National Orienteering Week ~ How did you discover Orienteering?

As part of National Orienteering Week in Canada (NOW), we asked our High Performance Program athletes "How did you discover Orienteering?"

"I started orienteering when I was 8yrs old all thanks to my dad who thought it would be fun all go out as a family together and get lost. After enough of that, though, we caught the bug and I competed in my first COC’s up north in the Yukon in 2004." Emily Kemp

"When I was 5, my brother Eric, my sister Emily, and my dad picked up a pamphlet and decided that we would try an intermediate course. We got completely lost, and ended up falling in love with the sport." Molly Kemp

"After orienteering as a very young child in a hiking backpack with my parents I started orienteering regularly around 1999. My first major event was the 2006 North American Champs when I surprised myself by coming in the middle of the pack in the 17-20 age category (I was 17). I’ve been hooked on competing ever since." Jeff Teutsch

"I have been orienteering my whole life, as both my parents orienteer. I began to train and become competitive around age fifteen." Kerstin Burnett

"I began orienteering (running or biking with my father) at age 9. I picked up orienteering again in 2009." Adam Woods

"I have been involved with orienteering for as long as I can remember, going out with my mom before I could read a map by myself. I would say I started orienteering around the age of 5." Kendra Murray

"When I was 8, my family decided they wanted orienteering to be one of their main sports. We would go on lots of road trips to Ontario and the north east US to compete in events. It was some of those events that got me hooked." Emily Ross

We have orienteering events on all over Canada this week. Check out the NOW website and find out what's going on in your area!

You can follow our High Performance Program athletes as they train and compete throughout the year here on our blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter @OrienteeringCAN