There are two types of club defined by British Orienteering (BOF). Open membership clubs and Closed membership clubs.

Closed membership clubs restrict themselves to the orienteering needs of a specific institution (for example a University or the Police Force) and does not accept outside membership. A University student might belong to both their University 'closed club' and their local community 'open club' at the same time. This allows them to benefit from the activities of both clubs. They can compete for their University in competitions arranged with other educational institutions, without being barred from competing for their 'open club' in other team competitions.

The following closed membership clubs exist in the SWOA region: