2012 Rising Star Award Winners Announced!

The Canadian Orienteering Federation’s (COF’s) High Performance Committee (HPC) is pleased to announce the 2012 Rising Star Award recipients. The Rising Star Award is an annual award designed to support Canada’s most promising young orienteers in their quest for top international results. The nominees are assessed on past results, future potential, and contribution to the orienteering community, as well as financial need.

Our female recipient this year is Louise Oram of Vancouver, BC. Louise started orienteering at the age of 12, and has been one of Canada’s top female orienteers ever since. A key member of the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club, Louise organized the BC Orienteering Championships in 2009, and took on the role of course planner for the Western Canadian Orienteering Championships in 2010. Louise is committed to the development of orienteering in Canada, having planned and assisted at local and national training camps for children and adults. Louise is currently the Canadian Champion in the Middle and Long distances. Her solid run for the women’s relay team at the 2011 World Orienteering Championships assisted in the teams outstanding 12th place finish.

The male rising star for 2012 is Eric Kemp from Ottawa, ON. Eric is certainly a rising star on the Canadian orienteering scene. His race results have improved consistently, cumulating in a number of top 3 place finishes in North American races in 2011, highlighted by 2nd place in the long distance at the US Individual Championships, and 3rd place in the middle distance at the Western Canadian Orienteering Championships. Eric is highly involved with the Ottawa Orienteering Club. He has organized many training and race events, and is currently developing a local junior training program. Eric is a member of the High Performance Committee (HPC), and organized a key fundraising event for the HPC in 2012.

On hearing the announcement, Eric said “I am sincerely grateful to receive this award. A huge thank you to the many folks across Canada who have helped me pursue this great sport! May my actions speak louder than my words.” Louise was also thankful, saying “I’m grateful for the support. I’m still training hard, and believe my best results are still ahead of me.”

Former national team members and long time orienteering volunteers Kitty Jones from Calgary, Brent Langbakk from Whitehorse and Hans Fransson from Hamilton were the selection committee members.

You can follow Louise and Eric as they compete in the 2012 orienteering season on Louise's athlete profile, Eric's athlete profile, on Facebook, and on Twitter.