Ward Junior Home International (WJHI) 2017
This year’s Ward Junior Home International was hosted by Mid Wales Orienteering Club (MWOC) on behalf of Wales Orienteering Association and based at Pencelli, Brecon on 7th and 8th October.
Report and photos below.
Generic information about WJHI
Background
The Ward Junior Home International is an annual competition between the four home countries, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
They are hosted in rotation by each of these countries and take place in the early autumn.
The competition consists of an Individual race on the Saturday followed by a Relay on the Sunday.
An agreed scoring system determines the winner on each day and the overall winner.
Teams
Each country enters a team made up of 4 M/W14’s, 16’s and 18’s – a total of 24 athletes. The relay teams are made up of one M/W14 team, one M/W16 and one M/W18 team per country a total of 6 relay teams.
Accommodation
Every effort is made to accommodate the teams in one location. The hosts also arrange a dinner for the Saturday evening, usually followed by a ceidhl.
The event is named after the original benefactors of this event, the Elsie and Bertie Ward fund and has been in existence since the late 1970’s.
Rules
WJHI rules on the British Orienteering website
Accommodation for all teams was at the Trawsfynydd Holiday Village.
The Individual event on Saturday was held on Gwanas an area of typical Welsh mountain Moorland.
As expected the results were very close at the top of the leader board with both England and Scotland winning 3 of the courses. England winning M14, M18 and W18 and Scotland M16, W14 and W16. This gave England a 7 point lead going into Day 2.
The competition between Northern Ireland and Wales was also close with Northern Ireland just edging it by 6 points
The evening meal, ceilidh and Day 1 prize giving were held at the nearby Rhiw Goch Inn.
On Sunday the relay event was held on Llechwedgain Common. Over the course of the first leg the Scots fought hard to close the gap on England and by the end of the leg had nudged ahead of England overall. However strong runs from the M14’s and M18’s closed the gap and with the England women drawing with the Scotland women England managed to maintain an overall lead over Scotland.
In the battle between Wales and Northern Ireland, Wales won the day and the overall score was a tie with Northern Ireland taking home the Judith Wingham trophy.
Many thanks to Clive Thomas, who coordinated the event, and to MWOC for an enjoyable and successful weekend.
Full results are available on the Mid Wales Orienteering club web site. www.mid-wales-orienteers.org.uk