THE WARD JUNIOR HOME INTERNATIONALS

Stirling 23 and 24 September 2006

ENGLAND TEAM MANAGER’S REPORT

Summary

The WJHI was based in Stirling this year. Louise Longhurst organised the weekend extremely efficiently. Accommodation for all teams was in Stirling Youth Hostel. The individual competition was on open moorland (Dumyat) just next to Bridge of Allan and the relay competition was in woodland (Polmaise). Both areas were within 15 minutes’ drive of the accommodation.

England won the individual day, but lost to Scotland in the relays. We took the overall trophy.

The team was as originally selected, apart from in M14 where Jonathan Malley was brought in as reserve and performed very well.

Accommodation and Food

Accommodation for all teams was in Stirling Youth Hostel which was booked exclusively for participants in the WJHI. Sleeping accommodation was in rooms varying in size between 2 and 6 beds. Breakfast was served from 7.15 on a cafeteria basis and comprised cereal, bread, cheese, ham, jam, etc. Rooms were available for meetings. Packed lunches were prepared by Forth Valley Orienteers on both days. In addition, FVO also cooked the evening meal on the Saturday night (chillie and baked potatoes, apple pie and ice cream.)

Travelling

Minibus from York, driven by Roger and Ann Smith via Ilkley, Penrith and Carlisle. Car from Nottingham driven by Pauline and David Olivant.

Seven juniors and two coaches who live in the south of England chose to fly to Glasgow at their own expense, in order to avoid the unacceptably long road journey. This meant that, although they missed Friday school, they were home early on Sunday evening and were well rested for Monday school.

Everyone had arrived by 7.30 pm on Friday evening.

Prize Giving and Social

This was held in a church hall within walking distance of the accommodation. The evening started with a meal, followed by enthusiastic dancing to an excellent live ceilidh band. The prize-giving for the individual competition took place during an interlude from the dancing. Prizes were awarded to the first three in each class and the trophy presented to England, as winners of the team competition.

Events

Day 1 – Individual Competition – Dumyat

An open area with plenty of contour and rock detail. The results speak for themselves. Once again, England had strength in depth in most classes. (The first two from each country count in the competition. Ie 8 athletes in total can score points. The first in each class gets 8 points, the second 7 points and so on.)

Day 2 – Relays – Polmaise

Polmaise is a “town wood adjacent to the village of Cambusbarron. It has a lot of footpaths with areas of open runnable forest and a large area of rhododendron in the centre of the map. Parking, the start, the finish and the prizegiving were all at the local primary school.

Unlike last year when our girls teams finished in the first four places, the English girls had a disappointing day. The boys however, came back in first and second place. It should be noted that our girls team was very young, with  9 of the 12 girls in the first year of their class.

The cumulative score for the two days resulted in England bringing home the overall trophy

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Louise Longhurst and FVO for staging the weekend so competently. Thanks are also due to Pauline, David, Jeff and Nigel, the England adults, for the support they gave to the English team throughout the weekend.

Roger Smith,
England Team Manager