ABOUT SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS ORIENTEERS
Southern Highlands Orienteers (SHOO) promotes orienteering across the Southern Highlands, Macarthur and Liverpool regions of New South Wales, Australia. We hold a range of events across the year, ranging from urban sprints to middle-distance bush events featuring technical navigation.
We are a friendly club with a focus on beginners and development, and we are growing quickly. We have a large number of high-quality orienteering maps covering schools, suburbs. bushland and other interesting places across our district.
SHOO is an incorporated not-for-profit organisation, and all of our events are run by volunteers.
SHOO’s COMMITTEE
SHOO has a volunteer committee that support the strategy and governance of the club. Most of the mapping, development and event coordination is also carried out by the committee, making us a busy but committed group. The committee members are:
President - Garry Stewart
Vice President (mapping) - Stephan Wagner
Vice President (events) - Robert Spry
Secretary - Sandra Stewart
Treasurer - Sue Davis
Public Officer - Peter Meyer
Communication Officer - Dean Williamson
Club Point Score Compiler - Garry Stewart
Association Delegates - Lyn Malmgron & Robert Spry (Peter Meyer - reserve)
Equipment Officer - Peter Meyer
Development Officer - Lyn Malmgron
Technology Officer - Garry Stewart
Club Coaches - Lyn Malmgron, Neville Fathers & Sue Davis
A Brief history of shoo
The Southern Highlands region contains some of the best orienteering country in NSW. However, the region didn’t have a Club until 1986 when ex-Waggaroos, the Davis family, moved into the area. On 9 August, 1986 a meeting was held at the Surveyor General Inn in Berrima, where interested locals and representatives of OANSW discussed the possibility of forming a club.
Within two weeks, on 19 August, the first real meeting of the yet unnamed club was held. At this meeting a simple constitution was discussed and office bearers were elected until the end of 1987.
September 1986 saw the club's first minor event held at Belanglo Creek. A small roll-up did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the club's few members and they decided to press on.
The club name was decided upon late in 1986. The final choice was between Mittagong Occasional Orienteers (MOO), with a cow as the symbol, and Southern Highlands Occasional Orienteers (SHOO) with the now familiar jogging shoe as the symbol. In the end the choice was quite simple - who wants to orienteer like a cow?
As the Davis' were the only experienced orienteers in the club, almost all club events in 1987 were organised by that family. By 1988, though, other members were deeply involved and the load on the Davis family lessened. By this stage two more ex-Waggaroos. Sandra Stewart (Giles) and Mal Hughes, had moved into the area, bolstering the experience of the club.
1988 also saw SHOO's first NSW event - the Southern Highlands Championships held at Penrose (Burnt Cottage Ridge). Guest setter, Bruce Graham, and controller, Dave Lotty, ensured a measure of success for the event which has since been run almost exclusively by SHOO.
SHOO have always tried to spread the good news about orienteering. Come-and-try events have been regularly organised. Two such events are somewhat unique. The Berrima and District Vintage Car Club and the Berrima and District Pony Club have both utilised our expertise in organising O courses for their clubs. While the former group were reluctant to drive their precious vehicles into the bush and decided on a more traditional on-foot approach, the latter club embarked on Equine-0 courses, using tracks to complete courses of various lengths on horse back.
1989 also saw the introduction of the club's distinctive yellow and blue track suits, along with the woven club badge.
The crowning glory for our young club came in 1991 when Michael Davis became our first Australian representative by being chosen in the team to tour New Zealand in May of that year. Michael went on to become a member of the National Junior Squad. A number of SHOO juniors have since followed in Michael’s footsteps, including Glenn, Shannon, David and Ian Meyer, Wendy and Cathy Stimson, and Deanna and Geoffrey Davis. SHOO continues to have Club members competing at state and national levels.
In 1996 Southern Highlands Occasional Orienteers merged with Scrub Runners, a club which was founded in 1984 covering Liverpool and Holsworthy through to Bankstown.
Being a club full of teachers and students, schools orienteering has played a major role in our club's development. Members of SHOO instigated the Metropolitan South West Regional Schools Orienteering Gala Day in 1990, and these schools competitions have been duplicated in other areas.