There are many ways you can help!

Orienteering Ottawa is a non-profit sports club managed and financed through the volunteer efforts of its members.  It's thanks to the many club volunteers that we can all enjoy the fabulous events and programs on offer in the Ottawa area.  

People volunteer for a variety of reasons.  A need to give back to the community, the camaraderie involved, the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment in mapping or course setting, the desire to improve your orienteering skills by looking at the sport from the other side.  Whatever your interest we are always welcoming new volunteers.  

There are lots of ways to get involved.  Some of these roles require a certain level of orienteering experience but many do not.  Some require only limited time commitment (such as helping pick up controls at one or two events or assisting at a special event) while others require a more consistent donation of time and energy (such as serving on a committee, the board or being a member of a team such as Timing).

How Can You Help?

There are many ways you can help - one day at a time or making a commitment to help for a season.

No Experience Necessary :

 

Registration : Our registration volunteers help out at one or two events a year. You can still run in the event once the registration window has closed.  No experience necessary! Contact our registration coordinator.

Collection of controls : If you are an experienced orienteer you might help with picking up controls after an event. (A further run for the day) If you are not so experienced you may also find this a learning experience to find a few controls while not being pressured in a race.  Sometimes the controls can be collected the next day.  That may be an option for you.   Let the event director know your willingness at the meet or email our meet coordinator.

Greeter :  Giving a hand to newcomers.  If you see participants looking a bit lost - offer your help and let them know about our mini clinics.00 We should all be doing this when we see the need.   We also need french-speaking greeters at our Quebec meets.  Contact our volunteer coordinator. 

Delivery of our equipment trailer : Do you have a trailer hitch on your car?  Orienteering is a nomad sport moving home every week.  'Home' needs tents, tables, and much more.  This all arrives each week in a small trailer.  If you could help by delivering or returning the trailer, it would be most appreciated.  The trailer can be stored at your home and returned the next week or stored at a member's home that is quite central in Ottawa. Contact our meet coordinator if you can help out.

Journalism :  Write an article for the club web-based newsletter on your orienteering experiences.  Maybe you have travelled and orienteered in interesting terrain.  Submit it to our webmaster in your language of choice.

Publicity/ social media :  Helping to distribute pamphlets, contacting or writing articles for media, spreading the word through Facebook, and local publications.  Our news emails are handled through Mailchimp. They are published before each event and additionally at the beginning of each season and before our AGM. If any of this is an area you would like to help with contact our publicity committee.

Event set-up/take-down :  Our meets are held in a different location each week.  We have to build our facility - tents, tables, computer setup, banners - the works.   And later they all have to be stored away again.  Come early or stay late.  It only takes 10 minutes and extra hands are always welcome.  No need to advise ahead of time - just lend your hand. 

Help at major events :  Once a year we hold a 'major' event inviting orienteers from near and far to join us. We need many hands on deck for set-up and take-down of tents and other equipment, for serving refreshments, parking control, for planning awards ceremonies, for start and finish crews. A 1-2 day commitment. Contact our volunteer coordinator.

Our Outreach program :  This program reaches out to the community, schools and corporate entities. Are you available daytime on weekdays? Share your love of the sport with these folks. Another rewarding way to share one day at a time.  Contact our OutReach coordinator

Our Youth Program :  For 7-8 weeks spring and fall, one night a week, our youth program gives youngsters the tools to get into the outdoors safely and confidently. You can be part of that program as a coach, assistant coach or administrative help.  Contact our Programs coordinator to offer your help.  You could also help with the adult learn-to program which is held at the same time.

Writing Grant Applications :  There are grants to be found but it takes some research and careful writing to apply for them.  Is this one of your many strengths?  Contact our volunteer coordinator.

Equipment manager : Our club's equipment includes tents and tables, controls and flags, timing chips and compasses, and much more.  We often need to share these resources, passing things from person to person as needed.  We need an equipment manager to keep track of where the equipment is, who has it and who needs it, identifying what needs replacing or updating; deciding if we need more.  Contact our volunteer coordinator.

Intermediate/Advanced Orienteering Skills Necessary :

Mapping :  This is a task that requires a certain amount of experience and attention to detail.  Making orienteering maps can be very rewarding and offers the opportunity to spend many tranquil hours in the woods.  Though our maps are kept up to date through our volunteers this is something that can lead to paid work.  You don't need to be an advanced orienteer but a certain comfort level with computers and compasses is needed. Watch for announcements on clinics.  Email our mapping committee to indicate your interest. 

Coaching : Coaching with our various training programs can be rewarding and fun. Our Coaching Certification coach will announce Community Coach Workshops which provide formal training and certification (more details below).  Let our certification coach know if you might be interested.

Mini-Clinic : On a more structured basis, we offer a mini-clinic at most events.  This takes 15 minutes before your run to share the basics of orienteering with our new-comers.  We have a basic instruction sheet to follow.  Contact our volunteer coordinator.

Course Setting/Meet Directors : This can be very rewarding and will improve your orienteering as well.  We offer certification courses once or twice a year for those who want to get started setting courses (more details below).  You can also email our meet coordinator to indicate your interest.

Other Areas of Knowledge Necessary :

Club Bookkeeping : OOC operates as a non-profit corporation.  The club’s financial books and records are maintained in Quickbooks, with budgets and financial statements prepared and provided to the Club Treasurer for presentation to the Board at least annually. The club bookkeeper will record revenue from our variety of sources (meets, training, learn-to programs, grants, outreach, etc.) and record expenses incurred to run the club. Additional duties include monthly bank reconciliation, processing reimbursements to club members that incur club expenses and filing of T4s, T4As, HST and annual tax returns. This role can be performed by one individual or shared, given that our Quickbooks data resides on-line. Volunteers require only rudimentary accounting experience for most bookkeeping functions. More accounting experience may be required for filing of tax returns. Contact: treasurer@ottawaoc.ca

Financial Reviewer :  Once per year, in late December or early January, we require a few hours of volunteer work by a member (who is not the Club Treasurer or a Club Bookkeeper) to perform a file review of our annual accounting records. This is a governance function, whereby, the Reviewer will check accounting transactions and bank statements against source documents. The goal is for the Reviewer to provide a view on whether the books and records of the club have been fairly and properly maintained. Volunteers for this role require some level of accounting experience and, preferably, knowledge of Quickbooks. Contact treasurer@ottawaoc.ca

French translation : - We would like to provide more of our club notices and documents in french and reach the french media. For major meets we like to produce the entry form and bulletin in french as well. Contact our volunteer coordinator.

Website maintenance, design, photography :  Your creative and technological strengths can be well put to use here. Our website is always in need of refreshment and updating. More photographs would really freshen it up.  Whether you are experienced at these skills or interested in learning, your help would be welcomed. Contact web@ottawaoc.ca.  

SI (Sport Ident) and Timing : Help setup and run the timing hardware and software at our meets.  This is the system that records each participant's race time and displays the race results. You will be paired with an experienced member of the Timing Team who will train you at the meet.  You should be comfortable with technology. You would help at the beginning of the meet and then take part, or, optionally, take part and then meet folks at the download. You will help at a few meets per year.  Contact our SI team

We always welcome help with the above tasks and will provide any training or coaching needed.

Have you a particular skill set not mentioned above that you feel might be of help? Let us know.

Email our volunteer coordinator and let us know of your interest. We will get back to you.

Orienteering Ottawa is a volunteer led club with a large volunteer base of both experienced and inexperienced orienteeers.  To keep the club running efficiently and effectively, there are a few paid contract positions, including a Program Coordinator, an Outreach Coordinator, and some mapping projects.  In addition, from time to time, some specific roles requiring a level of experience and expertise may be offered an honorarium.

General Clinic Information

Community Coach Workshop

These workshops were introduced in 2008 to provide formal training to new coaches in our sport. With the financial and administrative support of the Coaching Association of Canada, Canadian orienteers developed the reference material and the process for the delivery of the CC workshop. It is based on the New Coach Certification Program (NCCP) model that virtually all other sports are following. 

For more detailed information about the workshop and the NCCP visit the Get Coaching Page on the Orienteering Canada website.

 Everyone with an interest in coaching and with intermediate-level skills is welcome to join the workshop. The official minimum age for training is 16 but younger coaches are welcome to participate.

More than 200 orienteers across Canada (Nova Scotia to the Yukon) have attended the Community Coach workshops over the last 16 years as we continue to grow our national coaching resources. 

The Coaching Association of Canada also provides a wide range of non-sport specific (multi-sport) courses, such as Make Ethical Decisions and Planning a Practice, to compliment the sport-specific workshops.

Meet Director's clinics

Anyone who is interested in learning more about setting orienteering courses and contributing to the success of Orienteering Ottawa by putting on events for club members is encouraged to start by completing the O100 course. What is that you say? In Canada there is a system for educating and certifying event officials, namely course planners, controllers and meet directors. O100 is the first level of learning and certification for new officials. Those with O100 certification are qualified to organize small local events with one or two courses, for example a Summer Solstice score-o or a summer sprint event.  The O100 course has two parts, theory and practicum. The theory part involves reading a 42 page manual and then passing a short open-book test with questions drawn from the manual. The practicum involves collaborating with a more experienced official to organize a small orienteering event for club members.

The O100 course materials (manual and test) can be downloaded from the Orienteering Canada Website here. Part way down the page under the heading "Materials for Course Participants" is a taupe drop-down box labelled O100. Clicking on the plus sign on the right side of the grey box will reveal the links to download the manual and the test.  If you have any questions about this process you can direct them to officials@ottawaoc.ca.  If you have any questions about this process you an direct them to ffils@ottawaoc.ca. 

 Send your completed test to officials@ottawaoc.ca and someone will grade your answers and let you know that you have passed. The next step is for our events coordinator to identify a suitable open slot in our event calendar for your event, and link you up with a more experienced official who will assist you with setting courses and organizing the event.

 When you are ready to help organize larger events with more courses, you can move up to the O200 course. Being a meet director can be very rewarding and will improve your orienteering skill as well. We have certification courses - just email us to indicate your interest.

The O200 course will teach you how to run and set courses for our Spring and Fall Sunday Morning Series.
The O300 course will teach you how to organize, set course for and control Canada Cup events including the Canadian Championships.

Prerequisites for the O100 course are:

• to have participated in at least seven (7) orienteering events AND
• volunteered in any capacity at two or more events (registrar, setting out or collecting controls, running the SI system, or in any other capacity).

Prerequisites for the O200 course are (all of the following):

• to have acted as an official in at least one C-meet (our Summer Solstice or other informal events),
• participated in an Orienteering Canada B-meet (our Spring and Fall Sunday morning events)
• participated in a “Canada Cup” event (such as O-Fest) in your age class
• be qualified as an O100 official.

Prerequisites for the O300 course are (all of the following):

• Acted as an Event Director or Course Planner for a B event
• Participated in 2 Canada Cup events
• Served as a volunteer at 2 Canada Cup events in any capacity