Building Youth Pathways in Orienteering: Lessons from New Zealand and Navigation Games

By Barb Bryant, Navigation Games Founder and President

Orienteering offers a unique blend of physical activity, navigation skills, and outdoor adventure. Yet growing youth participation remains challenging for many national organizations.

Recently, I spoke with Pete Swanson from Orienteering New Zealand (ONZ) about their newly minted school strategy and Navigation Games' work building school orienteering. Pete Swanson has been involved with ONZ for several years, including serving as Chair in 2019. His experience as a management consultant influences his approach to developing sustainable, decentralized models for orienteering growth.

The Challenge of Building Youth Pathways in Orienteering

One key challenge ONZ faces is the lack of a clear national pathway for children to participate in school programs and progress to club and competitive orienteering. Historically, local school and other youth programs have depended heavily on passionate parents and local clubs. When those families move on, orienteering programs often fade.

Pete emphasized the value of creating a national framework that supports clubs and schools, without imposing a rigid, top-down model.

Orienteering New Zealand’s School Strategy

Last year, ONZ developed a draft Junior Development Framework and Schools Strategy, which outlines their vision for engaging young people through schools and community programs.

Key elements include:

• Paying national staff and regional coordinators to lead youth development

• Mapping schools and nearby parks to make participation accessible

• Embedding orienteering into the school curriculum

• Creating visible, low-barrier events for students and schools

• Collaborating with clubs, professional associations, and other sport organizations

Navigation Games’ Ground-Up Approach

While ONZ is building a national framework, Navigation Games has developed some of these elements from the ground up.

Our work has focused on:

• Integrating orienteering into school curricula

• Documenting lesson plans

• Providing professional development for teachers and supporting them as they begin teaching

• With Orienteering USA's support, we show educators how (and why) to teach orienteering, via workshops at various types of conferences (such as PE, environmental education and experiential education).

We get many of our school maps made through Orienteering USA's Youth Mapping Program.

We have a lot to learn from each other. In reading the ONZ framework, it was clear to me that Orienteering USA would benefit from a clear strategy to build on the pieces that have been built by clubs including Navigation Games. And our practical experience delivering school programs for the last 10 years could help in implementing the ONZ framework.

Pete noted that Navigation Games has developed a financially stable model that may be ready for geographic replication. We talked about the changing economic environment — including reduced school funding for outside vendors — and the growing need to seek support through grants while recruiting more volunteers and local champions.

I told Pete that I feel elementary school is a particularly effective entry point. At that age, kids are enthusiastic and open to new activities. They haven't specialized to a few sports. Parents are still closely connected to schools and can become local champions for orienteering.

Practical Steps for Growing Youth Orienteering

Based on the conversation and ONZ’s strategy, here are some practical ideas for clubs, schools, and organizations looking to grow youth orienteering:

• Engage educators by offering training and resources that fit into school curricula.

• Develop age-appropriate programs that focus on fun and skill-building, especially for younger children.

• Create clear pathways from school programs to club participation and competitive events.

• Invest in quality mapping to support engaging and safe navigation experiences.

• Build partnerships with organizations, orienteering and running clubs, donors, and commercial operators to share resources and expertise.

• Explore funding models that allow paying coordinators and coaches to ensure program stability.

• Learn from other countries and adapt best practices to local contexts.

Navigation Games would love to hear from you - post a comment - what do you think? And if you want more information on what we do and how we do it, please reach out.

(Photo credit: Navigation Games)