Discussion: Seeking ORIENTEERING Volunteers for The World Games 2022!

The best elite orienteers in the world will compete in Sprint, Middle, and Sprint Relay events in Birmingham, Alabama at The World Games, July 7 – 17, 2022.

Vulcan Orienteering Club (VOC) will need a lot of volunteers to make this a success. There’s something for everyone: start and finish crews; course testing; control watching and traffic control; arena setup; spectator event planning; and orienteering sport demo booth. We are seeking volunteers of all skill levels including a couple volunteer Team Leader positions.

Find out more about the requirements, perks & registration procedures over on the Orienteering USA website. Volunteer registration is now live, so why not sign up today? Help us make #TWG2022 an epic event!



https://orienteeringusa.org/2021/11/seeking-orient...

what are the actual race dates for the orienteering?

Orienteering takes place during the second half

Thursday, July 14th - training day
Friday, July 15th - Sprint
Saturday, July 16th - Middle
Sunday, July 17th - Mixed Sprint Relay

We're looking for volunteers to help out with many aspects of the event, including helping with the elite races (start/finish/arena setup/control watching/quarantine), taking shifts at the orienteering booth to tell people how awesome our sport is, and also help with running a simple spectator event.

Sign up to help!

(Yes, it will be hot in Alabama in July, but everyone knows that "a friendship forged in the fires of adversity is a strong as one that has weathered the test of time.")

I can't speak to the Sprint venues, but for those unfamiliar with the forest (Middle distance) venue, Oak Mountain State Park is an exceptionally enjoyable terrain, worthy of being on everyone's North American bucket list.

+1 EricW re Oak Mountain. Even in mid-July orienteering there may be enjoyable.
Railroad Park is a horrible choice, probably selected for purely political reasons.

Oak Mountain is delightful.

Is there any information about the team selection?

AJ - Nothing re: team selection that I am aware of at this time.

To be clear, team selection is up to each country to do themselves. The organizing crew for TWG doesn't have any insight into this. For the US, presumably that means the US Team ESC are the right people to ask.

We will be discussing this soonish.
In the meantime, I think the orienteering organizers are looking for some vetters; if you’re a Team member and know you won’t be going to the World Games, this may be a nice option for you.

Yes, definitely looking for some test runners! Let us know if you're interested.

Thinking of coming down to Birmingham to volunteer? Sign up soon! We need orienteers like all of you to make this work. Some of the more interesting roles need to be filled by Dec 31, so if you're planning to come down it's important to sign up now!

It would also be wise to start looking for a place to stay. There will be a lot of visitors in Birmingham and places are filling up.

Need some extra motivation—in addition to the joy inherent to being part of a really awesome team—to volunteer?

Volunteers get some nice perks:

• Official TWG 2022 volunteer uniform shirt

• Official TWG 2022 volunteer headwear

• Official TWG 2022 volunteer bag and water bottle

• Official TWG 2022 volunteer pin

• Complimentary Event Tickets: Volunteers will receive 8 tickets, and can earn more as additional shifts beyond the minimum are completed

• Participation in Closing Ceremony

• Volunteer appreciation event

• Meals while on shift

• I'll give you a cookie every time I see you at an orienteering event for the rest of the decade.

Seriously, who knows if the US will host another high level orienteering event in the coming years—this is a great chance to be part of something cool.

Make sure to use code SORIENTEERING when you sign up so that we get your info!

I signed up! Since I decided to hold off another year on going to Europe, why not spend some time in beautiful Alabama?!

Be careful where you want to stay in the area, and ALWAYS be on alert and aware of your surroundings.

Top Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S., year 2020 data

Hmm, Yurets, I think there might be some cities that are missing from that list because of differences in how violent crimes are reported and what gets counted.

But back to the Cristina's message: we really need help to promote O at this rare opportunity.

What are the "Complimentary Event Tickets" for ?

Volunteers are eligible to get comp tickets to attend select events when they are not volunteering. Does not include finals rounds and not all sports are included in the comps. There is more info about comps in this FAQ on TWG site.

Some of the exciting sports you could go see: Air Sports (!), Beach Handball, Sport Climbing, and Artistic Skating.

The Air Sports events are Drone Racing and Parachuting. Note that female Beach Handball players will no longer be required to wear bikinis.

I live just north of Birmingham and have done weekly walks with my hiking club in and around he Birmingham area for the past 10 years. I find the areas where we will be very safe. If you have questions about a specific area, email me and I'll be happy to tell you what I know about that area. bamaanne@bellsouth.net.

For a hotel stay, the area along Hwy 280 south of Cahaba river is reasonably safe, and is close to Oak Mtn, also off I-459 at Exit 10 in Hoover (but not closer to I-65).
Definitely do not recommend anywhere in Birmingham proper, or anywhere along I-20, east to west, which includes both Bessemer/B'ham Southern College area and downtown.
Pelham/Alabaster (south in Shelby Co.) along I-65 used to be good, but not any more. Oak Mtn SP is still safe though.
Yes, if you go north far enough-- it is safe, but not many accommodation options there.

What a sad twist to the thread.

If you've got some time to go exploring, the Wetumpka Impact Crater sounds pretty interesting. https://alabama.travel/places-to-go/wetumpka-impac...

Yeah I don't think it's an ideal situation when having to tell people how safe an entire area is to stay in.

On an unrelated note, don't ever stay in St Kilda in Melbourne.

Alabama is really only dangerous for certain kinds of people. But yurets may be one of those people.

JJ, this sign along I-65 south of Birmingham is there for you

That's awesome!

I hear the devil wears Prada.

I thought the devil was in the details.

Somehow, I could picture JJ as Charlie Daniels' Uneasy Rider

Shaping up summer plans and think you might want to volunteer with us in Birmingham after all? Sign up right now! Sport volunteer registration closes on May 31st. Contact me or Anne Mathews (bamaanne@bellsouth.net) with any questions.

Free tee shirt and hat for volunteers! (That might not be selling it …) Okay, seeing lots of awesome athletes in action in some even more bizarre sports than orienteering!

And the cookies, don't forget the cookies.

Cookies? Nobody said anything 'bout cookies....

Fine, I'll come for the cookies.

@cmorse, I sure did!

I was momentarily confused into thinking this was the Commonwealth Games for a minute. They're also in 2022 in Birmingham but in that particular city they call them 'biscuits'.

just saw an announcement on GAOC's site re training offered

http://gaorienteering.org/Local_Events/MeetInfo22/...