The club has a very active junior section, and in fact juniors make up almost half the club. For juniors there is coaching, team competitions and opportunities to develop life skills though volunteering.
Badges
There is a national badge scheme to reward participation and progress:
Badge record sheets (as PDF for printing and hand recording)
Badge record sheets (as spreadsheet for doing on computer)
Competing at National/International Level
There are many opportunities to represent Scotland/Britain - see this document for details
Coaching and training
The coaching programme is very much aimed at improving the skills of club members - and has a strong junior focus. The coaching groups are usually aimed at the different technical difficulties and juniors progress through the groups as they progress up their 'colours' - white (TD1) to yellow (TD2) to orange (TD3) to light green (TD4) to green (TD5). After which the juniors are better than the adults.....
More information on the coaching page.
Volunteering
Aged 12 – 25? Register for the Saltire Award and the High Life Highland (HLH) Leadership Programme
All INVOC members between the age of 12 and 25 can keep a record of any time they spend volunteering* for the club and count it towards their Saltire Award (you get Young Scot points too). It is very easy and well worth doing to achieve this national award. You need to register online at www.saltireawards.org.uk
Planning, helping with car parking, helping with starts, control collecting, helping with coaching etc (not time spent competing nor being coached) all counts as volunteer time.
It seems to be easiest to keep a paper copy of the hours volunteered on the Form B ‘Volunteer Timesheet’ because when you enter your hours online it doesn’t seem to accept a date other than the day you are entering the data.
When you have completed enough volunteering hours to claim an Award, you’ll need to give a named person from INVOC who can vouch that you have done those volunteer hours. Alison Matheson or Susan Blackwood are happy to fulfil that role. Let one of us know if you claim an award. This is because we will get an email asking us to confirm that you have done the volunteering hours.
You can also register for the High Life Highland (HLH) Leadership Programme and use the same volunteering hours for that. This is also highly recommended. For the leadership programme sign-off it can be Susan Blackwood or the active schools coordinator for the young person’s school (if they are still at school).
Team Competitions
There are seven team competitions in which the juniors compete either for INVOC or for their schools. For schools related competitions contact Dagmar Borrowman This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and for the other five junior competitions contact our Vice President who acts as junior competitions coordinator This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CompassSport Cup. Not strictly speaking a junior competition, but juniors are an essential element of the team. The CompassSport Cup is orienteering's premier inter-club competition. INVOC has in the distant past made it to the final. Juniors need to be able to run an orange course or higher to compete. The Scottish Heat is usually held on the second Sunday in March.
INVOC Schools League: The INVOC schools league is open to all schools and their pupils within the INVOC area. It provides a great summer term competition amongst the INVOC juniors. Juniors wishing to participate need to make sure their school registers. The league events are usually held between late March and mid-May. More information on the schools league webpage.
Scottish Championships: INVOC enters junior relay teams as part of the Scottish Championship relays. All juniors who can run a yellow course or harder without assistance are welcome to take part. The Scottish Championships is usually at the end of May.
Scottish Schools Championships. Following on from the INVOC schools league the Scottish Schools Championships is held in early June. INVOC juniors compete through their schools - who the entry has to be made through. Those wishing to be considered for selection in the World Schools Championships need to participate in the Scottish Schools Champs.
Jamie Stevenson Trophy: The JST, as it is known, is an inter-club competition for juniors. It is very much aimed at participation and is open to all who can complete a yellow course by themselves. It is named after Scotland's (and Britain's) only World Champion male gold medallist - Jamie Stevenson. It is usually held on the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in June. More information on the JST page.
Scottish Inter-Area Relays and Individual: Forms part of a SOL weekend usually in the autumn. It is made up of a Relay on the Saturday and points for the Individual results at the SOL on Sunday. The Junior Inter Areas has been running for over 20 years, and is held between East, West and North areas. The North Area, which is made up of MAROC, GRAMP, INVOC, MOR and BASOC won the competition in 2013, 2014 and 2015. It is a great opportunity for Juniors to experience a relay and a SOL event and also to socialise with juniors from other clubs and get to know them (the juniors stay in overnight accommodation together). It is one of the favourite junior weekends. The relays are open to all juniors who can run a yellow course or harder without assistance, and the individual is open to all juniors who can run a white course or above without assistance.
North Inter-Area Challenge Trophy: This competition is between the north clubs (INVOC, MOR, MAROC, BASOC and GRAMP). It is specifically aimed at the entry level orienteers - almost the mirror image of the Compass Sport Cup. The junior competition format means that all juniors can participate, right down to the very young who do White courses. In fact the competition is biased towards those who are still finding their way in the sport. Experts aged 16+ who or who are running at green or above are beyond the level of this competition so it’s a great chance for others to make their mark for the club. It is usually held in the autumn.
Junior Success
We see junior success as high participation numbers and smiles on faces - and the club's activities are therefore inclusive and focused around that. Success on the international stage as a junior and than as an adult ultimately is down to the drive of the individual. We are of course proud of our juniors who have gone on as adults and made it to that stage: Ewan McCarthy, Ali McLeod and Jo Shepherd - as long as they keep smiling!