Role descriptions

Last updated: Mon 13 Nov 2023

Club role descriptions

Chairman's Role:

One of the Club’s 4 ‘elected officers’ (normally for a 3 year term)
Act as an ambassador for the club.
Call meetings when appropriate, in conjunction with the Club Secretary
Help secure the strategic direction of the club, informed by the club development plan.
Identify and support key committee roles.
Ensure that committee members are aware of their roles and responsibilities.
Chair committee meetings.
Act as a mediator at times of disagreement or uncertainty as necessary.
Motivate and enthuse members of the committee in carrying out their roles.
Liaise with SWOA and BOF as necessary

Secretary's Role:

One of the Club’s 4 ‘elected officers’ (normally for a 3 year term)
Produce and circulate minutes of committee meeting.
Prepare and forward agendas for meetings.
Book committee meeting venues.
Prepare AGM minutes and forward notices to members for AGM.
Notify BOF of changes to office holders.
Deal with club correspondence received.
Retain documentation of a permanent nature on the Club shared drive and oversee access.

Treasurer's Role:

One of the Club’s 4 ‘elected officers’ (normally for a 3 year term)
Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records for the club.
Establish and maintain club bank account and banking arrangements.
Report financial position to the committee
Pay any bills occurred.
Prepare end of year financial report for AGM.
Advise Club Committee members on financial implications of policy and club actions

Club Captain Role

One of the Club’s 4 ‘elected officers’ (normally for a 3 year term)
Encourage club members to take part in significant relay and team events
Inform members how they may take part
Organise club teams for those relay events including the JK, British Championship Relays and the Compass Sport Cup
Ensure teams are entered appropriately for those events
Produce relevant reports to promote the Club along with the Social Secretary, Newsletter editor and website administrator

Membership Secretary's Role:

Keep joining details up to date on the club website and the British Orienteering website.
Highlight membership benefits advertised by BOF.
Act as a contact point for all membership queries.
Maintain the club membership database and produce annual membership lists.
Maintain circulation lists for email distribution (eg, for event organisers seeking helpers).
Send welcome packs to new members, including a brief survey of orienteering experience and aspirations and encourage members to renew each year.

Fixtures Secretary Role:

Arrange club fixtures, informed by the work of the Mapping Group.
Produce fixtures list for all members
Identify and confirm necessary event officials are in place.
Liaise with SWOA to arrange fixtures
Ensure that members are aware of the fixtures via the website
Ensure that venue permissions are in place in conjunction with the Access Officer.

Volunteer Co-ordinator Role:

Become familiar with club membership and a point of contact for club members
Make contact and welcome new club members
Find out how much help each club member can give and which roles they would prefer to undertake
Compile a data base from the above
Find out if members have any existing skills that can be used by the club
Keep records of event officials to ensure there are enough qualified people to organise events
Keep data base of first aiders up to date
Ensure that training sessions are organised on a regular basis for – event organisers, planners, controllers, first aiders and safeguarding and/or raise awareness of other opportunities outside the Club.

Development Officer's Role:

Encourage any activity to further the success of the club.
Ensure the club Development Plan (with a focus on increasing membership, opportunities to participate and volunteer, club identity, and promoting financial security) is routinely monitored and updated as required by the committee and in the light of wider engagement with club members.

Timing Team Leader's Role:

Establish a group of club members with the expertise to run the computer system at events.
Store the timing equipment, and deal with necessary battery changes and any losses or failures
Help secure event safety through the Timing computer record in order that that all competitors are “counted out” via the Check control at the Start and “counted back in again” at Download.
Provide Timing data to the event organiser, controller and competitors, checking that all controls have been visited in the prescribed order and producing the Results List for each course.

Map Archivist's Role:

Liaise with club mappers regarding matters arising from committee meetings.
Be first point of contact for organisers and planners to prepare for events.
Organise the updating of maps when required in conjunction with the fixtures secretary and the Mapping Group.
Maintain the electronic archive of club maps
Arrange the commercial printing of maps for events and the delivery to Event Officials.
Organise the distribution of course setting software to new planners of events.

Devon League coordinator

Clarify which events count as Devon League events each year.
Summarise the rules for each year’s competition.
Maintain a spreadsheet following each event to show everyone how they are doing on each of the courses and pass it on to the web master for publication.
Provide an information board at league events to show people the results.
Provide commentary on the results on a regular basis during the year and at the end of the year for the website.
Produce certificates at the end of the year for the male and female prize winners.

Junior and young adult representative.

Help to ensure that the voice of juniors and young adults informs the work of the club committee, club developments and priorities.
Engage with other junior - and senior - members of the club so that juniors can participate regularly in club events, training, volunteering and social activities.
Help put on at least one event per year, organised primarily by juniors and young people in the club.
Identify young people who may provide reports on events for the website and club newsletter.
Help with publicity and promotion so that more young people may consider joining the club and taking part in events.
Work with the Club Captain and others to promote junior representation at regional and national events such as the Yvette Baker, Compass Sport Cup and at relay competitions.
Represent juniors and young people to bid for funding to attend prestigious training and competitions, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Club coach

Coordinate opportunities for novices to learn basic skills for navigation, and map reading and transfer those into performing at orienteering events.
Advise on training programmes and tips for club members at all levels.
Direct members to BOF and other resources aimed at enhancing skills and performance.

Permanent orienteering courses coordinator

Be familiar with each POC in Devon and their respective usage via www.goorienteering.org.uk
Work with other stakeholders to promote their use.
Coordinate the local inspection of periodic (perhaps annual) inspections of all sites used for the POCs, and the need for re-mapping and provide a report to the Committee with any recommendations for action.
Identify ways for the POCs to promote Devon OC and its events and activities.
Propose opportunities for training activities using the POCs.
Identify interest and opportunities for additional POCs in Devon.
Advise the Committee on new opportunities to manage and use POCS (eg, update on the use of QR codes placed on the controls).

Communications/newsletter/publicity lead (not yet confirmed).

Use information from a variety of sources (eg, event organiser, member submissions, club captain and coach) to communicate to the whole membership about opportunities and event/training experiences, and social activities to facilitate the Club’s aim to build a strong identity. Communications may be via social media (eg, Facebook, What’sApp) the Club website and e-mails to members.
Identify opportunities to promote events, activities and membership to non-Club members through flyers, non-Club social media networks, and targeted groups.