Compass Sport Trophy qualifier

This year, the Compass Sport Trophy regional qualifier was held in Margam Forest near Port Talbot, hosted by Swansea Bay OC, bringing together several orienteering clubs from around Wales and South West to compete against each other.

The Compass Sport Trophy is an inter-club competition held annually. The competition is divided into regional qualifiers, followed by a final round for the top teams.

24 QOs made the journey to represent the club and put on a great show, with many members showcasing their orienteering skills and placing highly in their respective categories.

The competition was tough, and the courses were challenging, but the team showed great determination tackling the terrain with great enthusiasm. Despite our best efforts however, we did not qualify for the final round of the competition finishing in second place behind Swansea Bay, however we are proud of our performances and happy to have taken part.

This from Karen:

Well what a great time we had today. It was wet and misty but a very enjoyable orienteering event. The course had some technical parts some extremely muddy areas that were difficult to get across without the loss of a shoe. A couple of poor route choices led me to have to struggle through an area of bramble and brashings and on one occasion i had to re-route. However, on saying all that, I really enjoyed the course and found it stretched me.

It was a team effort, but there were a few highlights for me: David Browne, a relatively new member of the club, tackled the Brown course with great enthusiasm. Pete Shirvington had a fantastic run on the Short Brown course and should definitely consider orienteering abroad more often. Hazel Mudd ran up to race against the World Champion and still finished with a smile despite the tough course. Finlay Goddard came in second by just 35 seconds against an experienced junior running down from their usual level, which was a great result. Finally, Oliver and Annabel Lewis successfully completed their first Green and Short Green courses, respectively.

Club Captain Pete deserves a special mention for organising the teams and entries. He did an excellent job, and his efforts were greatly appreciated. Karen also deserves a thank you for trying to organise the minibus, even though it was cancelled at the last minute. Finally, a big thank you to Swansea Bay for putting on an enjoyable event.

Although we didn't qualify for the next round, we had a great time and represented our club well.

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