Thank you for volunteering to help put on an event. Without volunteers, it would be impossible to hold orienteering events. WPOC is a
non-profit organization and has no employees; so the only way we can compensate people who volunteer to help is to waive the map fee for
them at the event where they volunteer. To the right of the form below, you can see a description of the tasks that need to be
performed at an event. The reference to the Start/Registration window is to the 3-hour period during which event participants
can check-in, register, and start on courses. This window is either 11 am to 2 pm DST or 10 am to 1 pm EST.
You can also see that we do the tasks in two
shifts. This allows all volunteers to go out on a course either before or after doing a task for one shift or after instruction or
before control pick-up.
After you fill out the form and click the Volunteer button, e-mail will be sent to the WPOC Volunteer Coordinator, stating what you
volunteered for; a similar e-mail will be sent to you as confirmation of your volunteering. At some point before the event, the Volunteer Coordinator will get back
to you via e-mail regarding your assignment.
* required field. Look for an acknowledgement here after clicking Volunteer. If you do not see one, there is an error above that needs to be addressed. |
Registration: This involves: Greeting the participants. Asking if they have orienteered before, if they are preregistered, if any minors are with them, if they are members. Getting non-member participants to sign a waiver. Collecting the map fee. Determining which course they want. Handing out maps and possibly control descriptions and legends. Directing them to the Start/Finish table. The two shifts for Registration go from about 15 minutes before the Start/Registration window to the middle of the window and from 15 minutes before the middle of the window to the end of the window. No orienteering experience is required to to this task. Start/Finish: This involves: Giving participants an SI-card (fingerstick). Loaning them a compass if they need one. Making sure they are recorded in the computer in the correct course and with the correct SI-card number. Showing them how to use the SI-card if they do not know. Making sure they Clear and Check the SI-card. Asking if they need instruction - if so, sending them to the instructor; otherwise, making sure they know where the Finish is and sending them to the Start. The two shifts for Start/Finish use the same time frame as for Registration. No orienteering experience is required to do this task. Instruction: Teach beginners how to do the basics of orienteering: map reading, orienting the map, terrain association by following the lesson-plan/outline for instruction. This is done during the first hour of the Start/Registration window only. This task requires a experienced orienteer. Control Pick-up: Retrieve the control flags and boxes from the courses used that day. The controls are divided by areas so that you will be picking up controls from various different skill-levels of courses. Pick-up normally begins 1 1/2 to 2 hours after the Start/Registration window ends or immediately after the last person finishes, whichever comes first. This task requires orienteers with some experience; it is not for beginners or people with little orienteering experience |