Street Orienteering Clubs

Nillumbik Emus Orienteering Club

Join an Orienteering Club...

It makes sense to join an Orienteering Club

There are 6 orienteering clubs in Melbourne; and all of these provide a range of services to members at very reasonable cost. Almost all orienteering events in Victoria are run by such clubs - they provide the organisational framework and manpower that makes our hobby the success that it is. In addition, orienteering clubs provide a social and training framework for orienteers, both during and after events. There are lots of good reasons for joining a club:

Club fees are minimal; membership of most clubs is typically about $5 per year.
Clubs allow you to put something back into the sport; as clubs run events, you will be given the opportunity to help out - working alongside an experienced course-setter or organiser provides good experience and new friendships.
Club newsletters; most clubs provide excellent newsletters providing articles about recent items of interest and information about future events. (Examples of some club newsletters can be viewed/downloaded here).
Club websites; these provide access to reference information that will be useful to you as you start out in orienteering.
Club running gear; it's great to be a member of a team - and running in a distinctive top immediately identifies you as a member of the team. A casual greeting, a friendly wave as you approach another runner - they all build camaraderie that makes participation even more enjoyable. Several of the clubs sponsor the cost of running tops for members - Bayside Kangaroos provide overprinted T-shirts for only $5, while Nillumbik Emus and DROC provide top of the line running tops to members at prices well below cost.

Regional Clubs - It makes sense to join a club near you

Nearby club members provide local support and offer the possibility of transport sharing as you start out in orienteering. As you gain experience and want to help out with events, it's logical to start with events not too far from home. Your local club offers this possibility. In addition, the presence of a body of members in an area suggests that social events run by the club will also be in your area - another benefit of joining a club that services your area.

Area
Northern or Eastern Suburbs	:	Nillumbik Emus or Yarra Valley Orienteering Clubs are the club for you; both of these clubs are the top bush orienteering clubs in Melbourne - and have been for the last 8-10 years. If you would ultimately like to learn to navigate in the bush, then either of these is a good choice. Nillumbik Emus (NE) is more active in street-orienteering than Yarra Valley and is working to take an even greater part in the future. NE provides much of the infrastructure that runs street-orienteering - this website being one such example. In 2004, NE and YV joined together to establish the Northern Park/Street Orienteering Series. For more information about this club see the Nillumbik Emus website. Yarra Valley has considerable strength in depth - with many of the best orienteers in Melbourne among their members. Although not as active in street-orienteering as some of the other clubs, Yarra Valley offers new members the opportunity to learn orienteering from some of our most experienced orienteers. For more information see the Yarra Valley WebSite.
Outer Eastern or Dandenong Ranges	:	Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club (DROC) is one of the smaller clubs, but is very active with an enthusiastic group mainly from the eastern suburbs. Its main focus is on running and co-ordinating street, park and local bush events in and near the eastern suburbs. DROC members are encouraged to participate in fieldworking and drawing maps, as well as setting courses and running events. For more information about DROC, refer to the DROC website.
Western Suburbs	:	Tuckonie Orienteering Club and Nillumbik Emus are the main clubs in this area. For information about Tuckonie Orienteering Club see their website at http://tuckonie.orienteering.com.au/
Bendigo	:	Bendigo Orienteering Club is a very strong club - offering a comprehensive range of bush and near-Bendigo orienteering. For more information refer to the Bendigo Orienteering Club Website.
Ballarat	:	Eureka Orienteering Club is the main club in this area.
Geelong	:	The Geelong Bushwalking Club runs a series of park/street events in Geelong. For more information contact Don Fell at never_dnf @ hotmail.com.

Special Interest Groups

In addition to the regional clubs above, there are special interest groups within orienteering that run events for orienteers from all clubs and all regions. One such club, the ARDF Group, provides an interesting diversion called Radio Orienteering. Radio Orienteers use a radio-direction finding receiver to triangulate signals from a series of transmitters and then use the resulting directions to run towards in the right direction and find them. This sport is quite different to normal orienteer and offers an interesting change for those with a technical (or semi-technical) bent. Check out the ARDF Group Web Site for more information.