Orienteering USA
Governing body for orienteering in the United States
title: "Orienteering USA" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["national-members-of-the-international-orienteering-federation", "sports-governing-bodies-in-the-united-states", "501(c)(3)-organizations", "orienteering-in-the-united-states"] description: "Governing body for orienteering in the United States" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering_USA" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Governing body for orienteering in the United States ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Sport governing body"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| assocname | Orienteering USA |
| logo | Orienteering USA Logo.jpg |
| sport | Orienteering |
| jurisdiction | United States |
| founded | 1971 |
| aff | International Orienteering Federation |
| region | North America |
| headquarters | Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
| president | Clare Durand |
| url | https://orienteeringusa.org/ |
| countryflag | United States |
| :: |
|assocname=Orienteering USA |abbrev = |logo=Orienteering USA Logo.jpg |sport=Orienteering |category = |image = |caption = |jurisdiction = United States |founded = 1971 |aff =International Orienteering Federation |affdate = |region = North America |regionyear = |headquarters = Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |location = |president = Clare Durand |chairman = |chairperson = |chair = |chiefexec = |secretary = |coach = |womenscoach = |key staff = |operating income = |sponsor = |year closed = |replaced = |prevfounded = |url = https://orienteeringusa.org/ |countryflag= United States |countryflag2= |countryflag3=
Orienteering USA (OUSA), formerly United States Orienteering Federation (USOF), is the national governing body for orienteering in the United States. It is recognized by the International Orienteering Federation and the United States Olympic Committee. It was founded on 1 August 1971. Orienteering USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. There are 68 current member clubs and over 1,500 members.
History
The first known competitive orienteering events in the U.S. were held from 1941 to 1943 in New Hampshire by a Finnish army officer named Piltti Heiskanen. There were military orienteering events for cadets only at West Point Military Academy in New York state from 1966 to 1972, and at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia by 1968, where the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Academy's first event was held on July 12, 1968, on Harald Wibye's photogrammetric color orienteering map, the first such map in the English-speaking world. This was also the origin of the Quantico Orienteering Club, currently the largest and most active club in the US. The Norwegian Wibye also hosted the first known public competitive orienteering event in the U.S. at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania on Nov. 5, 1967. From this event would emerge another large club in the U.S., the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association.
The most influential early benefactor to and promoter of U.S. map and compass use and orienteering, and easily the most well-read author on these topics, was Bjorn Kjellstrom, a 1930s Swedish orienteering champion. From his events with scouts as early as 1946 to his guidance and support in the 1990s, he provided impetus and inspiration. His map and compass events from 1965 to 1967 in Westchester County, NY had competitive orienteering courses added in 1968 by Wibye. Bill Gookin's first events in 1969 in the San Diego area were the earliest known competitive public orienteering events west of the Mississippi. Kjellstrom assisted several Quantico officers is establishing the U.S. Orienteering Federation in 1971. The early 1970s would see the founding, in part, by orienteering book author Hans Bengstsson, of the New England Orienteering Club, the largest in the U.S. from the late 1970s through the 1980s.
Organization
Orienteering USA is predominantly a volunteer-run organization. It has a board of directors, officers and numerous committees and task forces.
OUSA states that its mission is to:
- Increase participation in the sport.
- Teach map reading and navigation skills.
- Promote enjoyment of, and respect for, the environment.
- Establish world-class competitive excellence within our national team programs.
Affiliated clubs
::data[format=table]
| Club name | Locale | State(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Arctic Orienteering Club | Anchorage | AK Alaska |
| ARK-LA-TEX Orienteering Club | Ark-La-Tex | AR Arkansas |
| LA Louisiana | ||
| TX Texas | ||
| Austin Orienteering Club | Austin | TX Texas |
| Backwoods Orienteering Klub | Raleigh–Durham–Cary | NC North Carolina |
| Badger Orienteering Club | Madison | WI Wisconsin |
| Bay Area Orienteering Club | San Francisco Bay Area | CA California |
| Bluegrass Orienteering Club | Lexington | Kentucky Kentucky |
| Buffalo Orienteering Club | Buffalo | NY New York |
| Cambridge Sports Union | Greater Boston | MA Massachusetts |
| Capital Region Nordic Alliance | Capital District | NY New York |
| Carolina Orienteering Klub | Charlotte | NC North Carolina |
| Cascade Orienteering Club | Seattle | WA Washington |
| Central Ohio Orienteering | Columbus | OH Ohio |
| Central New York Orienteering | Syracuse | NY New York |
| Central Virginia Orienteering Club | Richmond | Virginia Virginia |
| Chicago Area Orienteering Club | Chicago Metropolitan Area | IL Illinois |
| City of Trees Orienteering Club | Boise | Idaho Idaho |
| Columbia River Orienteering Club | Portland | Oregon Oregon |
| Delaware Valley Orienteering Association | Delaware Valley | Delaware Delaware |
| MD Maryland | ||
| NJ New Jersey | ||
| PA Pennsylvania | ||
| Eastern Washington Orienteering Club | Spokane | WA Washington |
| Empire Orienteering Club | Capital District | NY New York |
| Florida Orienteering Club | Orlando | FL Florida |
| Greater Phoenix Orienteering Club | Phoenix Metropolitan Area | Arizona Arizona |
| Gold Country Orienteers | Sacramento | CA California |
| Green Mountain Orienteering Club | Burlington | Vermont Vermont |
| Grizzly Orienteering | Missoula | Montana Montana |
| Houston Orienteering Club | Houston | TX Texas |
| Hudson Valley Orienteering Club | Hudson Valley | NJ New Jersey |
| NY New York | ||
| Illinois River Valley Orienteering Club | Peoria | IL Illinois |
| Indiana Crossroads Orienteering | Indiana | Indiana Indiana |
| Long Island Orienteering Club | Long Island | NY New York |
| Los Angeles Orienteering Club | Los Angeles | CA California |
| Miami Valley Orienteering Club | Dayton | OH Ohio |
| Minnesota Orienteering Club | Minnesota | MN Minnesota |
| Nashville Orienteering | Nashville | Tennessee Tennessee |
| Nav-X-Sports | Santa Rosa | CA California |
| New England Orienteering Club | New England | CT Connecticut |
| MA Massachusetts | ||
| Rhode Island Rhode Island | ||
| North Country Orienteering | North Country | NY New York |
| North Eastern Ohio Orienteering Club | Cleveland | OH Ohio |
| North Texas Orienteering Association | Dallas | TX Texas |
| Orienteering Club of Cincinnati | Cincinnati | OH Ohio |
| Orienteer Kansas | Lawrence | Kansas Kansas |
| Orienteering Louisville | Louisville | Kentucky Kentucky |
| Orienteering Utah | Utah | Utah Utah |
| Possum Trot Orienteering Club | Kansas City Metropolitan Area | Kansas Kansas |
| Missouri Missouri | ||
| Quantico Orienteering Club | Washington Metropolitan Area | Washington, D.C. District of Columbia |
| MD Maryland | ||
| Virginia Virginia | ||
| Rochester Orienteering Club | Rochester | NY New York |
| Rocky Mountain Orienteering Club | Denver | CO Colorado |
| San Diego Orienteering Club | San Diego | CA California |
| Southern Michigan Orienteering Club | Southern Michigan | MI Michigan |
| St. Louis Orienteering Club | Greater St. Louis | IL Illinois |
| Missouri Missouri | ||
| Suncoast Orienteering and Adventure Racing | Sarasota Metropolitan Area | FL Florida |
| Susquehanna Valley Orienteering | York | PA Pennsylvania |
| Truckee Orienteering Club | Truckee | CA California |
| Tucson Orienteering Club | Tucson | Arizona Arizona |
| Up North Orienteers | New Hampshire | NH New Hampshire |
| Vulcan Orienteering Club | Birmingham | Alabama Alabama |
| Western Connecticut Orienteering Club | Western Connecticut | CT Connecticut |
| Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club | Pittsburgh | PA Pennsylvania |
| :: |
References
References
- "Member Federations". International Orienteering Federation.
- "Leadership". orienteeringusa.org.
- "The History of Orienteering in the U.S.".
- "Clubs".
- "Board of Directors".
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