The Edinburgh University Orienteering Club (EUOC) is one of the oldest orienteering clubs in Britain, with the University of Edinburgh being the first university to bring orienteering into their sporting agenda. Established in 1964, it has since been a leading force in both orienteering development and performance in Britain.
We frequently compete for the top spots in the British University Championships, British and Scottish Championships, the annual Jan Kjellstrom Orienteering Festival (JK, the largest annual event in Britain) as well as many other high class events. In recent years we have helped develop the sport of orienteering in Scottish universities and have exploded as a dominant power in British Orienteering. We have won 11 of the last 12 British University Championships (BUCS), the BUCS Club of the Year on numerous occasions, and the Edinburgh Universitiy Club of the Year on many occasions.
In the past year, we have had one of our strongest seasons so far, by winning both relay trophies at BUCS and with our women’s relay team winning both the JK and the Scottish Championships relays, and the men taking a respectable Silver medal in both races. On an individual level, we have been continuously sending competitors to both the Junior and Senior World Championships, the World University Championships, and other big international races where they have delivered world class performances. There is no doubt we are one of the highest performing university clubs in Britain, let alone university orienteering clubs.
But not everything is about performance and, particularly in orienteering, it is about enjoying the outdoors with club-mates whilst navigating through beautiful British countryside, with an occasional race to keep things exciting. Our weekly training entails a lot of physical work, similar to the Hare and Hounds (but on more exciting/challenging routes). However, at least once a week, usually a Thursday if not the weekend as well, we practice our navigational abilities together on some high quality local Edinburgh maps. Our social side of things is also very important to us, and we host a weekly pasta night on Wednesday as well as exciting socials every few weeks, to become a closer family which is important in the sport and university life.
When summer rolls by and we are all done with exams, we head out on an exciting holiday to somewhere in Europe with spectacular forests where we can not only test what we’ve learnt in the past year orienteering-wise, but also have fun and do the usual holiday experience whether it be swimming, sight-seeing or something else! Our most recent destinations have included Finland, Sweden, Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia. But you don’t have to wait until the summer to have a break from study. Our weekends away happen very often and we visit some lovely, more local locations such as Speyside, Deeside, the Lake District, the Highlands and many more.
Our club is well suited to any level of orienteer, whether they are a complete beginner or a world champion. Our high standard of coaching will cover the full spectrum, with dedicated committee members showing newbies the ropes of the sport, and a university paid Perfomance coach fine tuning the strings for our more developed competitors. However, there is no divide, and everyone trains together daily in and around Edinburgh with regular posts on Facebook and emails notifying members on both training schedules, upcoming events, weekends away, and socials. If you are interested in joining the club, please find more details under the above ‘Contact’ tab.
The name ‘EUOC Legends’ wasn’t one we gave ourselves. Over the last 50 years we earned it, through high standards of development and performance in university sport. Join us, join the legends!
EUOC Legends 