Co-funded by the EU under the ERASMUS+ SPORT programme, the project will provide a unique opportunity to promote best practice in children’s orienteering education and give them the chance to experience sporting activities abroad.
CIVATE (ITALY) – From Latvia to Spain, from Belgium to Romania, from Poland to Italy: six European orienteering clubs have joined forces to create the project “ORI-YOEU – Orienteering for kids and young athletes in the EU”, recently co-funded by the European Union’s ERASMUS SPORT initiative with a grant of € 60,000.
The aim of ORI-YOEU is to create a trans-national network of trainers across the EU who will share their personal experiences on how to coach young children: kids from 6 years old (the age at which they start to have their first experiences with a map and a compass) up to girls and boys aged 14.
The six teams are: the Club Orientación de Malaga from Spain, the Asociația Clubul Sportiv Mentor Silva from Bucharest (Romania), the Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Wawel from Krakow (Poland), the Sporta Un Atputas Apvieniba Magnets from Riga (Latvia), the Hamok team from Ham, Belgium, and the Associazione Nirvana Verde from Civate (Italy), the project coordinator.
“We felt the need to fill a gap in our sport, where there are already initiatives for the exchange of good training practices for adults, but structured networks for coaches of younger children are almost completely absent. Through this project, coaches will have the opportunity to collaborate and benefit from international best practices”, said Andrea Gianotti, the project coordinator.
A key part of ORI-YOEU is the validation of the training methods, which will also take place in at least six international training camps. Thanks to co-funding from the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ SPORT programme, which will cover part of the project’s costs, around 150 coaches and young athletes will also have the opportunity to experience this international exchange first-hand, for many of them even with a stay abroad.
“We are extremely excited about the possibility of upcoming international cooperation. We hope that thanks to this year’s Erasmus+ project, we will be able to create the foundations of long-term sports cooperation.“, said Michał Garbacik, project leader for team WOJSKOWY KLUB SPORTOWY “Wawel”.
Inclusion, environmental education, gender equality, equal opportunities and promotion of the European Union will be the core values of the project, which started in January 2023 and will end in March 2024 after a full 15 months of activities.
What is Orienteering
Orienteering is a sport that involves reaching control points marked on a detailed map in the shortest possible time and in the correct order. The route to the next point, aided only by a compass, is free, and is chosen by the competitor. The winner is the one who completes the route in the shortest time and without making any mistakes.
Practised in Sweden at the beginning of the last century, orienteering is played throughout Europe by tens of thousands of athletes of all ages. As well as running, the most common orienteering discipline, it is also practised on mountain bikes and, in winter, on cross-country skis.
One special discipline, Trail-O (also known as precision orienteering) allows disabled athletes to compete on an equal footing with able-bodied athletes where the winner is the one who recognises the most objects and the moving time is not a factor.
Logo
The ORI-YOEU logo was created by visual designer Chiara Magni, ORI-YOEU’s communication manager. The young professional from Lecco (Italy) wanted to represent the six teams by means of minimalist silhouettes that are brought to life by contour lines, a typical and distinctive element of an orienteering map.
The teams are also represented by the international symbols of the sport, in bright and playful colours. These are the different souls of the European Union playing together to promote our common values.
The ORI-YOEU lettering, on the other hand, winks at the youngest European orienteers, whose sporting and human growth the project aims to promote. Within the symbol, the orange touch reminds the control flag, which is the object that marks the control points on the ground during an orienteering race.
Website and social media
The project website is www.oriyo.eu and will be continuously updated with news and training materials from March 2023 (when the outdoor activities start).
@oriyoeu are the handles for social media accounts, starting with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok (with more will follow), where contents and updates about the project will be shared.
Disclaimer
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
