An independent school in Liphook has made its debut on the national orienteering circuit.

And after successfully staging a Trail League fixture as part of this year’s British Championships, Highfield and Brookham Schools has been put on the orienteering map.

Trail orienteering – or TrailO – is a sport which puts the emphasis firmly on precision map reading to identify control points in a specific terrain, with the challenge of decoys to confuse competitors.

Where it differs from standard orienteering is that speed and time are largely inconsequential, making TrailO ideal for competitors young and old, disabled and able-bodied.

Because control points are identified from distance and competitors aren’t allowed to leave the trails, participants with or without physical disabilities compete on level terms.

Unlike other forms of orienteering which involve the competitors visiting the control and punching in, trail orienteering is done from distance in the form of multiple-choice questions which test a competitor’s ability to determine where a specific control point is faced with several options.

The British Trail League fixture – which saw competitors race around Golden Valley and Cognor Wood, near Liphook, including land owned by Bill Mills, the owner of Highfield and Brookham Schools – was won by Michael Chun Chi Tsang of the Wessex Club with Anne Straube (Octavian Droobers) in second and Kieran Marsh (South London Orienteers) third. Mr Mills presented prizes after the race.

Phillip Evitt, headmaster at Highfield School, said: “Many generations of schoolchildren at Highfield have learned valuable skills and techniques through orienteering within our curriculum and I know I speak for Mr Mills when I say how proud and delighted we are to have been chosen for a British Championship fixture.

“Hopefully it will be the first of many.”