CompassSport Cup Final 2015 2

Forth Valley Orienteers passed a major membership milestone this week, as the 200th athlete signed up for the blue and yellow army.

With confirmation of the signing of former England junior international Laura Hindle from Manchester & District OC, the magic 200 figure has been broken for the first time, and FVO president Trevor Hoey commented "This is great news; it's uncommon for a Scottish club to have such a strong membership profile, and it's credit to our membership team to get so many top quality athletes signed up.

"We've been fortunate to secure funding from a variety of sources to actively promote our activities, and it's important to show that we're making positive progress in this direction. We have (GB sprint star) Chris Smithard working with us as club development officer, and what he's doing is immeasurable in terms of raising our profile, but everyone associated with the club is making a big contribution to making what we do the best it can be."

A recent announcement from Scottish Orienteering has highlighted a new membership option for 2018, which may further enhance the numbers committing to run for Forth Valley in 2018. An option to register for membership of a club and Scottish Orienteering has been rolled out, and full details of the changes, and the benefits of membership are available on the Scottish Orienteering website

The effective difference between the club+SOA package as opposed to the full club/SOA/BOF membership deal previously offered is that club+SOA members are ineligible for selection to the Great Britain representative teams, and don't enjoy preferential entry rates (nor can win trophies) at the British Championships or Jan Kjellstrom International Festival.

The new membership package is best suited to athletes who do most of their orienteering at a local level, and at just £18 for adults, including club membership, and a paltry £8 for juniors (U20) or full-time students, it pays for itself in discounted event entry rates after just a few events.

Further information on the specific benefits of membership of FVO (and there are several) can be had from our membership secretary Jen, who can be contacted by email, or by coming along to one of our events and having a chat with our friendly team of greeters. Go on, you know it makes sense!