About our club
Who are we?
We are a friendly bunch of people united by our passion for Orienteering. In Orienteering circles we are often known as “Happy Herts” or just HH. We have achieved Sport England Clubmark accreditation status which recognises our commitment to fostering opportunities for juniors and to those who help with our junior activities.
Happy Herts draws its membership from across the county and beyond (including North London & Middlesex) and across a wide spectrum of Orienteering competence. It exists to promote the sport of Orienteering, both by organising events and by encouraging members to attend the events of other clubs. As Orienteering clubs go, it is large (though far from the largest) with approximately 130 members. This membership is sufficient to allow the club to organise big events and compete successfully in club competitions, whilst still maintaining a friendly atmosphere. Its membership ranges from members (often families) attending mainly local events organised by the club, to runners capable of winning their age category at a National level.
What do we do?
Events: In a typical year the club will organise three largish events open to all orienteers and numerous local events designed mainly for club members and newcomers.
Saturday Series: these events are held on the first Saturday of every month except January and August. They are particularly targeted at new and less experienced orienteers. They incorporate both a Youth League to promote orienteering in school and youth groups (e.g. Scout or Guide troops) and a Saturday League open to all regular Saturday Series attendees.
StreetO: There are street-based events every Tuesday evening in summer at 7:00 pm in the St Albans area. In winter, the meetings are on the third Tuesday of each month. Entry is just £2 and all you need is training shoes and a pen. For more details and the exact location of the next meet see: https://www.herts-orienteering.club/street-o.
Juniors: There is a Junior Squad which meets roughly twice a term for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. The Juniors section is aimed at children running white to orange. There is no lower age limit but parents of children under ten are expected to remain at the training. Once they have outgrown this they may move onto the South East Junior Squad. They may also be asked to run for the club in national competitions like the Yvette Baker Trophy.
Competitions: The club enters teams in the relay events at major championships and participates in the South East League (usually finishing in the top three). The biggest inter- club competition of the year is the Compass Sport Cup, a national knock-out competition. The regional heats of this will see the strongest turn out by club members in the year as we attempt to qualify for the national finals. Juniors can also take part in the Explorer Challenge, a national scheme which gives awards based on the number of controls found. Members can gain colour awards fro the British Orienteering Federation if they reach a specific standard on a colour-coded course.
Training: Happy Herts organise training/coaching sessions at club events, evenings during the summer and, most years, an annual weekend away.
Social Events: Happy Herts are a friendly group who socialise freely in the car parks before and after events. In addition there is a regular newsletter, and an email group. We also arrange an Annual Dinner around March, social events at major championships such as the Scottish 6 Days and an informal Club Champs (with barbecue or picnic) during the autumn, in which a handicap system ensures that any member achieving a performance above average on the day has an excellent chance of winning a trophy.
Why join us?
On joining HH you will receive the following:
- Welcome Pack: including a whole host of useful information and an HH Car Sticker
- Subsidised club training: HH organise training/coaching sessions at club events, evenings during the summer and an annual weekend away – Click here.. to read more about this.
- Saturday Series: £3 for adults or free entry for individual/family juniors to our Saturday Series events. Group juniors will be charged £1 for Saturday Series events.
- Social events: invitations to social events including annual dinner with guest speakers, pub lunch after the club championships and socials at various local and major events.
- Newsletters: regular club newsletters.
