Orienteering Competitions within SEOA

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SEOA currently overseas the following competitions

SE League - an interclub competition based on the old regional type events
SE Individual League - an individual league based on the same events as above
SE Sprint Championships
SE Middle Championships
SE Long Distance Championships
SE Night Championships
SE Score Championships
SE Relay Championships

The following regional competitions are run by clubs/individuals

GLOSS (was Frolics)
Kent Night Cup
SE Veterans Championships
SE Family Competition
The Peter Burt Trophy

Other clubs award particular trophies etc usually based on individual events eg

SN Trophy
SAXONS senior and junior shields
OK Nuts Trophies
OO Trophies

The British Orienteering event structure currently consists of four levels:

Local events - put on by clubs for a predominantly local audience
Regional events - put on by clubs for an intended regional audience
National events - aimed at competitors from even further afield
Major events - British championships, JK, area championships, CSC final

The difference between National and Regional is that higher minimum event quality criteria exist for National. Ranking points can be awarded at both Regional and National events (and Major events of course).

National events are co-ordinated by a national committee who ensure that these quality criteria are met and will prevent two National events taking place too close together on the same day.

Regional events are overseen by SEOA and all events that host an SEOA competition should be at least a Regional.

The structure of SEOA competitions

The latter two categories of competitions are not with SEOA's remit but clubs are encouraged to continue running them.

The eight SEOA competitions will be overseen by the association and clubs wishing to host these competitions at their events should be expected to sign up to certain quality criteria. Below the criteria to be applied to each competition.

Criteria to be applied to all events hosting an SEOA competition:

i) be registered at Regional or National level
ii) use terrain acceptable to SEOA
iii) apply a 12 month embargo to the area being used
iv) appoint an external controller where ever possible
v) provide suitable facilities eg toilets, on the day results display.

vi) Provide a medal awarding ceremony

vii) provide the courses specified in the accompanying guidelines
viii) follow the guidance given in the accompanying guidelines

Awarding of medals/Trophies

Although most, if not all, of the events that host SEOA competitions are open only SEOA members/clubs are eligible to win trophies/medals. In the SEOA this is complicated by the fact that some clubs (eg SN) are affiliated to both SEOA and SCOA. Furthermore various BOF members are primarily members of a closed club from another region (eg BAOC) but are also members of an SEOA open club. The SEOA committee have decided that only BOF members that have SEOA as their primary affiliation will be eligible to compete (either individually or as part of team) for medals/trophies in SEOA competitions.
The one exception to this rule is the SE League where logistical constraints mean that anyone listed for an eligible club will score regardless of whether or not they are SEOA/SCOA/EAOA members.

A consistent policy of awarding medals will be adopted for all SE Championships. This policy has been agreed as:

Competitors will only be eligible for a medal in the age class category that they entered. For example if M45 and M50 (say) share the same course and the winner is an M50 then they shall win only the M50 gold medal. The highest placed M45 shall win the M45 gold medal even if they are beaten by many M50s.

If a competitor runs a course other than that recommended for their age class then they shall still be eligible for a medal assuming that there is an appropriate class associated with the course being run. Where there are several possible classes then they shall automatically be entered into the closest class to their actual age class. For example if a W18 runs a course above that designated for W18 but does host the W20 and W21 classes then that competitor shall automatically be deemed to be entering the W20 class.

If a competitor wants to run up to a particular class then they must inform the organiser of this before the event. For example in the above situation then the W18 would have to inform the organiser if they wanted to compete for the W21 championship.

Eligibility for medals should be made clear in the event details.