17/2/04: Coaching in Barnsley Schools
This month sees the start of a big push to develop orienteering in Barnsley schools. With around 15 schools in the city recently mapped, the council is hoping to kick start a schools league in which primary school children compete in a series of competitions around local school grounds. They can then qualify for a final to be held in a country park.

To prepare them for the first league events we are visiting several of the schools throughout Feburary and teaching the basics of the sport. So far we've seen around 250 nine-year-olds complete a simple course around their school grounds. The enthusiasm of the kids has been amazing and they are at the perfect age to pick up the necessary skills so competition has been fierce over the 'ultra short' distance races.

It would be great to see this kind of initiative spread to other cities and regions. The cost of setting up a league of this kind is negligable compared to the cost of developing most other sports and the potential benefit is enormous. With any luck this primary schools league will bring a whole new generation of orienteers into SYO!

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