Motives for participation in tourist orienteering STUDIES IN PHYSICAL CULTURE AND TOURISM Vol. 18, No. 2, 2011 PIOTR CYCH, ELŻBIETA KROMPIEWSKA, WERONIKA MACHOWSKA Department of Sport Science, University School of Physical Education in Wrocław, Poland MOTIVES FOR PARTICIPATION IN TOURIST ORIENTEERING Key words: orienteering, motivation, tourist form of orienteering. ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine motives for participation in the tourist form of orienteering popular in Poland. The collected data can be used to understand better the reasons for competing in tourist orienteering events and to encourage prospective orienteering participants. Data was collected with the use of a questionnaire. The most frequent motives for participation in the tourist form of orienteering were found to be intellectual attractiveness of such events, call for activity, contact with nature and meeting friends. Three main obstacles limiting participation in orienteering include lack of time, money and health. INTRODUCTION According to the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) orienteering is “wayfinding between controls drawn on the map and put in the terrain”. The etymology of the name is rooted in the word “orient”, which means “to orientate” or “to state location starting from the east” [10]. When we say orienteering, we usually mean its most popular, competitive form conceived in Scandinavia at the end of the 19 th century [14]. It should be kept in mind, however, that after World War Two a tourist, more recreational, form of orienteering became widespread in eastern and central Europe. The most known orienteering types include mountain bike orienteering, ski orienteering and foot orienteering. The last one is “an endurance sport consisting in finding controls marked on the map in proper order as fast as possible” [10, p. 9]. Foot orienteering can be subdivided into individual, relay, sprint, short, classic and long distance races held during day or night time. Performance of each of these forms requires a number of specific skills [3, 20]. According to Myrvold, the “tourist” form of orienteering has now completely disappeared [14]. This is, however, not true in Poland, where this form of orienteering is still alive and quite well developed. Orienteering events in Poland such as the Polish Championships, Polish Cup and many others attract up to 1000 participants each. The PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) is the organization which coordinates and regulates the orienteering movement in Poland [20]. The scales and types of orienteering maps may vary from very precise ones (1:1000), through typical between 1:5000 and 1:15000 to cartographic maps of usually bad quality on a 1:20000 scale. The Polish “tourist” form of orienteering differs in some ways from the worldwide orienteering variants. In the tourist formula the time necessary to cover an orienteering course is not as much important as in sports orienteering. Competitors have only a time limit calculated to walk the course rather than to run it; however, one can often see orienteers running the course as their time runs out. In the tourist form of orienteering participants usually Correspondence should be addressed to: Piotr Cych, Aleja Paderewskiego 35, 51-612 Wrocław, fax: +48 713158059, e-mail: piotr.cych@awf.wroc.pl 175