The Canadian Orienteering Federation (COF) and the High Performance Committee (HPC)  is pleased to announce Brent Langbakk of Whitehorse, Yukon, as the new coach of the Junior National Orienteering Team. Brent is a certified NCCP Level 3 coach and is also currently the head coach of the Yukon Orienteering Team. As testament to Brent’s success, in 2011 there were 7 Yukon athletes in the Canadian High Performance Program and Yukon athletes won 38 medals at the 2011 Canadian Championships. In 2010, Brent was awarded Coach of the Year by Sport Yukon. Brent was also one of three coaches involved in the 2011 National Summer Training Centre in Whitehorse and has served as the Athletes’ Representative on the COF Board. In this role he also served as the Chair of the High Performance Committee. Previously to his work as a coach, Brent had a long and impressive elite career himself as he represented Canada as an athlete at 5 World Orienteering Championships.

Canada recently has had only one National Team Coach, Magnus Johansson, who has been responsible for both senior and junior athletes. By creating the Junior National Team Coach position it will allow the two coaches to spend more time interacting with athletes. In particular the junior and senior athletes will now work with the same coach/team leader who will accompany them to the Junior World Orienteering Championships or World Orienteering Championships.

As well as leading the team to international events, such as the Junior World Championships, Brent will be responsible for the guidance and monitoring of junior HPP athletes throughout the year. He will work closely with Senior National Team Coach Magnus to ensure athletes can transition to the senior ranks smoothly and to resolve issues common to both teams. In addition, Brent will continue to be a member of and also report to the High Performance Committee.

“I am honoured to be given this opportunity. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly” explains Brent. “There is some momentum behind the High Performance Program now and junior development is key if we are to keep the momentum going. Canada has a talented crop of juniors who I am really looking forward to working with.”

“Having two national team coaches is a great step forward for high performance orienteering in Canada,” says Charlotte MacNaughton, COF Executive Director. “Brent is certainly well qualified for the role of junior national team coach and we are thrilled to have Brent joining Magnus in working closely with our elite orienteers.”

Brent Langbakk’s term as the Athletes’ Representative is now over. Brent is pleased to announce that Patrick Goeres will be taking over as the new Athletes’ Representative.

As a reminder, the Athletes’ Representative serves several important functions within the COF:
• sits as a full voting member on the COF Board
• attends the annual AthletesCAN Forum
• is a member of the High Performance Committee
• represents the national team athletes and acts on their behalf in the above venues

The Athletes’ Rep has to have been a senior National Team member in the last 8 years. The current junior and senior national teams elect an individual to fill the position. Back in January, the High Performance Committee called for nominations. No nominations were received so the High Performance Committee was left with the task of finding someone to fill this role.

Thank you Patrick Goeres for taking on the role as the new Athletes’ Representative. As well as being a long-standing member of the National Team, Patrick has already taken on several leadership roles. He has been a member of the High Performance Committee since its inception a couple of years ago so he is already familiar with much of what the role of Athletes’ Rep entails. Patrick’s term will be for two years until the 2013 AGM.

Hello from Aix-les-Baines in the glorious French Alps, where hundreds of the world’s best orienteers have gathered to fight for the title of World Champion in the Long, Middle, Sprint and Relay events. Over fifty countries are represented, which is a new record. Also there are almost 4,000 spectators who will be cheering their favourites and also competing amongst themselves in the “public races”.

Pre-event racing in adjacent terrain has shown that Thierry Gueorgiou (FRA) will be favourite in the men’s race, having won the test races by massive margins. But perhaps the others have adapted to the terrain and will be able to challenge for the Golds. It will be very exciting. In the women’s races Simone Nigili the perennial favourite is taking a year off, so maybe it will be a chance for Marianne Andersen (NOR) or Minna Kauppi (FIN) to do well. But there is a lot of racing to be done before we will find out who is the best in 2011.

What can we hope for from the Canadian Team? The team’s major goal is to have at least one top-16 finish in any of the finals or in the relays. This is a very ambitious goal, with perhaps the best chance being in the women’s relay on the final day of competition. We also hope to see some number of finalists, perhaps most likely in the sprint and middle races. We have three first-time WOC competitors looking to gain some valuable experience: Damian, Emily, and Robbie. And as always, there will be the fight for North American bragging rights – with the Canadian team looking for revenge after having lost out to the American’s in the 2010 BK Cup at the NAOCs.

Saturday afternoon is the Long distance qualification race. There will be three heats and the top 15 runners in each heat will advance to the final which is held later in the week. Canada is represented tomorrow by the following five (shown with their start times):
12:00 Carol Ross
12:42 Louise Oram
13:28 Damian Konotopetz
14:16 Will Critchley
14:37 Wil Smith

Other members of Team Canada, awaiting their turn to race are:
Emily Kemp
Patrick Goeres
Robbie Anderson
Mike Smith

Team Officials: Magnus Johansson, Andrea Balakova and  Ross Burnett

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION:

• Read the Team Canada blog
• Adrian Zissos will be tweeting away all through WOC – you can follow for up to the second updates – follow the COF on Twitter @OrienteeringCan
• Check the COF’s facebook page (you don’t need a facebook account to read this page)

• Check for live results and GPS tracking (in the finals only probably) at www.woc2011.fr
• Check the discussions on Attackpoint
• Get the latest gossip and comments from around the world at www.worldOfO.com (a good place to start, with links to live links and also to a runner database)

HOW TO SUPPORT THE TEAM

• Read the Team Canada blog and post comments. These comments have a huge impact on team moral – they want to hear from you!!
• Have a WOC party! The Sprint in particular should be great to watch live. Get a big screen, call over some orienteering friends, and have a morning coffee while cheering on the Canadians
• You can also post comments and good luck messages on the athletes’ profile pages:
  Carol Ross, Emily Kemp, Louise Oram
  Damian Konotopetz, Mike Smith, Patrick Goeres, Robbie Anderson, Will Critchley, Wil Smith

The 2011 Junior World Orienteering Championships get underway this weekend in Wejherowo, Poland.

TEAM CANADA 2011 includes:

• Graham Ereaux (NB)
• Lee Hawkings (Yukon)
• Graeme Rennie (BC)
• Emily Kemp (ON)
• Molly Kemp (ON)
• Kendra Murray (Yukon)
• Tori Owen (AB)
• Emily Ross (NB)
• Team leader: Randy Kemp
  On-site coach: Carol Ross
  National team coach: Magnus Johansson

The team has been in Poland for the last week getting in some good training. Visit the TEAM CANADA blog at: teamcanadaorienteering.blogspot.com to read the latest news from the team.

The JWOC (www.jwoc2011.pl) competition schedule:

• 3.07.2011 – Sunday – Sprint 14:00
• 4.07.2011 – Monday – Long 9:00
• 6.07.2011 – Wednesday – Middle Qualification 10:00
• 7.07.2011 – Thursday – Middle Final 10:00
• 8.07.2011 – Friday – Relay 10:00, closing ceremony 19:00

How can you support the team?

• Leave your good wishes in the comment section on their profile pages on the COF web site (follow the links on the list above)
• Visit the team on the TEAM CANADA blog and leave your message in the comments section