Discussion: Recognition of Australian champions

POLL: Is a material badge sufficient reward/recognition/acknowledgement for Australian champions in the 21st century?

I don't think anyone is looking for a gold Rolex, but are badges relevant?

Badges aren't relevant, anything useful is good, at these you can eat Tim Tams

my spouse throws them in the bin. Along with maps, chest numbers, medals and trophies.
but I like them

I have a wall of badges at home. At least, I will have once I get around to sticking them up.

I will have a wall too, once I get round to winning a few Australian Championships. ;-)

get rid of 'em. They are outdated and reinforce the conception that our sport is weird....

Co-worker/friend to orienteer - how'd you go in the Aust champs?
Orienteer - really well, managed to win so im pretty damn happy with that
co-worker - awesome work, congrats! what do you get?
orienteer - a cloth badge.
co-worker - right.......

Medals with a bottle opener built in. Only make 1st to open the bottle, 2nd and 3rd break the lid

I think they are still in use

a) for tradition - which I'll admit isn't always a good reason
and
b) because no one has come up with a suitable, sensible alternative and so far that includes the OP. Do you wanna have a crack at it Craig? Anyone? Good luck pleasing everyone. Not everyone likes trophys either.

BTW - are we talking elites only or ALL Australian champions?

Chocolate has always gone down well at Big Foot Sprints!

I thought the beer/wine glasses WA uses for most competitions were quite nice, but apparently they stopped giving them out the day before I finally won a state championship. :(

I have all my badges from when I was in W10. I keep them in a little container which i call my badge bin. They are better then a certificate and they last longer. The kids in the schools team this year were super excited to win a badge if they got a placing and they were showing their parents when they got off the plane back in Adelaide.
Badges for the win. Unique Orienteering prize.

@Shingo - but that's much harder to win than Oz champs - 6 prizes per year v roughly 342 (and that excludes relays).

You can stick the badge and the map in a frame and it looks pretty good.

At the low price we pay for orienteering events, there isn't much decent you could get as an alternative (they pan out at about $7 each). Whereas you could enter a $60 MTB race or trail race and "win" a $50 pair of shorts.

Probably the more controversial aspect of prizes at the Oz champs was giving out fruit as a reward for finishing the string course. How many orienteering kids are not getting fruit shoved in their face most of the week anyway ?

Oz Champs string course - I'm think that should be a killer python.

Vic champs at Kangaroo Crossing last year gave out coasters for place getters - which are functional - so are ashtrays for a few people but not sure smokers would be place getters these days.

I thought the beer/wine glasses WA uses for most competitions were quite nice, but apparently they stopped giving them out the day before I finally won a state championship.

Yeah I don't get that. Are you meant to be getting something at the annual dinner?

co-worker - awesome work, congrats! what do you get?
orienteer - a cloth badge.

What's the alternative?

co-worker - awesome work, congrats! what do you get?
orienteer - nothing.

co-worker - awesome work, congrats! what do you get?
orienteer - prestige.

co-worker - awesome work, congrats! what do you get?
orienteer - heatstroke.

co-worker - what's orienteering?

a medal?

One idea would be to copy the cyclists - Oz Champion Bands that you could wear on the sleeve of your string vest. Possibly similar for state champions.

Maybe include the year/class on there, so that they are valued appropriately (not sure what the cyclists do - they do give out the bands - see here.... and you are supposed to take them off after a year, I think ? or move them or something.

in pro cycling they are designed as part of the team's kit. Then after the thery are part of teh end of teh sleeve. Same for nationial champs kits.

see cuddles' sleeeves

http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2012/07/13/12...

or robbie's aussie sleeves

http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/1885520-3x2-340x2...

And hence the problem with every Tom, Dick and Cadel wearing them on their replica shirts. Not an issue in Aus orienteering, but we would get people who keep them on even after they have been dethroned.

You can sew badges on a jacket and wear it proudly at events, or as a well known Victorian Orienteer does and gets his mum to sew them on a blanket.

I got a medal the last time I finished a City to Surf. I forget what I did with it.

co-worker - awesome work, congrats! what do you get?
orienteer - prestige.

Prestige - some of use would love just a little bit of that stuff. If this isn't the payout you are looking for, then you are definately in the wrong sport, sport.

I fully agree and that was my point. I got grief from a co-worker for bringing back coasters for placing in the Vic MTBO champs but I said I don't do the sport for the payout. For small tokens of achievement, the value is recognised by the recipient, not by the loyal fans.

Even our state rogaining champ gets grief from his wife for punishing himself. She frequently asks why we do it when there's no (tangible) reward for achievement.

Unless you win cash, a car or something else of significant value, your co-workers will never understand ;-)

We gave towels at Easter twenty10, they seemed to be well received. Still see them around at events.

Mouse mats with a copy of the map used at the prologue at Frazzle Rock Easter 2011 - I still use mine but then I was the controller, I have no idea if the winners appreciated them?

Coffee Mugs from the Nationals in WA 2006 still going strong and in use

OAWA and still going strong!

I would still advocate for Freddo frogs or Caramel Koalas :)

Oooo. WA switched to cloth badges for state champs at some point after 1977 obviously (but by 1985 at the latest), although the M21A and W21A classes do have a perpetual trophy as well. (and have more recently been handing out beer/wine glasses as well)

Trophies (cheap plasticky trite) I don't think are 'special' and simply go in the bin - and are a pain to store for those that would like to keep them. Medallions all look the same and I think much as cloth badges seem naff at first pass they're occasionally nice and very easy to keep as a memento. They're retro enough to become very cool soon!

Juffy & tRicky - glasses are used for the WA Sprint & Middle Champs, but badges for the Long. Difference is that glasses just say State Championships, whereas badges show the age class and position.

Richard those black mugs used in 2006 were awful and I threw all 3 that I won away.

Tooms is right! But make sure the design is cool!

I have some drinking glasses from one comp I did, with the details and logo etc printed on them. Nicer than those clunky coffee mugs, and look damn good with a gin and tonic.

Simmo is biased - he only drinks his tea out of white cups.

I use mine at work - it's easy to spot if someone's nick my cup.

At least the glasses are useful. My badges all live in the bottom of a box, whereas the beer/wine glasses get used.

I'm not sure how good/useful/cool awards are supposed to be?

I put my beer glass in the dishwasher and all references to orienteering had disappeared by the time it came out.

Some stimulating conversation going on here.
Wine/beer glasses have been popular of late. The coasters were a good idea at the Vic Champs (not that I have any furniture that needs protecting from hot mugs.
Giving "something" is necessary (personally a decent size chocolate bar or even a posh block would suit me), but whats missing is the prestige/recognition in the following year(s) especially in the non elite classes. When I turn up at the Aus Champs it would be good if the previous years place getters were some how recognisable as a conversation starter.
In reality it is the responsibility of the organiser of various championships to come up with a prize.

@undy: $7 for a badge - is that a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place badge (or the average of all three)? surely they don't all cost the same? ;)

Back when sprints were fairly new I talked a sponsor into giving cash prizes for elites and junior elites at the 2006 Australian Champs in York - the 21E prizes were $250/$100/$50 and the junior winners $50, total prize pool $900. (Shep was a beneficiary to the tune of a lot more than $7!) I still think this enhances interest in the event, is appreciated by the elites, and is not expensive even if the prize pool were increased to, say $2-3k. I wanted to do it again at Mandurah in 2011, and we had a reasonable sponsorship from the City Council, but the misers on the Carnival committee were against it.

Easter 2013 prizes were caps, backpacks and easter eggs (along with a certificate).

I'd take a championship first if it only meant being recorded as winner in Eventor. All the rest is just ephemeral bling.

One of today's MTBOers was proudly wearing her 2006 Aus Champs shirt and mentioned the mugs to me but I am too young (from an orieteering perspective) to know of them.

We had a choice of red or white wine or a box of Favourites chocolates for prizes at yesterday's national MTBO sprint champs. Mmmm, chocolate.

Will you still be wearing the chocolate in 7 years time?

No I won a Silva headlamp for that part of the deal.

I file all my competition maps (at least State League and above) in a binder with clear plastic sleeves. If I am fortunate enough to win a badge, it gets slotted in the sleeve with the map. Can't do the same with coffee mugs....although I still have and occasionally use the couple I won in WA in 2006.

Tricky, my previous comment was not aimed at you. Sorry if it appeared that way.

when i was a kid i wanted big shiny trophies or medals that i could brag about at school that said 'look how good my sport is and look how good i am at it and btw my orienteering trophy is way better than your motorcross trophy'.
now i am a little older when i win the occasional prize its nice to get beer/wine glasses and coffee mugs that can be useful and can be a bit of a conversation starter.
i have never wanted to win a cloth badge. but that age may come.

sponsored prizes have always been sweet - the NOL silva prizes are useful, similarly the sponsored prizes at the ultra-long this yr were really good! It is good to get something with an event name/age class on it... but things like badges/mugs/glasses stack up as clutter.
Things like the easter 10 towels and ultra long shirts do get used and seen around at events!

What a pity Ken can't put something (an icon?) on AP that attaches an orienteering award to your AP name - sort of like war medals or ribbons from campaigns - that is always there for other people to see. After all, the people you want most to notice your achievements are likely to be on AP - family and O friends.

Suggest it. :D

Done! Thanks. :-)

I was thinking of some sort of digital award, digitally signed for authenticity, with info inside to allow printing if you wish, in 2d or 3d! If you want a certificate, you can print it; if you want a trophy you can print it. I'm sure you could add badges too. It would save buying something when half the recipients are just going to chuck it anyway.

Last 2 rogaines I've won I got a 75c aldi block of chocolate. But rather that than a badge. They taste awful and the cotton gets stuck between your teeth.

The traditional orienteering award in the USA used to be a rock with the name of the event written on it with a felt-tip marker. Easy to throw away. One time, at the national relay championships, the rocks were glued to nice wooden plaques. I remember a teammate of mine prying the rock off of the plaque and tossing it in a ditch before heading to the airport.

He should have tossed the rock into a field, mapped it and stuck a control on the NE side.

Elites tend to be less appreciative of the recognition we mere mortals aim for. As a sometimes recipient, but far from elite, my comments are:
a tangible reminder of the effort expended which results in a placing - certificate, medal, badge, cap, bag, towel - whatever the budget can afford. The aforementioned shirts are fantastic but a nightmare to coordinate and virtually impossible to justify for costing (I organise a number of levels of prizes so I know a little bit about this). Arm bands sound fantastic!
The consistent suggestion for chocolate is fine for eg lucky draw prizes but not for a championship - please!
Some observations from events conducted in many states in the past 15 years - and sorry to offend people but these were mistakes made:
not awarding to AS or B classes (because they aren't championship classes -yes Invis I know this). These people pay the same entry as A classes so if awards are made they should be rewarded similarly.
At 2013 Easter AS and B classes received choc bunnies and A classes received caps or shoe bags.
Proudly have been the recipient of my first trophy - a piece of rock mounted on wood block (in a B class) from 2000 APOC, but also appreciate my coffee mug from WA, various badges and certificates (and bookmarks - TAS). ACT did waterbottles in different colours for Oceania 2009 - but only for A courses.
NSW MTBO have produced coasters and a similar style on corflute - very stylish and VERY cost effective (< $3) with all the info of a badge.
Badges are easy to store, unbreakable, not useful, non-consumable, usually nice artwork and some people find inventive ways to display. They can also propel a novice towards greater ambitions and achievement.
If we are to raise our standing you can't give food or wine as a prize.

Unless it's FREE!

Many A class winners at Easter 2013 said that they would have preferred the chocolate bunnies. You can't please everyone!
Maybe we shouldn't organise any events. That may solve the issue :-)

Bruce did you get a medal for Around the Bay? How will you fix it to the rug?