EOC bannerThe English Orienteering Council is the long-established (1973), autonomous and democratic body which has sole responsibility for English national orienteering teams.

Its voting members comprise representatives (often the Chair) of each of the nine English regions of the BOF.  The Council meets annually at the JK or the BOC to make policy decisions.  The leg-work is performed by the Selectors and Team Managers appointed at that meeting.

Unlike the other Home Countries, England has no National Association and no National Governing Body. Whilst British Orienteering receives direct funding from Sport England and until 2011 passed on a small grant of £2,000 annually, this grant was discontinued in 2012.

The bulk of the funding for the Council’s activities comes from selected athletes’ substantial personal contributions (60%) and the English Orienteering Associations provide the balance (40%) of the income.

The EOC currently raises teams to compete in four competitions annually: three separate Home Internationals: Junior, Senior and Veteran, against Ireland, Scotland and Wales; as well as a multi age group competition, Interland, against our nearest continental European neighbours. These competitions offer the opportunity for national representative honours to athletes, male and female, aged between 13 and 69, unlike GBR representative teams.