World of O News
– We are proud that even with half of the budget we still manage our goals, Sweden’s Head Coach Susanne Wiklund Björk explained at the International Orienteering Coach Conference in Faak am See, Austria.
Since 2011 the budget for elite orienteering in Sweden has gone down step by step. – We hope we are at the bottom now, Wiklund Bjørk says. Sweden’s budget of 580.000 Euro/year (all inclusive) for high performance is still the second largest budget of all the orienteering nations based on the information given here in Faak am See.
Even though there have been cuts at the top in Swedish high performance sport, the great system “pumping” new talents towards the national teams from the bottom still work perfectly.
The Swedish sport wonder
– There are 25 paid orienteering coaches in the 11 orienteering gymnasiums, almost all of these coaches are full time employees working only with orienteering, Wiklund Björk explains.
– The sport gymnasiums in Sweden are part of “The Swedish sport wonder” including many different sports, according to the Swedish Head coach. – Orienteering is one of the sports – and this is very important for Swedish orienteering.
There are around 350 pupils between 16 and 20 years old attending the orienteering gymnasiums at any time – an impressive number. In addition to the paid coaches in the orienteering gymnasiums, there are also 8 paid orienteering coaches at 8 different universities. The coaches at both the gymnasiums and universities are paid by schools/regions and not by the orienteering federation – thus this is an immense resource for Swedish orienteering which definitely is very important for the development of talents in Sweden.
– The coaches meet 3-6 days a year, and there is close cooperation between me as Head coach and junior team coach and the coaches in the orienteering gymnasiums and university coaches, Wiklund Björk explains.
Starting at the age of 6
Another impressive number from Sweden is the number of registered orienteers: 75.000. Wiklund Björk is especially proud of 26% of the orienteers being under 16 years old. And it is also interesting to note that most orienteers in Sweden start orienteering already when they are under 6 years old.
– You have to find your way
The athlete development in Sweden is very much built around the individual athlete’s requirement – every athlete is helped to follow their own “best path” to getting the most out of their performance on the most important day – at the World Championships.
– We talk a lot with the juniors about that “you have to get to know yourself”, says Wiklund Bjørk. – How do you function in this special competition [at the JWOC]? The athletes have to get to know themselves to do the right decisions.
It is also very individual how the training is set up. “From 400 to 800 hours a year”, Wiklund Björk says. There are so many factors – the secret is how to do the right thing for you. – It is all about the individual athlete: “You have to find your way”
Mentor function
Some of the experienced runners have been on the junior training camps as mentors for the younger athletes. For example world champions Annika Billstam was at the JWOC pre-camp – and it was perfect for her WOC preparations. Helena Jansson was in Switzerland last week at the JWOC training camp.
More of the story in the LiveBlog from the conference
You can find more details about the Swedish approach to high performance orienteering in the LiveBlog from the conference here.
