Discussion: Help Wanted/ Franchises Available in Florida
in: Orienteering; General
Apr 13, 2023 9:05 AM
#
Well it is partly tongue in cheek about the franchise but partly not.
Suncoast Orienteering, INC (aka SOAR) is a growing and successful orienteering club operating in the state of Florida and sometimes in Canada as an incorporated not for profit charitable organization.
The purpose of SOAR is to hold orienteering events and develop the sport of orienteering wherever it can.
According to the last available count, SOAR ranks among the top ten in starts reported to Orienteering USA. So far in 2023, in just three months, we have staged seven events with participation ranging from 88 to 340 but will not stage any more events until early November. Most of the participants come from high school JROTC units throughout the state of Florida and sometimes Georgia and Alabama. In business terms, we have an established 'clientele'.
As we grow, the events have become more far-flung and the requests to hold events are exceeding our ability to meet the requests. We have the equipment (two SI sets complete with laptops and monitors) but just don’t have the persons to travel to and stage all the requested events.
Okay, let’s get real. There is no WE. SOAR is a three-person show (one to handle the finances, one to handle the website and me to handle the orienteering technical stuff.) ‘We’ also have been lucky to recruit strategically helpful people when needed.
Each event happens because a JROTC unit in an area wants to schedule an event there and then. JROTC is HUGE in Florida and orienteering is a popular activity among the JROTC, mostly Navy but growing every year among the other three branches. With the JROTC help with team registration, parking, Start Line, and Awards our events can be a one-person show but usually involve two as a dedicated ‘O-Nut’ from FLO helps with the timing, Results calculation, Live uploads of Results, Live tracking by Livelox and handing a printed and accurate list of prize winners to the leader of the host school.
We also track and rank each JROTC cadet’s performance in each race, a great motivator for additional participation.
Who are we seeking? We are reaching out through Attack Point to see if there are any orienteers from anywhere in the World, who are, or anticipate, spending time in Florida (maybe a ‘snowbird’) and would be willing to organize or help organize orienteering events in your part of the State during the time that you are there.
We have established events in the Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville/ Ocala, South Florida and Tampa Bay areas. We are looking for go-getters who would be willing to take those over and increase the number of events happening in those areas as well as the Naples/ Ft Myers, Jupiter and Pensacola areas. The interest is there. We can supply orienteering maps and arrange for the loan of orienteering equipment until your group has the money to buy your own. While events are currently mostly populated by the JROTC they are open to the public and happily those numbers are growing.
Is this a ‘get rich quick scheme? No. you’ll have to look at bit coins for that but involvement with youth orienteering is a very richly satisfying activity and you should be able to cover your expenses.
Interested? Contact me through my profile e-mail address.
Suncoast Orienteering, INC (aka SOAR) is a growing and successful orienteering club operating in the state of Florida and sometimes in Canada as an incorporated not for profit charitable organization.
The purpose of SOAR is to hold orienteering events and develop the sport of orienteering wherever it can.
According to the last available count, SOAR ranks among the top ten in starts reported to Orienteering USA. So far in 2023, in just three months, we have staged seven events with participation ranging from 88 to 340 but will not stage any more events until early November. Most of the participants come from high school JROTC units throughout the state of Florida and sometimes Georgia and Alabama. In business terms, we have an established 'clientele'.
As we grow, the events have become more far-flung and the requests to hold events are exceeding our ability to meet the requests. We have the equipment (two SI sets complete with laptops and monitors) but just don’t have the persons to travel to and stage all the requested events.
Okay, let’s get real. There is no WE. SOAR is a three-person show (one to handle the finances, one to handle the website and me to handle the orienteering technical stuff.) ‘We’ also have been lucky to recruit strategically helpful people when needed.
Each event happens because a JROTC unit in an area wants to schedule an event there and then. JROTC is HUGE in Florida and orienteering is a popular activity among the JROTC, mostly Navy but growing every year among the other three branches. With the JROTC help with team registration, parking, Start Line, and Awards our events can be a one-person show but usually involve two as a dedicated ‘O-Nut’ from FLO helps with the timing, Results calculation, Live uploads of Results, Live tracking by Livelox and handing a printed and accurate list of prize winners to the leader of the host school.
We also track and rank each JROTC cadet’s performance in each race, a great motivator for additional participation.
Who are we seeking? We are reaching out through Attack Point to see if there are any orienteers from anywhere in the World, who are, or anticipate, spending time in Florida (maybe a ‘snowbird’) and would be willing to organize or help organize orienteering events in your part of the State during the time that you are there.
We have established events in the Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville/ Ocala, South Florida and Tampa Bay areas. We are looking for go-getters who would be willing to take those over and increase the number of events happening in those areas as well as the Naples/ Ft Myers, Jupiter and Pensacola areas. The interest is there. We can supply orienteering maps and arrange for the loan of orienteering equipment until your group has the money to buy your own. While events are currently mostly populated by the JROTC they are open to the public and happily those numbers are growing.
Is this a ‘get rich quick scheme? No. you’ll have to look at bit coins for that but involvement with youth orienteering is a very richly satisfying activity and you should be able to cover your expenses.
Interested? Contact me through my profile e-mail address.
This discussion thread is closed.