The club warmly welcomes juniors and their families, no matter their age or ability!
Most of our events are suitable for very young children. If you go to one of our park-based summer Wednesday Evening Event (WEE), choose the short course which has easy navigation and is around two kilometres long. At a forest or mountain event, choose a white or yellow course. If a family or group want to go around a course together, all you need to do is pay for one entry i.e. one map.
Familes and juniors are very welcome to come along to our monthly Club Meets, which are held every second Saturday of the Month. This is a time when all Club Members, young and old, fast and slow, elite and amateur, meet in one of our many mapped areas for orienteering coaching. Groups are divided up according to orienteering ability. There is also a chance to hang out and socialise afterwards over a packed lunch.
From age 7+, juniors can come along to our Running Wild sessions. These take place on the last Sunday of the month in Tollymore. Running Wild are coaching sessions as opposed to events, designed to teach the basics of orienteering in a family-friendly, fun way.
Children aged 7+ might want to start to go on courses on their own. At Championship events, they can win prizes by competing in the under 10s (M/W10), under 12s (M/W12) or under 14 (M/W14) categories. At Colour Series or Club events, they can run yellow, orange or light green. At WEEs, they might run a short course on their own or be ‘shadowed’ by an adult on the long course. Remember that all children can be shadowed by an adult until they feel ready to go out alone.
From age 14+, juniors can join our Lagan Valley Orienteers (LVO) Junior Squad. The squad takes part in a variety of orienteering competitions and coaching opportunities throughout Ireland and the UK. You need to be orienteering at Technical Difficulty Level 4 (TD4) and a member of LVO to join.