Garingal life member and Sydney Summer Series founder/organiser Ross Barr is the ONSW Volunteer of the Year for 2020.
This is a fitting award as Ross celebrates the 30th year of the SSS, arguably the greatest local innovation in orienteering.
He has led the series since its conception as visionary, chief organiser and mentor (to course setters, organisers, competitors), not to mention feature reporter (in the weekly SSS blog where his exceptional prose and knowledge of the fine arts shine through).
Ross has also been a mapper and course setter for Garingal for many years, including for national events. He also writes periodically for The Australian Orienteer magazine on various topics.
This award makes it a neat handful of major ONSW awards: he received the President’s Award in 1996 and the Encouragement Award in 2006, and was twice named Course Setter of the Year (2015 and 2011). At a national level he was awarded the David Hogg Medal for Services to Orienteering in 2013.
Ross has also been recognised outside of orienteering, being named the Sport NSW Community Sport Administrator in 2016. He is a volunteer extraordinaire.
ONSW President's Award goes to Carol Jacobson
Garingal "Jill-of-all-trades" Carol Jacobson is a thoroughly deserved winner of the NSW President's Award for 2020.
Carol's professional academic career in cartography makes her a natural to be Garingal's main mapping officer. Add in writing event organiser manuals, compiling the club's roster of helpers, making new maps, looking after SI from time to time, and setting summer series courses - and you've got a much loved member who gives everything to the sport.
Carol is also a Level 2 Controller and often takes on club members who are novice planners to nurture them so that they learn and enjoy the experience.
She first joined the Garingal committee in January 2000 and has served in various important roles ever since - a period of 20 years – including president, vice-president and events organiser.
A simply monumental contribution to orienteering.
Congratulations Carol.
ONSW Rookie's Award goes to Cooper Horley
Garingal tyro Cooper Horley has added the 2020 NSW Rookie of the Year award to his rapidly expanding orienteering resume.
In 2019 he was a member of the triumphant NSW schools team that won the national title for the first time in 17 years.
And Cooper last year won the individual medal in Division 2 of the Sydney Metro League, running Hard courses despite being only in Year 8 and his second year in the sport.
This summer he has been regularly finishing in the top 10 scorers each week in the Sydney Summer Series, showing some serious speed and skill.
Congratulations Cooper!
Our club treasurer Istvan Kertesz swept all three Open 3 class races at the ACT MTBO-champs at the weekend.
Not yet old enough for M40 and not wanting to compete against the elites in M21, Istvan took out the Sprint, Middle and Long in warm conditions at Kowen Forest.
Partner Nikolett Halmai also rode in Open 3 on the Saturday, finishing second in the Sprint and third in the Middle. On Sunday she won Open 4 in the Long.
"It was our first solely MTBO event," said Istvan. "It was Niki's idea to go as she cannot run at the moment due to injury."
"I was always fond of the DuO format having attended them from the beginning and always competing in the longest courses. Sometimes this meant that by the end I ran/cycled more than 40km like at Belanglo. Because of this and that we had fun at the DuOs this year we thought to give MTBO a try."
Clare Jessup won the W20 Sprint in her only race of the carnival, while father Ian won Open 5 in the Long after two tough races in M50 on Saturday.
A big thanks to OACT for a lovely weekend. The last MTBO action for 2020 is Newcastle's BOSS event at Neath on Sun Dec 13.
