ON THE FIRST DAY OF CRISIS
It would be nice to be able to face the new millennium with optimism where orienteering is concerned, but I find it difficult. I'm afraid that Irish orienteering is in crisis and, what's worse, I'm afraid that most of
us don't realise it.The IOA Development Conference highlighted some of the problems but the conference itself exemplified the problem: all clubs were invited to send at least two delegates, so there should have been at least 60 people there, committed to the future of the sport. How many came? Just twelve.
We are now reaping the harvest of years of neglect of the development of orienteering. Look at the age profile of the sport: in the M/W21 classes (a 14-year age spread) ther numbers are dwindling. Juniors are not coming into the sport in big enough numbers to replace the natural wastage. There are only about 1000 club members in the country. The existing orienteers are getting older, having families, having to devote more time to work or other necessities. What have we done wrong? Has orienteering passed its sell-by date?
Someone said to me at the Development Conference that I was lucky, I had been
involved during the golden age of Irish orienteering, in the late '70's and early '80's, when new clubs were forming, when new maps were being made, when orienteering had caught the public imagination and the orienteers themselves were enthusiastic. In those days I would set out from Dublin to hitch hike to Tipperary or somewhere on a Saturday to run in a competition on Sunday and hitch hike back to Dublin afterwards. How many people are prepared to go to such lengths today? It's easier to sit in front of a TV or computer in the comfort of your home. If you want to exercise, you pay out a few hundred pounds a year and go to a gym to do aerobics, or buy an exercise bike and exercise in front of the TV instead of going out for a spin in the country.It seems to be taken as fact that people are getting lazier, more accustomed to luxury and more selfish with their free time, so this is not a problem which is unique to orienteering: it affects all voluntary activities., but because orienteering has fallen below a certain critical mass it is very susceptible to this. We have to rekindle the enthusiasm of the people. We have to get orienteering back into the schools before it's too late. We have lost a whole generation: we have failed them, in not offering them the same chances we have had to experience this fantastic sport.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel: orienteering is specifically named in the new primary schools curriculum and the tide may turn against the kind of virtual sport we have today, where "sports enthusiasts" sit in front of their TV's with a packet of cigarettes and a six-pack. We need to be leading the way. We need to think of new ways of promoting orienteering. We need to make the sport accessible to people by publicising its existence. We need to put resources into grass-roots orienteering or we won't have an elite squad in a few years time.
It's like the Irish language: people say it would be a shame to let it die; but they want someone else to save it: they're not prepared to make the effort themselves.
So, the year 2000 is a chance for you to make a fresh start. You, yourself: the person reading this. You are the IOA, not some select group in some ivory tower. You are the only one
s who can save Irish orienteering. You. You. You.