Lesedi is heading in the right direction

POLOKWANE – Local orienteering member, Lesedi Chuene, together with his teammates and Polokwane Orienteering Club coach have embarked on a journey to help people understand the sport of orienteering better.

Chuene has participated in orienteering since 2012 and says most people in the province are not familiar with the sport. Their mission, he says, is to get more people to participate to grow the sport to greater heights.

We have been visiting schools around the province, educating the young ones about the sport. We hope schools will include the sport on their calender. This is a family sport and people of all ages can participate.”

Orienteering is described as a family sport that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed.

Chuene says orienteering needs someone who can think fast, memorise things and follow instructions. He says they received positive feedback from schools and residents who decided to join the sport. “Toddlers are usually taught the game in the house in the simplest form. Parents just have to hide sweets somewhere in the house and give their children location descriptions to find the sweets,” says Chuene.

They can only introduce the house map when the child starts to master the game, he says.

Chuene has won five medals so far, three silver, one gold and one bronze.

He says he wants to win more medals and get to compete abroad.

One game, he says, can last him about one hour depending on the distance and the kind of location they compete in. He says the sport is usually played in the bushes, but the organisers should survey the location first to check if there are no dangerous animals to harm players.