The biggest orienteering competition in the country will be hosted in Sheffield in 2025. It is the only annual international orienteering event in the UK.
Orienteering World Championships take place every two years, with Sprint World Championships held in between, which are set on streets rather than in forests.
South Yorkshire Orienteers (SYO) are one of the most popular orienteering clubs in the UK, with around 300 members and athletes.
Jenny Johnson, coach and athlete at SYO, says: “People think of orienteering as something you do in scouts in groups where you just hike around trying to find something, like a treasure hunt.
“Orienteering can be that, but orienteering the sport has world champions.”
Being close to the Peak District, Sheffield is an ideal location to host orienteering events, says Johnson.
“We move around a lot and try to utilise the little patches of wilderness we have in our city, so it is really nice.”
South Yorkshire Orienteers has an age range of five to 85, proving there are no age limits when competing in orienteering.
“At the British Champs this weekend there was a guy competing in the 95 and over category! He wasn’t from Sheffield, but we do have members who are 85.
“We say that kids have to be around eight or nine to go around on their own.”
The British Orienteering Championships were held near Whitby last weekend, with SYO taking home medals in all junior categories, and the elite women placing second.
South Yorkshire Orienteers want to get more people involved with orienteering, hosting club nights once a week.
“We like to get whole families involved, because it can be quite hard as a junior orienteer when none of your family understand what you’re doing.
“We get them all involved so they can discuss maps over the dinner table!”
Johnson has won orienteering championships herself, and says that she hopes SYO contributes to the success of British orienteers.
“We have so many great kids come through, some of the 15 year olds are doing way more orienteering than I did back in the day. I hope for the future of British orienteering we have some stars come through us.”
The club has around 100 members attend the club nights to orienteer around South Yorkshire.
To get involved with South Yorkshire Orienteering follow: https://www.southyorkshireorienteers.org.uk/