Are you looking for a competitive edge to your Orienteering experience? Do you want to see how you are going against your peers? The State Orienteering League (SOL) is just what you are looking for.
Over the year 6 events make up the series where you, if you run the nominated course for your age group, will be able to track how your performance is going and also compare your times with others in your age group. Through a handicapping system that adjusts each orienteers pace based on their age, orienteers across all the age groups are ranked in one league table to determine the overall Orienteer of the Year (OY) awards.
There are four OY award categories one each for Junior and Senior men and women.
Of course like all orienteering events it is not all about winning and if you enjoy the personal challenge of getting around the course then you can enter any course and enjoy your orienteering without the pressure of the competition.
Which events count? | What is different to standard events? | How does the scoring work? | What is an age group and what is the weighting factor? | What course do I need to enter? | Do I have to pre-enter to be eligible? | Where can I see the results? | Need more information?
There are six events in the series, two Nav Dash sprint events, two middle distance events and two classic long distance events. Your best 4 out of the 6 events count towards the OY Awards so if you skip an event or have a bad day then you can still stay in the running for a good overall position.
What is different to standard events?
Not much difference, except that to be eligible for the SOL you will need to run on the nominated course for your age group. It is NOT compulsory to enter the SOL - if you don’t want to run the nominated course then just enter the course you feel comfortable with and enjoy the day.
Positions for each SOL event are determined by rates per kilometre, multiplied by age class adjustment factors (see below). Competitors in each category are then ranked according to their adjusted kilometre rates for the SOL event and points allocated as 100 for the highest ranked competitor in the category, 99 for the next person etc.
The best four scores for each competitor during the year count towards his or her total OY score, these four event scores being added together to give final OY scores for the year.
The winner of each Category (Senior Men, Senior Women, Junior Men and Junior Women) is the competitor with the highest point score in the Category at the end of the season.
All events carry equal weighting, except that if there is a tie for winner, the points from the Long State Championships shall determine the outcome, followed, if necessary, by the points from the Middle Distance State Championships.
What is an age group and what is the weighting factor?
Orienteering age groups are in 2 year age steps for those under 21 and 5 year age steps for those 35 and over. The age groups for the SOL and OY and their adjustment factors are in the table below. The age groups are based on your age at the 31st December, so for the junior age groups if you are under the nominated age on the 31st December then that is your age group for all events during the year. If you are a senior then if you are over the nominated age at 31st December then that is your age group for the entire year.
For example, if you are either 12 or 13 years old on the 31st of December then you are in Men or Women 12 M12 / W12 or if you are between 35 and 39 years old on 31st Dec then you are in Men or Women 35 M35 / W35.
What course do I need to enter?
If you want to compete in the SOL for the Non-Championship Classic Long distance event you need to enter a minimum of the following courses according to your age group.
For the Non Championship Middle distance events you need to enter a minimum of the following courses according to you age group.
As Championship events are run in age classes, for the three SOL events that are State Championship events you must enter the course for your age group as the minimum course.
You may enter a harder or longer course but you will still receive the same factor.
Do I have to pre-enter to be eligible?
The Non-Championship events do not have Pre-Entry and are all Enter on the Day (EOD) events. The three Championship events have Pre-Entry and the details of entry will be published with each Championship event. To be eligible for the OY award you need to be a full member financial of Orienteering Western Australia.
If this is all double Dutch then please ask someone in your club or from the Technical Committee who will endeavour to explain it. Remember: You don’t have to follow these SOL Guidelines at all, you are entirely free to enter the course of your choice at any Orienteering Western Australia event!