Several junior competitions are held in Scotland each year, as well as competitions throughout the UK in which Scottish junior teams participate.
An annual junior-only inter-club competition traditionally held in central Scotland to encourage participation from all Scottish clubs. It was started as a fundraising event for ScotJOS by Bill and Anne Stevenson in honor of their son Jamie, who is a multiple world championship medalist and also one of our patrons. This is an opportunity for all juniors in the club to participate in the competition with a parade of athletes, commentary and awards.
Scottish junior inter-regional competitions
Individual and relay competitions over a weekend with an overnight stay, usually in a youth hostel. Encouraging participation is an important part of the competition, where juniors represent their region rather than their club. The initial information for each year is transmitted through the clubs.
Overall winners of JIRC 2016
A weekend competition between all junior inter-regional teams in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (12 in total). Regional orienteering associations hold competitions on a rotational system, which means that they take place only in Scotland every 12 years, and in other years our team needs a lot of traveling! The Scottish team is selected by a committee on behalf of Scottish Orienteering, taking into account the results of a series of qualifying events that are announced each year.
Junior Home International
Another weekend competition that is alternately hosted by the 4 home countries (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England). The Scottish team is selected by a committee on behalf of Scottish Orienteering, taking into account the results of a series of qualifying events announced each year. Eligibility criteria include being born in Scotland or to Scottish-born parents, or having lived in Scotland for more than a year.
Scottish Schools Festival
The Scottish Schools Orienteering Festival (SSOF), held on the first Friday of June since 1995, is a competition designed primarily for young orienteers who have been introduced to the sport at school, but all are welcome. In 2024, the 27th Scottish Schools Orienteering Festival will take place at Drumheller Country Park, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, on Friday, June 7.
Scottish Junior Cup
To provide juniors with methods to meet and compete during the COVID pandemic while adhering to a variety of rules, we added a new junior competition in 2021 – the Scottish Junior Cup. It consisted of three events and juniors competed on their normal “Scottish League O” course with “B/S” class options also available for M/W14, 16 and 18. Each Scottish region (East, North and West) will be responsible for organizing one event.
In 2021, the competitions were held in Auchingarrich (West), Tentsmuir (East) and Anagach (North).
In 2022, the Jamie Stevenson Trophy (June 19) and the individual junior competitions (September 4) and SOL6 (October 9) will make up the three rounds of the Scottish Junior Cup.
As things have returned to what we all consider normal since the pandemic, this competition was no longer deemed necessary given other competitive and social opportunities. We are focusing on other ways to bring juniors together, such as the Junior Inter Area competitions described above.