The TVOC Junior Squad finished as runners-up in the National Final of the inter-club Yvette Baker Trophy (YBT) for juniors on Saturday 4th July at Penllergaer Valley Woods, in the event hosted by Swansea Bay Orienteering Club. The YBT is the premier inter-club competition for junior teams from larger orienteering clubs in England and Wales. This is the third year out of four that TVOC juniors have come second in the YBT Final, each time beaten by juniors from South Yorkshire Orienteers (SYO), which is the country’s largest club for juniors.
Eleven TVOC juniors (and their families) made the journey west to Swansea to compete on the Yellow, Orange, Light Green and Green courses for the YBT National Final, having successfully qualified in a regional heat in April. Some families decided to make a weekend of it by camping on the Gower; whilst others made the 6-hour trip to/from home on the day of the event.
Penllergaer Valley Woods, on the north-western edge of Swansea, is a large country park, set in a valley with steep sides and a complex path network. It has a mixture of woodland and open land, with lakes, streams and ornate gardens. As usual at this time of year, certain sections of the park were very overgrown and the vegetation rough, which certainly affected route choice on various legs on the longer courses (and even affected a direct path on the Orange course, causing competitors to turn back and find an alternative route).
All credit goes to our juniors for keeping focused and not being unduly distracted by undergrowth, blocked paths, and the fact that there were championship-style timed starts for the YBT competition (i.e. not a punching start), even though in the Final Details document it had said that it was a punching start! The morning open event had a start box; so parents who had done the open event were expecting to see a start box in the afternoon for the YBT when taking their children to the start, but there wasn’t one!
TVOC had 11 starters and 11 valid finishes, so no mispunches and no DNFs – this was absolutely key to our success. SYO had 28 competitors, so were well out in front, but our other rivals struggled and couldn’t manage to get full teams of 9 valid finishers. The accuracy and consistency of our juniors was brilliant. We may not have had the fastest individuals, but actually getting over the line without mispunching is so critical in a team event like the YBT.
For four of our juniors this was the first time competing in a YBT Final, so thank you to them for taking the plunge and having a go. A special mention goes to Emilia, who won the Yellow course for girls.
Big thanks go to all juniors (and their parents) for your support; and thanks to everyone who also competed in the qualifying round in April – you’ve made this possible. And thanks also to TVOC for the support the club has given the Junior Squad.
[Photos taken by Paul Taylor]