Not Gothenburg 2021

Generic information about Gothenburg

Team Manager Report

Managed by Mark Saunders and Alice Bedwell.

Back in March JROS identified that we should have plan Bs in place for the camps if restrictions meant that they could not go ahead in their normal format. With Nick Barrable not in a position to organise a camp in the UK if Stockholm was not going to be possible, Pete Tryner put his hand up to make sure something could happen for that cohort.  Pete and I agreed that should “plan B” be necessary, the best option would be to try to coordinate things by locating  the Stockholm and Gothenburg camps in the same vicinity somewhere in the UK. I looked at options in Wales  and Pete in Scotland. Pete was able to find a hostel in Findhorn, and village hall with showers in Duffus a few miles away ( as well as another hall in Glenlivet that the YHJS squad could use who were also looking to base a camp in the UK.)

When we selected the athletes in June we let them know that there was a plan B if we couldn’t go to Gothenburg. Towards the end of July it became evident that Sweden was not going to relax its ban on travel from the UK in time. So we switched our plans to Moray.  When I say “we”, I should really say Pete, as he did by far the lion’s share of the organising  - working with the local clubs to to get permissions etc. With Alice and myself somewhat pre-occupied with Team Managing the GB WOC team, that was a huge help to us.  So many thanks to him for that.

At the time of the initial selections it was not clear whether GB was going to be able to send a team to JWOC in Turkey in early September but a team had been selected, including some who had registered an interest in “Gothenburg”. If they had been able to go to JWOC the requirement for them to “minimise all contacts” before entering the JWOC bubble would have precluded them from attending “not-Gothenburg”. As it turned out GB were not able to send a team to JWOC - Turkey being on the UK RED list – so all those who wanted were able to attend “not Gothenburg.”

Travel

We had originally anticipated hiring a minibus to get round during the week, But as it turned a number of the older athletes were able to borrow cars from their family so that was not required and significantly reduced the cost of the camp. With the British Sprints happening in Skelmersdale on the first weekend, we decided to start the camp on the Sunday night after that, with many of us taking in that event on route. We all returned  via the Scottish Junior Cup race at Tentsmuir on Sunday 29th August

Accommodation

Duffus village hall was ideal for our purposes, with plenty of space in a large main hall, a smaller hall and a separate meeting room for myself and Alice  - much better than our usual curtained off bit of the mens changing rooms amongst the cycling machines in Gothenburg.

Catering

This was done by the athletes themselves which worked well without too many dramas – tho’ the oven was bit temperamental at times. SCOTJOS kindly lent us some pans /utensils which saved Alice and I some space in our car.

Training

With the need to be much more specific with our permissions / days  compared with the normal very flexible Swedish requirements we had to be a bit more organised than usual. But with a “greatest hits” set of Scottish forests lined up by Pete and the local clubs - Culbin, Roseisle, Darnaway, Keppernach, Glen Affric. Plus a local event at Findhorn courtesy of the “not-Stockholm” camp. What was not to like!! We shared some of the exercise planning/control hanging / control collecting with Not-Stockholm, which worked well and reduced the workload for all.    A degree of flexibility and involvement of the youngsters in planning their own training was enabled by me taking up our own laser printer.

Financial Summary

Next year

I am available again to manage the camp as is Alice – likely dates – 20th-29th August

Mark Saunders Dec 2021

Selections

James Yule  SO
Alex Wetherill  WAOC
Frank Townley SN
Olly Tonge BOK 
Joe Hudd WCOC
Rosie Spencer  WCOC
Isobel Cox  BASOC
Lizzie Stansfield EUOC
Alice Wilson  CLYDE
Ffion Jones SO

It is possible that a number of other athletes who also expressed an interest will be added to this  list, once the situation with JWOC and GBR  attendance is known.

Whilst it may not be possible to hold this camp in Gothenburg a Plan B is in place to hold the camp in Scotland on the Morayshire coast - subject  to Scottish Government Covid regulations. A decision will be made in the middle of July.

Selection Policy

With the possible lack of selection races and with the hope that the camp will be able to go ahead, the Selector for the camp has asked the athletes to self nominate by 14th June 2021.

Nomination should be accompanied by a supporting statement by the athlete.

The selector will at his discretion consider;

a) previous performances in major races in 2019 and 2020 and major races in 2021 (up to 6th June 2021).

b) evidence that athletes may provide of their current form and/or fitness.

c) intention to compete in major races in the summer   and other training camps  including those selected by British Orienteering

If a further update to the policy is required, then this will be communicated as soon as feasible, in order to give athletes the best chance to plan and prepare.

Please note that no nominations received after 14th June 2021 will be considered.

Nominations should be sent to;

Mark Saunders 

Eligibility

The Camp is predominantly for M/W19s born in 2002 and top M/W18s born in 2003.

Numbers

The camp will be for a maximum of 20 athletes.

Selection process

The Selector may choose not to fill all available places if there are insufficient suitable athletes.

The camp selector

The campcampcamp athletes will be selected by Mark Saunders (BOK and SWOC) and will be reviewed by the Chairman of Junior Regional Orienteering Squads (JROS).