A0040409P

Newsletter Number 94, February 2004

PO Box 3,
Central Park,
3145, Victoria.
61-3-95721784 fax
E-mail: Neil Phillips

IRF Team

President: Neil Phillips
World Rogaining Championships Manager: Gordon Birch
Promotions and Development: vacant
Secretary/Treasurer: Rod Phillips

Czech Republic: Jaroslav Vavra, Miroslav Seidl
Finland: Iiro Kakko
New Zealand: Pete Squires
Canada: Alan Stradeski
United States of America: Eric Smith, Clinton Morse, Bob Reddick
Australia: Rod Phillips, Gordon Birch, John Berwick, Neil Phillips
Founders Representative: Bob Reddick

Observer status
Estonia: Andres Kaar
New Zealand: Michael Wood
Sweden: Lars-Åke Svenk
Russia: German Shestakov, Sergey Yaschenko
China: Jianping Zhang
South Africa: Pieter Mulder
6th WRC: Peg Davis
7th WRC: Andy Mein

President’s Report: 2003

At the start of 2003, the IRF Executive outlined what would be the focus for the IRF for the year. As circulated in January 2003, this read as:

“Some of the major activities for the IRF this year will include:

• regular communication to IRF Members, and to ARA
• 6 th World Rogaining Championships in Arizona in 2004
• site selection for 7 th WRC
• increase the public profile of rogaining
• new Members of IRF
• growing the sport in Australia , and particularly elsewhere
• headquarters building for IRF
• land access issues worldwide
• new strategic plan for rogaining.”

In some of these areas, we have essentially completed the task as defined although follow-up will be critical to success (e.g. select site for 7WRC). In other areas, we have made a start but probably not the progress we expected because of other priorities (e.g. strategic plan).

The greatest focus over the last year has been on governance, communication and transparency, and here we have made substantial changes that will remain as part of the way the IRF operates. For example:

• Every month a summary of the Roles and Responsibilities of the IRF Executive team has been forwarded to Members. This has provided an overview of completed, on-going and foreshadowed tasks.
• Every month a snapshot of topical international rogaining news has been forwarded to Australian rogaining association newsletter editors for inclusion in the newsletters. We have appreciated the strong support from these editors, and the initiative has led to a much greater publicity for, and awareness of, rogaining activities globally.
• IRF Newsletters #84 through #94 inclusive have been circulated to Members and Observers and then been forwarded to our webmaster, Alastair Honeybun who has then made these widely accessible. There have been four further IRF Newsletters permanently capturing results of all World Rogaining Championships.
• The recent Rules change to define our financial year has removed any uncertainty and meant we close our books every 31 December; and the ratification of the Founders Member position came two years after the position was proposed and after Members had time to see the system in action.

The selection process for 7WRC is complete with the New South Wales Rogaining Association being awarded this event in 2006. As we prepare for 7WRC, we are modifying the selection and preparation procedures to improve the quality of each major rogaine and ease the organizational load on local rogaining groups.

Since 6th World Rogaining Championships in 2002, Miroslav Seidl representing the Czech Rogaining Association and Peter Squires representing the New Zealand Rogaining Association have become IRF Members. Pieter Mulder and Sergey Yaschenko have become Observers and bring us closer to rogainers in South Africa and Moscow , Russia , respectively.

Some of the foreshadowed topics of 2003 remain long term issues that weren’t planned for resolution in a single year.

Growth of the sport continues but is focused more on new rogaining areas as opposed to growth of established rogaining associations. For the latter to occur will probably need new models for organizing the sport appropriate for particular circumstances. We’ll investigate one of these successful models in the next Newsletter when north Queensland rogaining turns 10.

Land access remains a critical issue and one that the IRF can highlight but probably needs to leave to local groups to address as they see fit. Sharing successful formulas for this will be part of the role of the IRF.

New Zealand Rogaining Association

There will be a range of events in 2004. Many are in the planning stage and will be announced in due course. See the Event Calendar at http://www.rogaine.org.nz for the events that are planned. The following Rogaines are of immediate interest -

Green Coast New Zealand Rogaine Champs 2004

March 6 & 7th, Wairamarama, Auckland South.

These Championships promise to be a special event in the superb rolling farmland and bush terrain of the Wairamarama / Limestone Downs area. The Championship Rogaine will be for the standard 24 Hour duration.

There are only a few 24hr events available so this is an opportunity for you to indulge. However, for those who prefer shorter events there are non-Championship options - a 16 Hour option ( 9.00pm Saturday to 1.00pm Sunday) and a 6 Hour option ( 7.00am to 1.00pm Sunday). The unique 16 Hour event will allow participants to experience the thrill of night-time rogaining without the exertion of a full 24 Hour event.

Naseby Rogaine – Saturday 13th March, 6 and 12 hrs: This event at Naseby in historic Central Otago is to be run by YODA (Youth Orienteers Dunedin Association) with Bob Cunninghame as the chief organizer. Entries close 28th February .

7th WRC

New South Wales ( Australia ) has indicated the following preliminary date for 7WRC: Friday 6 October and Saturday 7 th October 2006 .