Well with Summer Series drawing to a close, its that time of year when we turn our attention to some of the best orienteering the Sydney region has to offer - Metro League!

Metro League is for everyone, whether you are a complete beginner or an elite competitor. It is also one of the best ways to meet your fellow club members. For those of you who aren’t familiar with

Metro League, it is a competition between the Sydney based clubs that takes place over 6 rounds across the winter months. There are 6 divisions, and clubs field teams of 5 in each division. WHO has a team in each division, although this season we will be teaming up with Uringa and Central Coast for our Div 1 and Div 2 teams. All club members can enter - and don’t worry if you aren’t selected you still get to run the course and prove to the captain that you are worthy of selection next time!

Every round, each of our teams goes head to head with a team from one of the other clubs. That makes 10 competitors across the two teams - and points are allocated by giving 10 points to the fastest time down to 1 for the slowest time. Whichever team accumulates the most points, wins the round!

If all of that sounds a little complicated, don’t sweat - all you have to do is turn up and run your course and have fun!

The beauty of Metro League is that you get a taste for bush orienteering without having to venture far from home. If you’ve only done Summer Series, then this is just the challenge you will be looking for over the winter months, and for those familiar with Saturday Orienteering Series, this is a natural progression. Some of you may even be wondering about State League - if so, then Metro League is a must to get used to the format and bush orienteering.

Round 1 kicks off next weekend at Appin (Sunday 7 April).

Get your entries in Eventor now. I’ll be looking to allocate teams early Saturday, so make sure you have your entries in by end of Friday if possible. I’ll then send details of teams and start times. All event information can be found on Eventor (including how to get there).

If you are new to Metro League and have some questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

See you next Sunday!

I’m reaching out to get an idea of who is interested in taking part in Metro League this year, so that we can work out how many teams we are likely to field.

Those of you new to the club might be wondering - what is Metro League?

Metro League is a competition held every winter between the Sydney-based clubs, including WHO.

But more importantly, it’s great orienteering in bush locations that are conveniently located on the outskirts of, or near Sydney. So you don’t have to venture too far from home to enjoy some great orienteering. In particular, if you have only done Summer Series events but are curious to progress to bush orienteering, Metro League is a great introduction. There are courses to suit all levels of experience, including beginners. And best of all you get to meet your fellow club members to get some tips, and compare notes. And you don’t need to attend every Metro League event - just the ones that suit you. If you’re interested, but want to find out more, reach out directly to me (joshuabraidwood1@gmail.com) and I can give you the full run down and answer any questions you might have. 

The scheduled dates for Metro League 2024 are setout in the table above - please note some of the proposed venues may be subject to change:

Get those dates in your calendar now.

Please get in touch to let me know if you think you can be part of Metro League this season, or if you are new to the club and would like to find out more.