Lakes Coaching Day 2025 report
A focused group of orienteers gathered at Black Beck on 1st November for a day of technical training supported by the Orienteering Foundation. Despite lower attendance than in previous years, participants made the most of the detailed terrain and expert coaching, with many applying their new skills at LOC’s Cumbrian Galoppen event the following day.
The coaching day brought together groups from Lakeland Orienteering Club (LOC), South Ribble Orienteering Club (SROC), and a dozen individual athletes coached by Derek Allison. The South Lakeland venue offered rich opportunities to train on complex rock and contour features, ideal for sharpening navigation techniques and building confidence.
Derek Allison played a key role in the event’s success - planning control sites, designing courses, and sharing OCAD, course setting files and a risk assessment with group coaches ahead of time. On the day, he delivered tailored coaching to individual participants, helping them make the most of the terrain and their time, while the LOC and SROC groups were led by their respective coaches.
Many attendees went on to compete at LOC’s Cumbrian Galoppen at Wansfell and Skelghyll the following day, where their training was put into practice.
You can read a report here from one of the individual participants - Isabel Berry - on the Borderliners website. Isabel's take home message:
If you want to improve, or refresh any of your orienteering skills, or sense you could be better still at your orienteering, I thoroughly encourage you to take up opportunities to be coached; it’s not just practical, but it’s intrinsically rewarding to discover your own progress, and also very sociable too.
This was one of two Orienteering Foundation-supported coaching days in 2025, the other being hosted by Swansea Bay Orienteering Club (SBOC) at Merthyr Mawr in South Wales. Both events reflect our commitment to supporting skill development and access to high-quality coaching across the UK.
Thanks to Derek and all involved for making the Lakes day a success.