Latest ONSW News
Congratulations to the ONSW 2025 Encouragement Award Winner - Matthew Slater (GS)
Throughout the year, Matthew took a very active role in organising orienteering events. He coordinated a Map Run for both the permanent course and the street series in February, was responsible for organising Day 3 of the KB3 event and set up, managed, and ran the orienteering competition for the eight-day Games. Matthew is also a member of the ONSW Events working group. The mapping and technical support contribution by Matthew was also considerable - re-mapping Scots All Saints College for the KB3 event and involvement in creating various base maps. He has also contributed to the Goldseekers club by organising and operating the computer system for events.
Matthew's involvement as a competitor has been extensive, at local, state and national level. Internationally, he also completed in the New Zealand KB3 and at O’Ringen in Sweden. Among his competitive achievements, he finished second in the Orienteer of the Year (OY) M16 division and was selected to represent Australia in the European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC) in Brno, Czech Republic in the M16 category.
Congratulations to the ONSW 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award Winner - Sue Froude (IKO)
Sue has served as IKO club secretary for an exceptionally long period, displaying impressive efficiency in organising club meetings and coordinating club committee members. Course controlling and event management are other areas where Sue volunteers, including controlling Sydney Summer Series events. Sue is also a highly active mapper for IKO, having produced numerous urban maps across Sydney including Surry Hills, Kings Cross, Queens Park, Double Bay and Darling Point, Yarra Bay, La Perouse, The Corridor (Kirrawee), Sutherland, and Bado-Berong Creek (Sans Souci).
Beyond her organisational and mapping efforts, Sue is prolific in managing IKO's Facebook page, being especially active in advertising upcoming events and promoting participation.
Congratulations to the ONSW 2025 Course Setter of the Year Award Winner - Geoff Peel (NC)
The winner of the 2025 Course Setter of the Year Award, by a clear margin, was Geoff Peel for his outstanding work on State League #11 at Salt Ash (Oakvale). The event was expertly overseen by controllers Margaret Peel and Stephen Craig, whose guidance contributed to the event’s success.
Although it has not traditionally been our practice to publish the runners up, last year they were acknowledged, and we have continued that approach here to celebrate the outstanding contributions of our course setters:
- 2nd Place: Tony Woolford - NSW Middle Distance Championships at Glenburnie.
- 3rd Place: Cooper Horley - NSW Sprint Championships at Macquarie University.
- 4th Place: Karen Langen - KB-III Middle Distance at Kahli’s Rocks.
Congratulations to the ONSW 2025 Rookie of the Year Award Winner - Greg Newton (NC)
Greg Newton began his orienteering journey as a teenager, but rediscovered orienteering around two years ago, drawn to its family-friendly environment, outdoor settings and the running aspect. After success in Moderate level courses, Greg has since shown significant improvement - from tackling longer Moderate courses, to Short Hard then A (long) Hard courses. Greg's competitive highlights include 1st place in the 2024 Newcastle Bush Series NOY (Hard Short), 2nd place in the 2024 NSW State League Series (M45AS), 1st place in the 2024 Australian Championships Middle (M35-54AS), 3rd place in the 2024 Australian Championships Long (M45AS) and 2nd place in the M50 category of the 2025 State League.
Greg has thoroughly enjoyed, and greatly benefitted from, attending Junior Training camps with his daughters. These experiences have provided him with valuable skills and learning opportunities, and he has demonstrated a strong willingness to both learn from others and share his own insights.
