings come the various club summer leagues around the region. LEI start their series in April, while LOG, NOC and DVO leave it until the weather improves! LEI Summer League - The First 6 Events 13 April Beacon Hill 129/522148 18 April Irchester 152/912657 26 April Swithland 129/538129 2 May Lount Wood (Training) 128/382188 11 May John's Lee Wood 129/504105 16 May Cademan 129/433166 Starts 6:30 - 7:30, courses yellow + technical (e.g. green/norwegian/score) £1.50/50p. League co-ordinator: Chris Phillips, 0116 2550 330 Details of other clubs' events in the next EMEWS. HAVE YOU MOVED OR RENEWED MEMBERSHIP? The labels for posting EMEWS are produced by BOF from their membership database a couple of weeks or so before publication. The EMEWS mailing list is based on the BOF membership list, so please contact BOF yourself if you move or your address is wrong, or you have forgotten to renew your membership.
Congratulations to the following in achieving the following colour-coded awards: Jason Bendell BLS White William Eaton LEI White Lauren Moors BLS Yellow Alice Banks BLS Yellow Darren Bristol NOC Orange Jason Passarelli DVO Light Green Adam Jones NOC Green To receive your colour award send a 9x6 SAE to Steve Kimberley 23 Sycamore Road, Hollingwood, Chesterfield, Derbys. S43 2HQ (E-mail stephen@skimber.demon.co.uk) listing the three events at which you have achieved certificate time. Certificate time is 150% of the winner's time or after half the entrants whichever is more generous, except on white where certificate standard is given to all finishers.
O folk who did not carefully read the November BOF Bulletin will be unaware of an article headed 'Are You On Drugs? Essential Information for all orienteers' which revealed that BOF's Anti-Doping Regulations have been thoroughly revised. Now, most people reading this would think "I'm not an elite athlete so why should I worry?" but the following paragraph would make you think again: 'If you are a competitor at any level in any BOF event the Anti-Doping regulations still apply to you, no matter what your age or condition.' If you had read on, the warning is quite explicit - anybody who takes a prohibited substance commits a doping offence and must stop taking the substance and declare themselves non-competitive at all BOF registered events for at least six months. The article then went on to describe various actions to be taken by the orienteer and the work of the UK Sport's Ethics and Anti-Doping Directorate, supported by BOF's new 4 page addition to the Rules and Guidelines 'Appendix 4 - Doping Control'. One thing that is perhaps not widely known is that in order to be able to receive funding from sporting bodies such as the UK Sports Council, BOF has to be a signatory to the best practice of the Anti-Doping Directorate. Without this annual six figure funding, training and travel grants for elite orienteers would not be available to BOF. As part of this process, BOF has to inform UK Sport of any events at which orienteers are taking part in elite senior and junior classes so that random testing may take place. What the article didn't tell you was what you did if you take, for example, prescribed medication on a daily basis, medication that can be alleviating a life threatening illness or condition. It can be no secret that orienteering as an all-age sport has a reasonable proportion of participants who are likely to fall into the category of 'no longer as young as they would like to be' and who also keep medical conditions in check with the daily pill or tablet at breakfast time. So what to do? On behalf of East Midlands orienteers, I wrote a letter to BOF Secretary General Don Locke asking questions such as "Can an orienteer apply to be exempt from the Doping Controls?" and " How does an orienteer go about getting exemption for prescribed medication?" I am sure Don will not object if his full and courteous reply gets a wider readership. He makes a general point as background to his other replies: "Their (UK Sports Council) main concern, understandably, is with elite international competition" and he follows this with "At a recent seminar a representative of Bowls said, only half jokingly, that half of his members couldn't get to the other end of of the green without medication, but was fobbed off with a remark that UK Sport wouldn't want to test marathon runners wearing fancy dress either. Yet we are a sport at which you can have World Champions at an advanced age - we had a British World Champion at W80 last year, and W70 this." In the light of Don's remarks I think it can be safely said that there is a basic lack of understanding of all-age sports such as orienteering and that the powers that be should be prepared to give much better guidance - the current anti-doping requirements leave the normal non- elite orienteer in a difficult moral situation. The good news from Don is that "Individual orienteers may apply for exemption simply by writing to BOF with their details" though "orienteers need to provide a supporting statement from their doctor, and in some cases further information may be necessary. This would be a matter for BOF's medical/anti-doping advisor." Any orienteer wishing to know more can address any query through me as your representative on Technical Committee or go directly to BOF. Ernie Williams (with some editorial rewording)
Five juniors from the East Midlands were selected to run for England in the Junior Home International in October. On Friday evening we assembled to meet the minibus from Watford, which would take us to Ireland. We travelled to Stranraer where we took the ferry to Larne in Northern Ireland. Here we continued on for another 2 hours to get to our accommodation. The individual race on the Saturday was at the Burren, a large area covered by moorland with a small forest in the middle. We had some great results such as these: ALISON O'NEIL 2nd in W14 (47:21) COLIN OLIVANT 4th in M14 (47:52) MATTHEW DICKINSON 5th in M14 (48:00) DAVID HODKINSON 3rd in M16 (58:48) RICHARD ROBINSON 2nd in M18 (63:49) This meant that England had a good lead after the individual. On Sunday the relay was in the area around the caravans where we stayed. The area was very brambly and had several steep hills. The relay was great despite the brambles. All of us, apart from Richard, were in winning teams. Finally, I would like to thank the selectors for picking me and EMOA and NOC for their financial support. David Hodkinson, NOC
Every year the Imperial Cancer Research Fund organises a national series of sponsored 5km walks and runs to raise money. These races are exclusively for women, whatever their fitness level, and the money raised goes specifically into research into cancers which affect women. There are several races taking place in the East Midlands. Phone 08705 134 314 for an entry form for any of the following races. There is a £6 entry fee to cover administration and organisational costs. It may be possible to enter on the day. Lincoln RAF Cranwell Sunday 23rd July 11.00 a.m. Nottingham Colwick Park Sunday 23rd July 3.00 p.m. Leicester Victoria Park Sunday 30th July 11.00 a.m. Derby Darley Park Sunday 6th August 11.00 a.m.
Congratulations to Hilary Palmer of NOC on winning the W50 class in the 1999 National Ranking List.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step - Lao-Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, 604-531 BC
As we go to press, news is breaking that LOG have been successful
in a National Lottery Millennium "Awards for All" Grant. More
detail in the next EMEWS.
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