South East League results for this season's third event at Holmbush & Buchan Country Park are available here. Thanks to Philip Gristwood for compiling the results.

Congratulations to the winners of the Vet Champs recently held at Ranmore Common. Julia Jarvis (SO) and Frank Edge (SN) win the SE Vets category, Terresa Tuner (SLOW) and Mark Glaisher (SAX) win the Super Vets category and the Jarvis family win the families competition.

		SE Veterans Winners Julia Jarvis (SO) Frank Edge (SN) SE Super Veterans Winners Teresa Turner (SLOW) Mark Glaisher (SAX) Family Competition Jarvis Family (SO)

Peter Burt, who died in 1999, was one of the leading lights in Mole Valley. He 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 were then Badge 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.

The winner for the 2010/2011 season is Linda Cairns of Southern Navigators. Linda is pictured here receiving the trophy from Peter's current successor as League co-ordinator, Philip Gristwood. The somewhat unconventional orienteering attire is explained by the presentation being at the Southern Navigators Annual Dinner.

Ian Ditchfield (MV)

Events awarding points toward the South East League have been announced as follows:
       13-Nov-11 SN Wisley & Ockham Common
       20-Nov-11 CHIG Epping
       15-Jan-12 MV Holmbush And Buchan Country Park
       22-Jan-12 HH Northaw
       04-Mar-12 GO Furnace Ponds & Woolbeding
       18-Mar-12 DFOK Mereworth
       03-Jun-12 SO Oldhouse Warren (Jubilee W/E Classic)

Full details on the South East League Rules and Scoring are available on the South East League page.

Those competitors winning medals at the South East Middle Distance Championships held at Nut Wood and Gatton Park on the the 21st August have been announced. Full details available here.

Here is a summary of the SE League results for the 2010/2011 season: 2010/2011 Summary.

Division One Results (in descending order of points): SO, HH, SLOW, MV, SN, SAX & BAOC. And the Division Two Results: LOK, CHIG, DFOK, GO, HAVOC, RAFO, MDDX & ULOC/IOC

SE League Update

At the recent SEOA committee meeting we discussed which events will be used for the League. Now that BOF have imposed stringent requirements for Level B events, formerly known as Regional, not all clubs wish their major event of the year to be at Level B. As we previously only used these Regional events for the League, this could have led to a shortage of suitable events. It has been agreed that each clubs major event can be used, even if it is registered as Level C, provided that the full range of colour courses (Black, Brown, Short Brown, Blue, Short Blue, Green, Short Green, Light Green, Orange & Yellow) are offered and that it is held on an appropriate area. On occasions Urban races or Championship events may be selected so that we have around 8 League events per year. Note that a SE levy will be payable on all SE League events in addition to the BOF levy.

Philip Gristwood
SE League Co-ordinator

In 2004, the SEOA Committee decided that the assets of SEOA were well in excess of the amount needed, and took a decision to run the Region’s affairs at a deficit until the bank balance reached an acceptable minimum. We did this by progressively reducing the annual membership fees from Family(£9)/Senior(£6)/Junior(£2) to the zero level that we have enjoyed for the past three years. However, our bank balance has been reduced to a level whereby we will have to reintroduce fees to ensure that our finances remain stable until 2018, when we next host a JK, and can expect a considerable increase in our assets. If we were to reintroduce them at their previous level, we could reasonably expect them to remain unchanged until 2018, when we would probably be able to reduce them again to use up the JK surplus; if we were to reintroduce them at a lesser amount – say £5/£3/£1– we would expect to have a further increase between now and 2018. As you may know, BOF have had to cut the amount of money spent on developing the sport and attracting new participants. We are also considering replacing some of that expenditure ourselves, in which case we would have to fund that out of increased membership fees. The Committee will set the 2012 fee levels at our September meeting. If you have any comments you wish to make on the level at which you think we should set the fees, and on how much, if anything, we should spend on development, please let your Club Committee know, or send me an email.

John Duffield

SEOA Secretary/Treasurer

Here are the Final SE Galoppen 2010 Standings after 8 events. Many thanks to Ed Cox who coordinates the Galoppen and calculates the scores.

Neil Crickmore (SEOA Competitions Officer) has prepared a paper discussing the current BOF event structure and SEOA's future vision for SEOA events such as the South East Galoppen, South East League and South East Relays. It is available here. .

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.

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 (8^th December 2011)
• Minutes (8^th September 2011)
• Minutes (9^th June 2011)
• Minutes (10^th March 2011)
• Minutes (9^th December 2010)
• Minutes (9^th September 2010)
• Minutes (11^th March 2010)

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.

• 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.
• 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)