VP Technical Report 2008/2009SAOF

SAOF Technical Portfolio Report2008/2009

SAOF AGM 2009

26 September 2009

Responsibilities

Develop and enforce structures for meeting the aims of the SAOF, in particular with respect to:

(i)Promote the interests of orienteering and orienteers, and uphold the rules relative to the amateur status (sic) and the eligibility of orienteers to compete under the rules of the SAOF and the IOF.

(ii)Commission and supervise annual national and provincial championships and IOF sanctioned events.

(iii)Attend to the selection of orienteers who are to represent the federation.

(iv)To provide official records of performance.

(v)Manage all structures put in place to encourage the pursuit of High Performance Orienteering.

Technical Plan

The draft plan for the Technical Portfolio was sent to club chairs for distribution on 26 May 2009.

Driven by our vision of “Growth, Development, Excellence”, which also aligns with new funding conditions being proposed by Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), the Technical Plan seeks to reduce the “barriers to entry” for newcomers to Orienteering. This will be done by developing qualification levels in each of the three Technical areas within the Technical Portfolio along with associated training courses and accreditation mechanisms. The three identified technical areas are Coaching, Mapping and Event Advising.

In addition to the imperative to align with the changing funding requirements, the SAOF’s reasons for adopting this strategy are:

  • to improve the internal capabilities of existing clubs
  • to use this as a tool to facilitate the birth of new clubs in new and existing areas

Seminar

The first step in this plan was realised with the Technical Seminar held in Johannesburg on 26th July 2009 at Old Parks facility. There was an attendance of 14 people from all Gauteng Clubs. The aim is to hold a similar seminar in Cape Town, hopefully in October/ November 2009.

The objective of the seminar is to identify interested individuals to populate sub-committees in each of the technical areas of Mapping, Coaching and Event Advising. The terms of reference of sub-committees have yet to be defined. However, the aim would be to develop the abovementioned qualification levels with associated training materials/ courses and accreditation mechanisms.

SAOF Wiki

The SAOF wiki site: been launched. See attached image of the front page. The aim is to provide a collaboration portal for various SAOF project teams/ sub-committees. It should also serve as a repository for knowledge for the South African orienteering community. It will be accessible to all, so all members can contribute to policy development.

Aims for 2010

Conduct Level 1 Courses

Aim is to conduct level 1 courses in each of the Technical Areas of Coaching, Mapping and Event Advising. A pre-requisite for these courses is the formation of the sub-committees referred to above. Thus to have our first officially accredited coaches, mappers and event advisers at the basic level.

In addition the aim is to develop the level structure, course material for each level and associated accreditation mechanisms for each of the Technical Areas.

Long Term Athlete Development(LTAD) Seminar

SASCOC have arranged a visit of a Dr. Istvan Bayli[*], a Canadian expert on LTAD. Thus far eleven people have expressed an interest. SAOF’s slot has been confirmed for either of the 5th or 6thof December.

IT Infrastructure Upgrade

Embark on a serious IT upgrade. An IT Task Team will be formed to drive this. We need to:

  • Update the SAOF website with far more content.
  • Develop systems for capturing, storing and analyzing statistics, e.g. membership, participation (will assist with meeting our SRSA SLA)
  • Wiki site for the various sub-committees and project teams.
  • A secure version controlled repository for managing SAOF’s strategic maps.

Policy Development

1) Squad Identification, Benefits and Conditions

SAOF will seek to develop clear and transparent selection criteria for a number of squads. In addition to Junior and Senior squads, there will a Development squad aimed at PDI’s.

In addition to the development of selection policy for the various squads, the aim is to make clear what is expected of squad members, and also what benefits they can expect to receive being part of a particular squad.

2) National Coach & Support Staff Appointment

The SAOF also intends to develop clear guidelines for the selection and responsibilities of national coaches and support/ management teams for the various squads.

3) Development of Guidelines for SAOF Funded Training Camps

Look into specification of number of coaches per athlete & number and type of support staff per athlete. Specifically what level of funding can be expected for SAOF for such training camps. Funding could also be tied up with the qualification level of the coach.

4) Appointment of National Championships Host

Update guidelines and conditions for hosting SA Champs. This will include WRE requirements. Want to move to a situation in which host club needs to have appropriately accredited members on their organising committee.

Glossary

NLDTF National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund

WRE World Ranking Event

PDI Previously Disadvantaged Individuals

SRSA Sport and Recreation South Africa

SLAService Level Agreement

WOC World Orienteering Championships

JWOC Junior World Orienteering Championships

WikiA web-based collaborative interface (e.g. wikipedia)

[*]Dr. Istvan Balyi is the Resident Sport Scientist of the NCI-BC (National Coaching Institute in British Columbia) since 1994. He has worked with several National Teams as high performance advisor, planning and periodization for Major Games. He is a world renowned coaching educator and his series on long-term athlete development and periodization are published in Australia, Canada, USA and the U. K. He is presently High Performance Advisor for the Canadian Sport Centres in Victoria and Vancouver, UK Athletics and The Lawn Tennis Association. Istvan is also LTAD advisor for the Canadian Sport Centre- Vancouver, Sport England, The Irish Republic, the English Rugby Association (Women) and World Class Advisor for Sport England.