Merit Badge Challenge

For years NEOOC has provided a full slate of orienteering events for everyone to enjoy. In recent years, NEOOC has teamed up with the greater Cleveland Council, the Great Trails Council and Camp Tuscazoar to work specifically with scouts.

NEOOC is raising the stakes even higher to insure that all scouts have an opportunity to participate in the international sport of orienteering and all that it offers, for an awesome adventure in the Great Outdoors. We’re issuing the NEOOC CHALLENGE to all scouters.

If you accept the NEOOC CHALLENGE, you will learn orienteering, you will have a blast and oh-by-the-way, you can earn the Orienteering merit badge.

The NEOCC CHALLENGE

  1. NEOOC will have an Orienteering merit badge counselor on site for at least one event per month. You can complete a NEOOC CHALLENGE card, and we’ll track your progress as you work your way through the MB requirements.
  2. NEOOC will have a full line-up of orienteering events starting in early spring and extending into the fall, culminating for scouts with the Northeast Ohio Scout ORIENTEERING Championships in September. During the season, there are cross-country courses, score courses, night-O’s, and even a water course. If you come out for the events, you will be able to complete Requirement 7 of the O-MB.
  3. NEOOC is committed to your success, so if you complete two courses during the season, leaving you with just one more to finish this requirement, NEOOC will waive the map fee for that 3rd event[1] for you.
  4. Three times during the season, NEOOC will have hands-on instruction, referred to as “Orienteering for Beginners” (OFB) on the schedule, provided by experienced orienteers. Your instructors will be men and women who know their way around an O-course and have done so successfully at regional, national and international events. If you attend and participate in these interactive clinics, you will have the opportunity to complete Requirements 2, 3, 4 and 6. Groups are encouraged to pre-register for OFB’s[2].
  5. All events will have a 100 meter pace course so that you can determine your pace and at the same time, complete Requirement 5.
  6. When you’re ready to help officiate an event, let us know ahead of time, and we’ll let you assist us at one of our events, completing Requirement 9.
  7. One of the best ways to learn orienteering is to set up a course and teach the sport to others. The MB recognizes that in Requirements 8 & 10. So, invite a Pack, or another Troop, or your families, to participate in an O-course that you all design, set-up and run. To make that experience even more exciting, NEOOC will loan[3] you the controls and punches.
  8. Even at NEOOC events when no training is planned, NEOOC members are usually available to talk to scouts about orienteering techniques and tips.

So, are you ready to take on the NEOOC CHALLENGE?

Questions & More Information

Questions can be directed to:
ScoutsOrienteering@gmail.com

Once you’ve completed the NEOOC CHALLENGE, then join other scouts and test your skills at the Northeast Ohio Scout ORIENTEERING Championships

NOTES

[1] Fee waiver does not apply to Northeast Ohio Scout ORIENTEERING Championships

[2] OFB materials cost $15.00 per packet for NEOOC Challenge participants. Packets can be shared at each clinic & re-used at each OFB. Training maps specific to each OFB clinic are $1 each.

[3] Contact NEOOC ahead of time to reserve the O-kit. O-kits with 10 control flags & punches are available for seven-day periods. If scouts intend to set up a course at a location that NEOOC has already mapped, NEOOC may also be able to provide scouts with an appropriate area map.