British Orienteering Federation

The British Orienteering Federation, sometimes branded British Orienteering, is the national sports governing body for the sport of orienteering in the United Kingdom.^[1] The federation was founded in June 1967, and is a member of the IOF.^[2] They recently collaborated with the BBC as part of one of their children's programs.^[3]

History

History of Orienteering in UK before the BOF

Orienteering was introduced to the UK in the 1950s and was heavily supported by renowned Olympians including John Disley and Chris Brasher.^[4] The early years were helped by orienteers from Sweden: in 1962 Baron ‘Rak’ Largerfelt of the Stockholm Orienteering Club came to Scotland to help develop the sport. This culminated in the first championship being held in May 1962 at Dunkeld, and the formation of the Scottish Orienteering Association.^[5]

Later visitors from Sweden included Jan Kjellström, a son of Silva compass founder Alvar Kjellström. Kjellström played an important role in the development of the sport and helped to accelerate developments in orienteering competition, mapping and coaching. Kjellström died in a road accident early in the year of 1967.^[6] 1967 saw the first Jan Kjellström International Festival of Orienteering or "JK", held in memory of Kjellström.^[6] Later that year the British Orienteering Federation was formed by the amalgamation of the English and Scottish Associations leading to the first British Championships held at Hamsterley Forest.^[5]

After the Founding of BOF

With the growth of the sport BOF was founded in 1967, and continued to develop. There were 12 national and regional associations by 1972; the British Schools Orienteering Association joining in 1995 when it was formed to promote orienteering in schools.^[7] The Federation's membership had reached around 10,000 by 1998 and the club membership had increased to more 150 clubs.^[4]

Structure

The federation is made up of thirteen constituent associations, one each for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland; nine for the English regions; and the British Schools Orienteering Association. The nine English regions are also Members of EOC.

The associations are^[8]:

Funding

Some funding comes from the fees paid by individual members and clubs.^[9]

British Orienteering receives funding from both UK Sport and Sport England. With UK Sport awarding £500,000 and Sport England awarding £2,275,000 over four years with the funding being received from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2013. The UK sports money is likely to be spend on the International aspects of the organisation with the Sport England funding going mainly to development of the sport in England.^[10]

Governance

The British Orienteering Federation is governed by a Board of Directors, and the members of four subcommittees. These four subcommittees govern coaching, development, event co-ordination and international competitions.^[11]

The Board of Directors is chaired by Lyn West. The Chief Executive is Mike Hamilton and the other members are Philip Baxter, Roger Hargreaves, Jenny Peel, David May, Ed Nicholas, Martin Ward, Mike Forrest and John Woodall. The board meets at least five times a year.^[12]

References

See also

• British orienteers