Note: Highlighted text is changes for the 2025-2026 season

 

The purpose of LAOC COOL (California Outdoor Orienteering League) is to encourage youth participation and competition in the sport of orienteering. League members earn points for themselves and their school or group every time they compete. Awards are given at the end of the season for those with the largest point totals.

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Registering for the League

COOL members must be LAOC members and receive the standard $5 member discount at each event. Memberships are good for one year from purchase. Purchase your memberships when you register for an event or from our membership page. Youth organizations may purchase memberships for their organization. These memberships can be used by any organization member at any event. For example, if you purchase 10 organizational memberships then you can bring up to 10 youth at the member rate to any event. It is not required to be the same 10 youth each time. Organizational memberships are only available at the Student rate for those under age 21.

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Eligibility

Anyone currently enrolled in a home, elementary, middle, junior, or senior high school in grades K-12 and participating in LAOC events is eligible. Compete for your school or for any other organized youth group.

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What does it cost?

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To earn COOL League points, you must be a member of LAOC. There is no longer an additional awards fee to join COOL. This should make it less complicated. You can pay for membership through event registration or through our membership webpage.

• Student Individual Membership ($10.00) - This membership will be attached to a specific student's name and is non-transferable. Only that named student is a member and will receive discounts. Recommended for those attending meets individually.

• Student Organizational Membership ($10.00) - The Student Organizational Membership pays for a membership slot at each event for a specific organization. This membership may be used by a different student at each event. For example, if your school purchases five organizationial memberships, then you may bring up to five students to each event at the member rate. It does not have to be the same five students each time. Every student who runs under the membership will earn COOL points and be eligible for League awards.

• Family membership ($30.00) - Students who are already LAOC members because their family has a membership are welcome to run for COOL points.

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Event Fee (each time) $7.00/student plus $2.00 for each estick rental -- this reflects a $5 discount from the usual non-member rate of $12

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EXPECT TO PAY $15.00 PER STUDENT PLUS ESTICK RENTAL AT THE FIRST LEAGUE EVENT YOU ATTEND

 

How do I register for the League?

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We have incorporated League information into our standard event pre-registration form. All you need to do is register for the event. Be sure to select that you are competing in COOL and your unit and grade when asked.
At your first COOL event of the season, be sure to renew your membership.
COOL members are LAOC members. Be sure to select LAOC as your club and to indicate your membership to receive your discount.
You may then pay online or bring your fees to the event.

You will only earn points for events if you have a current paid membership.

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Registering for an event

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AT EACH EVENT YOU MUST BRING THE LAOC STANDARD WAIVER WITH A PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN SIGNATURE. Signatures of youth group leaders will not be accepted in lieu of the parent. Be sure to print the form out in advance and get the appropriate signatures before bringing it to an event. 

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COOL members should use our online preregistration system to register for events. You will have an estick and a map reserved for you. It also facilitates proper scoring of team entries. Preregistation for each event is usually available one to two weeks prior to the event. The link to preregistration will be found on the event information page. There is a $10 late fee to register on site after preregistration has closed.

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Be sure to indicate your COOL unit and grade. Entries not easily identifiable as COOL members in the results may be missed in the scoring process.

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Submission of an accurate team roster is the responsibility of the participants. Please be sure that team member names typed into preregistration forms are accurate and/or submit an updated team roster at each event. If the individual members of a group entry cannot be determined then the team will not receive a score.

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Instruction

Can’t read a map? Don’t worry. Online beginner instruction is available and you may ask at any event to receive additional instruction and answers to your questions.. 

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Equipment

A compass is strongly recommended and a whistle is required. A limited number of compasses are available for rental at each event. Wear clothing that is comfortable to run in. Full leg covering and shoes with good traction (trail running or soccer shoes) are recommended. You may want to bring a change of clothes for after the race.

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Electronic Punching

A SPORTident (SI) electronic punch card is required at most events. If you do not own one, you may rent one separately for each event. The SI punch card electronically records each control you visit and when you visit it. Epunch allows you to see your “split” time to each control after you download at the finish. Results calculations are fast and accurate. Replacement cost for a lost SI punch card is $40. SI cards are available for purchase from sportident.us.

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Scoring

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Competition Categories
Primary Male/Female 6th grade and under - White (Basic)
Open White 7th to 12th grade - White (Basic)
Intermediate Male 9th grade and under - Yellow (Intermediate)
Intermediate Female 9th grade and under - Yellow (Intermediate)
Open Yellow 10th to 12th grade - Yellow (Intermediate)
Jr Varsity Male 12th grade and under - Orange (Advanced)
Jr Varsity Female 12th grade and under - Orange (Advanced)
Varsity Male 12th grade and under - Green (Expert)
Varsity Female 12th grade and under - Brown if available, otherwise Green (Expert)

 

Each entry from a school or group competes separately for points. Scoring is based on your place on your course compared to other COOL entries in the same category that day. Varsity competitors who run up to longer courses will receive points based on their time as if they had run the shorter course. If you run as a group entry, the points are divided by the number of people running together. Participants who run as individuals will earn the most points:

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1st place - 50 points
2nd place - 47 points
3rd place - 45 points
4th place - 43 points
5th place - 41 points
6th place - 40 points

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In situations where the standard course structure is not used and students from varying categories are on the same course, you will be scored in the category you most recently ran in. You can not earn more points than someone from a lower category who performs better than you.

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For places beyond 6th the points will go down one point for each place. The lowest score an entry will earn for successful completion of the course within the time limit is 20 points. DNF or OT will score 1 point for each correct control punched within the time limit.

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Your individual overall league score will be the sum of your top five scores for the season. Ties will be broken by reducing the number of scores counted (i.e best four, best three, best two, best one)

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The best five individual scores from each school at each level (Primary, Intermediate, JV, Varsity) will be added to make up the school score for each event. The overall school league score at each level will be the sum of the top five school scores for the season.

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COOL League members serving as course setters for a League event will receive automatic points for that event. The points you earn will match placing points based on the number of course setters (see examples below). To earn setting points, you must be involved in course design and vetting, not just control hanging. Contact Clare for more information if you would like to volunteer to set at a COOL event.​

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Single course setter 50 points

Two people working together as course setters - 47 points each

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Awards

To be eligible to receive an individual award medal, you must participate in the same category at least three times. To be eligible to receive a school team trophy, you must field a team of at least three participants in the same category at least three times. It does not need to be the same three participants each time. Awards will be presented at the end of the season to the top three overall league scores in each category. Trophies will be presented to the top three schools at Primary, Intermediate, JV, and Varsity levels. COOL individuals with three or more scores at differing levels will be eligible for an award in the category in which they competed most often. An individual who has the same number of runs in multiple categories will be eligible for an award in the category in which their score is the highest. It is best to be consistent and enter the same category all season long. All COOL members receive the LAOC annual youth orienteering patch as a token of their participation in the league.

 

2025-2026 Season Schedule

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• November 16 - O'Neill

• December 14 - Red Rock Canyon

• January 11 - Vasquez Rocks

• February 1 - Santa Fe Dam, NJROTC Area Champs (Potential NRE)

• February 8 - Valentine Score-O, Schabarum (pending)

• ​February 22 - Kenneth Hahn​

• March 8 - Firestone - COOL Finals? (proposed - we had difficulty securing Firestone last year, so this may change)

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Volunteer Duty

Each group registering students for COOL will be asked to provide volunteer crew for at least one event during the season. Please let me know when you can help out. On the day that you help you should expect to arrive by 9:00 am and to leave between 3:00 and 4:00 pm.

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Contact

claredurand@gmail.com