Orienteering courses set up at 13 schools in Taupō District

Olivia McLeod delivers a pre-race briefing before an orienteering event for primary school students at Spa Park. Photo / Sue MacLean

Olivia McLeod jokes it was for purely selfish reasons that she came up with the idea of introducing orienteering to 13 schools in the Taupō District.

Having so many young people taking an interest in the sport is great for numbers, while also teaching them valuable life skills.

In term two of this year, more than 1000 primary school students got to experience an orienteering taster programme, presented by Oliva on behalf of the Taupō Orienteering Club.

On Thursday last week, 60 primary school-aged children took take part in an Interschool orienteering event at Spa Park.

"Eight-year-olds completed the course, they managed themselves. It was great to see all the teams come back on time," Olivia says.

She is also a relief teacher at Taupō-nui-a-Tia College and runs the Adventure Racing club who regularly compete in North Island orienteering events. Participants meet several times a week for fitness training and to improve their map reading and navigating skills.

"I thought if we can introduce primary school-age children to map reading, then they will be really good at navigating by the time they get to high school."

Year 5 and 6 students from Taupō Primary School competed in an orienteering event at Spa Park last week. Zoe (left), Ginny, Aaron, Charlie, and the winning team of Stella and Tahlia (right).

With the support of Sport Waikato, Lake Taupō Sports Advisory Council and Kiwisport, Olivia spent term two presenting an orienteering taster to Year 5 to Year 8 students at 13 primary schools from Whakamaru to Kuratau.

The sport of orienteering offers many learning opportunities.

"The children manage themselves for 45 minutes or so in the outdoors, they experience problem-solving and teamwork."

She says practical skills the children learn include reading the land and the elements and seeing how that relates to the map, and taking compass bearings and realising how that applies to moving in the right direction.

"Orienteering is also an awesome thing to do with friends or as a family."

Teacher feedback from the term two taster was that orienteering offered lessons on many levels, from maths to fitness.

"There were the top cross country runners taking part, and there were kids screaming past who wouldn't normally be that interested in running," Olivia says.

"The teachers were amazed, non-sporty kids were running about 3km without even realising it. Orienteering draws everyone in."

Olivia created an orienteering map for the grounds of each participating school. These maps were then used to generate a course, with each school having three courses, from easy to hard.

"The special thing about orienteering maps is the colours and symbols are common internationally. A Taupō student who learns to read a map at school can apply that knowledge to any other orienteering event in the world."

She says the sport has "gone nuts" in Auckland, where there are 6000 to 7000 kids who regularly attend orienteering events.

Where 60 Taupō kids competed at Spa Park last week, the same event in Auckland would have drawn 700 to 800 children.

Adventure Racing team member Naomi Riedel competing at the Secondary School Orienteering Championships 2021 in Napier. Photo / Olivia McLeod

Orienteering events are planned for this Sunday and in December, and Olivia said high school students from the Adventure Racing club had helped design the course by putting the marks on the course maps.

Tauhara College student and Adventure Racing club member Naomi Riedel, 17, helped set the course for this weekend's orienteering event that spans Hilltop School to Taupō Intermediate School.

Naomi has been part of the Adventure Racing club for the past three years, competes at national and regional events, and attended the Junior Orienteering Training Camp in Nelson in December last year.

She says the best thing about orienteering is it takes you to scenic places you can't drive to.

"I also like the mental and physical challenge. Orienteering is a sport where I have to use my mind and my body."

She enjoys the twice-weekly training sessions with the Adventure Racing club and says her orienteering skills have improved "thanks to Olivia's gazillions of knowledge".

Olivia is leaving Taupō at the end of the year and going to live in the Coromandel, but the Taupō Orienteering Club will continue to engage with primary schools in 2022.

If you are keen to give orienteering a go, then upload the orienteering map for Spa Park at
www.taupoorienteering.nz and give it a go.

The Details
Taupō Orienteering Club event
Who: All welcome
What: Double School Discovery
When: 10am to 11am start, Sunday, November 14, enter at www.entero.co.nz
Where: Start at Hilltop School and finish at Taupō Intermediate School.
How: On foot only (no bikes), short or long course.
Cost: $7 club members, $12 non-club members, add $5 for on the day entry.
Info: email entries@taupoorienteering.nz and www.taupoorienteering.nz