South East League results for the Cobham & Shorne event are now available: Cobham & Shorne. Thanks to Philip Gristwood for these.

Here are the SE Galoppen 2009 Standings after 5 events.. These include scores from Eridge (SAX), Pippingford Park (MV) Heyshott & Ambersham (GO), Cobham & Shorne (DFOK), and Winkins & Red Copse (SO) Future events to count toward the Galoppen include,

Stoughton (SO) October 4th,
Mytchett (SN) November 15th,
Hankley Common (SLOW) November 29th.

Best 5 out of 9 scores count. Many thanks to Ed Cox who coordinates and calculate the Galoppen scores.

Keep up to date with the South East's forthcoming events with the South East Events Mailer. The mailer sends a simple email containing information on forthcoming events in the south east straight to your email Inbox. The email is distributed weekly and contains 'clickable' links to event information pages on the relevant club's website. This service is quick, easy and free, so please use it!. Goto the Mailer Page to subscribe.

Rachel Collins has been presented with the Peter Burt Trophy for being the most improved orienteer in the SE of England. The presentation was made by Ian Ditchfield at the prize giving of the SE Relays on Sunday 31st Aug. (Click the thumbnail to the left to enlarge the picture)

Peter, who died in 1999, was an enthusiastic, committed, friendly and approachable orienteer; and also a very capable statistician with a reputation for devising fair, but complex, handicap systems. For a couple of decades, he calculated all the scores for the South-East League, which is an SEOA competition based on people's results at what are now Regional Events. This was a formidable task in the days before computers.

This trophy in Peter's memory is awarded annually to the “most improved” orienteer in the south-east. “Most improved” is calculated by comparing South-East League performances from last season with those from previous seasons, using a fiendishly complicated scoring system that we hope Peter would have approved of. As Mole Valley Master, I get to present the trophy, but I'd like to thank Philip Gristwood for doing all the number-crunching.

I'm pleased to see a junior at the top of list this year. I was surprised by the surname, but only because her Dad won it last year. This year's winner is Rachel Collins (W16, Southdowns Orienteers).

Ian Ditchfield

The list of events proposed to be part of the 08/09 SE League have been announced, so here are the dates for your diary:

You can get a qualification for a South East colour coded badge if you beat the par time on any colour-coded course. Par time is set at the winner’s time plus 50%, or to include half the runners, whichever is greater, except for the White course, where you only have to complete the course to qualify. Three qualifications at the same colour get you a badge - there is no time limit on when you can get them. To obtain your badge, please send a print out of the three sets of results to Anne Power, 6 Mallard Close, New Barnet, Herts EN5 1DH. Tel: 0208 449 5984, email: powerbarnet@btinternet.com. There is no charge, but you must enclose a stamped addressed envelope.

Here are the minutes from recent SEOA committee meetings:

• Minutes (11^th September 2008)
• Minutes (27^th February 2008)
• Minutes (12^th December 2007)
• Minutes (17^th September 2007)
• Minutes (8^th June 2006)

The May 2007 RDO (Regional Development Officer) newsletter in now available here (MS Word format). It includes

• Details on Planner, Controller & Organiser courses,
• Level 1 Coaching courses,
• and news of various school coaching activities happening in the South East.

Thanks to Ray Weekes and Julianna Grant for compiling this list of permanent Orienteering Courses in the South East region. This is now available on the POCs page. South East club members are invited to verify the information in cases where the courses are maintained by a local SE club. Please email any additions, deletions or alterations to me and I'll make the appropriate changes.

• Sarah Howes wins the Ladies SE Vets at White Downs - picture from the Saxons website.
• BOF Leaders Award Application Foam now available online.
• Lists of SE Controllers and of Officials for forthcoming events are available from Neil Crickmore's website.
• Sussex Permanent courses online.
• Keith Tonkin's SENiLe web page.
• If you're new to orienteering, then try Ian Ditchfield's Jargon Buster!.
• Events Page - Please help me keep this page up-to-date with your club's events. If you're a webmaster for a local club, please email your event fixture URLs and I can add them to this list.
• Results Page - Equally, if there are any event results on-line not currently listed, then let me know - Thanks.

Orienteering in the South-East Of England

It has been said that "Orienteering is a test of intelligence, physical endurance and practical navigational skills". The goal of any Orienteer is to navigate his or herself to a fixed number of locations marked upon a map in a predefined order and as quickly as possible. Each competitor has nothing more than a detailed map and a compass to achieve this task. GPS satelite navigational or other electrical aids are not permitted!. One of many courses may be chosen, according to the competitor's age, experience and fitness. These typically range in length from one to about twelve kilometres in length. At its most competitive, the sport offers a lot to an athlete who likes to think as well as run. More typically, it offers a recreational challenge to children and adults of all ages and fitness. At events that offer them, string courses are available for young children, of say under ten years. If you'd rather just practice your map reading skills, then you don't even have to run. In fact, it's often beneficial to concentrate on your map rather than improving your speed over the ground. Speed doesn't help you at all if you're running in the wrong direction!. Orienteering events are primarily held in wood or parkland, either privately or publicly owned. Consequently they often allow you to explore and experience many attractive and pleasant areas.

South-East Club Websites
Here are links to many of the South-East Club's websites.
Saxons Orienteering Club (SAX/SEOA)	Dartford Orienteering Klubb (DFOK/SEOA)
Mole Valley (MV/SEOA)	Southern Navigators (SN/SEOA)
Havering and South Essex Orienteering Club (HAVOC/EAOA)	South London Orienteers & Wayfarers (SLOW/SEOA)
Happy Herts (HH/SEOA)	University of London Orienteering Club (ULOC)
Guildford Orienteers (GO/SEOA)	London Orienteering Klubb (LOK/SEOA)
Southdowns Orienteers (SO/SEOA)	Basingstoke Andover District Orienteers (BADO/SCOA)
West Anglian Orienteering Club (WAOC/EAOA)	British Army Orienteering Club (BAOC)
Chigwell and Epping Forest Orienteering Club (CHIG/SEOA)