The Silva Award is presented to a member of the orienteering community who has gone above-and-beyond the call of duty for the sport. At the Awards presentation at the South African Orienteering Championships, Nicholas Mulder became the first repeat recipient of the award.
“And I can’t think of anyone more deserving,” says Garry Morrison, President of the South African Orienteering Federation (SAOF). “Over the past two years Nicholas has put a tremendous amount into the sport.”
Mulder was nominated for the award, which he first won in 2001 by two Johannesburg orienteering clubs, Rand Orienteering Club (ROC) and Rand Athletics Club Orienteering (RACO). In their motivations the clubs commended Mulder’s work in mapping large areas for both the 2011 and 2012 SA Orienteering Championships as well as updating maps of large areas of forests in the Belfast area.
He was also instrumental in getting the five day ‘Big Five O’ event off the ground in January 2012. This was South Africa’s first five-day event and will continue to be held every second year.
Mulder has had the role of High Performance Manager, within the SAOF, for the past two years. In this time he has hosted training camps and he develops training plans for the squad of selected junior orienteers. He also provides ongoing coaching to the squad and manages the team at the annual Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC).
In addition, Mulder has been a regular and consistent competitor at the annual World Orienteering Championships (WOC). His dedicated preparation has yielded several notable results.
“Nicholas is a great asset to the sport of orienteering in South Africa,” adds Morrison. “Not only has he done all this, but he continues to be an active member of his club in planning and controlling his fair share of events.”
In Morrison’s 2012 Annual Report he presented a call-to-action to the orienteering community (courtesy of John F. Kennedy) – ‘Ask not what Orienteering can do for you, but what you can do for Orienteering’.
“He certainly embodies my call to action,” says Morrison. “By winning the award for the second time, Nicholas demonstrates that winning the Silva Award does not mean past recipients should retire from making a difference. I hope to see more repeat winners from our community in years to come.”
Image: from Rand Orienteering Club