2008 SPARC Get2Go Challenge

darren Posted: 19 June 2008, 4:47 AM   Calling all teachers, parents and students. The SPARC Get2Go challenge, an initiative started by SPARC and OPC in 2006 is going Nationwide this year with 13 events spread between Whangarei and Dunedin. The Get2Go is an outdoor adventure day for Year 9 and 10 students (that's 3rd and 4th form if you are old school!) involving rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and most importantly orienteering!!! The event, held in each region, is community based and involves local clubs and organisations coming on board to setup and run their challenge. So far orienteering is sorted with NWOC, AOC, CMOC, HOC, ROC, OT, HBOC, RK, Well/HVOC, NOC, PAPO and DOC all keen to get in behind the event to help promote O. Well done to all of these clubs. Last year there were nearly 1000 participants (most had never tried O before)and this year we are hoping for at least double this number. The events are both about participation as well as competition, with the winning team from each region getting an invitation to take part in the SPARC Get2Go Grand Final. This is a 5-day long adventure competition held on Great Barrier Island in December. So if you know anyone in a school who might be able to get a team organised please let them know about the event. More info can be found here - http://opc.org.nz/youth/junior_hillary.asp This event has great potential to hook new juniors and their families/friends into O for life!   Michael Posted: 11 November 2008, 2:02 PM   Any comments on how this went? Which regional winning teams have orienteers in them? Final is in a few weeks?   Selwyn Posted: 16 November 2008, 2:22 PM   Many orienteers wouldn't have a clue about these events. Thanks to Darren orienteering is part of the package. In Auckland we have the capacity to accept more schools into the Get2Go programme. Maybe the competition for school involvement in all sports events is intense and some schols filter out things that are not traditional sports. In Auckland we have given out the NZOF brochure with a 6 month free entry O-event voucher to all Get2Go participants. There is evidence of a moderate return as we coded the vouchers. These year 9-10 students get seriously competitive. A few schools have Adventure Racing teams that attend orienteering events, and Get2Go, to hone their skills, and being adventure racers they do longer courses at our summer series park events, anything from 6 to 10 km and complete the courses very competently. In the next decade or two, some of these students could become our orienteering elites. Through Get2Go we are introducing interested and competitive students to orienteering. We may not see the return immediately, but in decades to come these are the people who may well come back to orienteering with their family. My experience of involvement over the last 2 years suggests that very few students are existing orienteers and some could give fair competition to existing orienteers with a little bit of training. I have also developed involvement with year 7/8 zone and interzone O competitions in Auckland. The numbers involved are impressive, but the follow through to secondary school level is difficult. Some of these Year 7/8 students can produce course times that would scare experienced orienteers. They are names we have never heard of in orienteering. There are hidden untapped talents out there. Some of the names suggest we could have a look at Pacific Islanders and Maori youngsters as a target market. And a good number in Auckland at year 7/8 level have Asian origin, with enthusiasm.   Claire Paterson Posted: 17 November 2008, 12:20 AM   Unfortunately I missed out on seeing Darren's post in June, but my whole year has been based on researching and implementing ways of getting secondary school students interested and knowledgable about what orienteering really is, enticing them to give it a go - i.e. showing a fun, exciting and competitive sides with some homour involved. One of my main goals was to blow the 'geeky' and 'boring' and 'only an activity' perceptions out of the water... I have now completed my Visual Communication Design Degree at Massey, with my Final Year Project producing an interactive learning device, that is fun, informative, teaches technical and physical aspects of orienteering, and showcases other aspects such as the European scene, as well as World Champion and NZ Rep profiles. From my initial focus group with some secondary school students, it seems to be thouroughly enjoyed and appreciated, and from feedback from orienteers it is quite comprehensive. I see this as having great potential in two main areas - It can be given out to newcomers at events by clubs, giving them something they can take home (CD), plug in, and explore in their own time, learning all about orienteering in a fun and interactive way. Secondly, and more importantly to me, it could be given to schools for them to hand out to take home, or use in the classroom, allowing students to see what I believe is the 'real' side of orienteering, rather than the often 'dumbed-down' version that gets taught in schools and 'played' on school camps (although this can be an important stepping stone in the learning process of course). As I am not sure what will happen with this interactive application yet, I am reluctant to make it publicly available on a website, but I would be happy to show it to anyone interested (in Auckland). I plan to be at the meeting at Rob and Marquita's tonight for those of you attending who are interested. Cheers, Claire   darren Posted: 17 November 2008, 4:50 AM   The 13 Get2Go regional events were very successful with around 1700 students taking part across the country, the majority (at a guess there might have been about 10 regular Oers involved)getting their first taster of orienteering. Several clubs have provided feedback that the G2G particpants (and their families) have been turning up to local O events since. This is what it is all about, creating pathways for further particpation. A big thank you to the clubs (NWOC, AOC, CMOC, HOC, ROC, OT, HBOC, RK, Well/HVOC, NOC, PAPO and DOC) that helped out by organising the G2G O challenge in their region, without your help O would not have been a part of the day. Some clubs even provided the Sport-ident experience which proved to be extremely popular. The good news is that the funding has been secured for 2009 so it will all be happening again, bigger and better, next year. If any of you missed the coverage of the Waitakere/North Harbour, Taranaki, Wellington and Christchurch events on TV2 (Studio2 show) you can check them out here - http://the-hub.tv/content/view/1394/146/ there is also a list of the winning teams from each region here, they will be getting together for the G2G Grand Final on Great Barrier Island between 8-12 December.   addison Posted: 18 November 2008, 12:17 PM   I gotta say, a great day when we had it in Hamilton. Nice and easy to organise. Don't need to worry about all the taking entries and stuff. Just turn up and have 50 or so kids 4 times during the day. Couldn't ask for anything more!   darren Posted: 12 December 2008, 1:29 PM   The 2008 Get2Go final finished today on Great Barrier Island. An incredible week of adventure! Liam Patterson (Tarankai O and NZ Secondary Schools Team) was part of the winning team from New Plymouth Boys/Girls High. Coverage of the event will be on TV2, Studio2 show (4.30-5.00pm) this coming Mon,Tues, Wed, Thurs. there will be 2 x 4min segments on each day. Thanks again to all of the clubs that helped out in their local regions, organising the orienteering events.   darren Posted: 13 December 2008, 12:57 AM   Oops, forgot Edward Lawley (Tarankai O and NZ Secondary Schools Team/October 08)was also in the New Plymouth Team.   darren Posted: 19 December 2008, 7:35 AM   If you missed it you can view the coverage of this years final online here - http://the-hub.tv/content/view/1394/146/