Yes...I am Running for the NAFA Board

NAFA Board of Directors nominations announced

Every year, NAFA's Board members are elected for three-year terms. Terms of office are staggered so that approximately one-third of the board members' terms will expire each year. No NAFA Board member may serve for more than two full consecutive terms.

Once every three years, the term for the Executive Director also expires.

This year, both the Executive Director and three NAFA BoD terms expire. It has been announced on the NAFA website who has been nominated to fill these positions.

......and, yes. My name is among those seeking a position on the NAFA Board of Directors. My reasons for doing so are embedded in who I am so, I would like to introduce myself:

Hi! My name is Chris VanWert. I have been doing "dog" stuff all my life. My interest in dogs began with my parents who raised Papillons and showed them in AKC Conformation classes beginning in the 1950's.

Personal History

A NAFA Board member is an unpaid volunteer. I believe so much in "volunteering" that I spent 5 years (1973-1978) serving this country in the U.S. Navy. From that experience, I learned how to deal with difficult situations. The Navy doesn't expect natural born leaders. The Navy trains its personnel to become leaders.

After leaving the Navy, I came home and followed in the footsteps of my parents raising and showing AKC Papillons. I supported my sister's interest in AKC Dog Obedience competition. Her interest led to her joining the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club. In turn, I took classes at the AADTC . Through our involvement in the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club, we were introduced to the sport of flyball around 1981. This was prior to the creation of NAFA.

Flyball

Sometime during 1999, I joined a new team called "Runnin' Ruff". It was through this team that I acquired Eddie. Eddie had been trained to do flyball by my sister but, she didn't have time to handle him and so she gave him to me fully trained. I later acquired a Miniature Australian Shepherd I named Blast. I trained Blast and handled both Eddie and Blast beyond the 40,000 NAFA points level. I also have two "new" flyball dogs. Strut is a Miniature Australian Shepherd and Pivot, a Jack Russell Terrier.

My current team is the Wooferines Flyball Team. I am responsible for creation and maintenance of the Wooferines website.

I have served on the NAFA Nominating Committee for three years. I also was the special project manager in charge of creating vinyl banners that are displayed at NAFA tournaments celebrating NAFA's 20 years of flyball. NAFA should take advantage of every opportunity to market NAFA and promote the sport of flyball. The delegates have an "ownership" stake in NAFA and it is important for the NAFA BoD to encourage a partnership role for the delegates in major decisions that have a far reaching impact on our sport. A copy of my nomination letter can be found here.

Vision

The future for NAFA is a bright one. Flyball is about having fun with your dogs and other dog lovers. It's about bragging rights for accomplishments. The "driving force" that built this sport is the camaraderie enjoyed by people who live with and train dogs.

I have introduced a proposal for Divisional Championships that is designed to recognize the skill and competitiveness of teams that do not race in Division 1. Although it is a rough draft and not quite ready for adoption, I support the concept of recognition for teams in all divisions that the Divisional Championships proposal represents. I encourage everyone to read my proposal and offer suggestions on how to improve the concept presented.

Open Communication

I have an "open door" policy for communication with the flyball community. I only speak for myself and no other entity. Your concerns and issues are my concerns and issues. You can be sure that I will listen and try to find common ground among all parties. Ultimately, it is the delegates that own this organization and their choice that determines NAFA's direction. I will work to insure that the viewpoint of the delegates is sought and followed. No single Director on the Board has the "answer" to the issues that confront NAFA today. We must all learn to work together-Regional Directors, delegates, The Executive Director and the NAFA Board-to find the solutions that will work best for NAFA.

This blog is an open forum for all topics in the flyball community. I encourage you to write to me at chrisandblast@hotmail.com or chrisandblast@gmail.com and tell me your concerns, ask me about my opinions or offer your suggestions and I will answer in private and/or on this blog.

Good luck and good racing!

NAFA Board of Directors nominations announced

NEW! Email Subscription Service Powered by FeedBlitz!

I am grateful to my readers and I sincerely hope that I offer a service that is of value. I am pleased to announce that I have added FeedBlitz email subscription service to this blog. Now, you can get the latest edition of "It's Just an Opinion..." delivered right to your email inbox.

FeedBlitz is easy to use. It is a "double opt-in" subscription which means after you fill in your name and email in the box on the right side column, you click "Get Email Updates". Then, you will receive an email and a link which you will have to click again to confirm your subscription. I have tested this system out and it works beautifully! No more "missed" posts. And, the emails are easy to read with links to recent posts which allows the reader to catch up if they haven't visited the blog in a while. FeedBlitz also provides an easy way to "unsub" yourself in each email sent.

Tell your friends and family and TEAM mates if "It's Just an Opinion..." has helped you in any way. ....and, please, add your comments to any post here. This blog exists for all who love flyball!

Good Luck and Good Racing!

The Challenge of Hosting

I was browsing through the NAFA Website looking at the current Tournament schedule and I was amazed to learn that out of 381 "active clubs" only somewhere between a third and one half host a tournament.

I think we should give special recognition to these "Hosting clubs" because without them, there would be no points earned, no titles earned because there would be no tournaments to play in!

Hosting an event is a lot of hard work. You have to find a venue and secure it. Some venues require a non-refundable deposit.

You have to find equipment such as jumps, backstops, tables and chairs. Some Regions hold their events primarily indoors because of possible inclement weather. They usually use mats to provide solid footing for both the dogs and their handlers.

You have to find workers who set up the ring and workers who keep the ring and grounds clean. You have to super clean up and tear down the ring at the end.

You have to provide "judges" both at the line, box and table AND an approved Head Judge for the sanctioning body you are hosting your event under. ....and, it really helps if you have a computer and the proper software for scoring at the table.

You have to provide prizes though, I know of a few events that advertise "no frills" flyball -- just racing for points and placements. It's not required but, some clubs go in the opposite direction and have huge "Welcome" baskets/packages and a Raffle table in addition to prizes for placements.

Yes, it's certainly alot of work and I just wanted anyone who who helps out with these tasks for hosting that I and many, MANY others really appreciate all that they do to put on an event.

Take a bow, Hosting Clubs! Take a bow!

Good Luck and Good Racing!

Advocate Responsible Dog Ownership

It was brought home to me this weekend that we all need to be aware that when we are participating in flyball in any capacity, we may be influencing those "outside" of flyball and even outside of dog training. If we want our sport to grow (...and, I think we all do because as it grows, we all have more opportunity to have fun playing flyball) then, we have to make the most of these opportunities to promote flyball and promote "responsible dog ownership".

A woman had contacted me through the Wooferines website. I had designed that website to attract newcomers to the sport of flyball. I gave her a call and invited her to visit us at a flyball tournament that was occurring that weekend. She was delighted to have the invitation and she did show up to watch and talk to us.

Once she showed up, it was obvious that she was more than just intimidated. It was almost fear. She wasn't sure her dog could do flyball because her breeder had given her such dire warnings about never letting her dog go "off-leash". (She owned a 10 month old Whippet). She was afraid that if she let him off-leash for any reason he would run away and she would never get him back. I decided to introduce her to a team that had some Whippets.


As it turned out, there was a "lure-coursing" meet scheduled for the following weekend. They invited her to it and I encouraged her to go. I told her it was an opportunity to learn more about Whippets and Whippet behavior. I said to her, "Of course, I would love to have you take up flyball with your dog. ...but, more than that, I want you to learn about what motivates your dog's behavior because, that's all we do as dog trainers, anyway. We understand dog behavior and use that understanding to encourage behavior we want and discourage behavior we don't want."

We went back to my trailer and viewed a DVD of my team in a previous tournament. It was a perfect opportunity to see what flyball is without all the noise as a distraction. I re-emphasized that she would enjoy her dog more if she got involved in some kind of dog training. I said, "Once you understand how to train your dog, you won't be so afraid to let him off-leash in the proper environment because you'll know what that environment is and what to expect. Trust me, you'll enjoy your Whippet more and he will enjoy you."

I'm hoping she'll take that advice. We all have a stake in encouraging responsible dog ownership.

Good Luck and Good Racing!

The New Trend: Flyball Blogs

I've noticed a new trend among flyball teams and individuals that I seem to be a part of: Flyball Blogs.

I started my own Flyball Blog because I wanted to give people looking for information about flyball a different place to go that was a little bit more personal. Flyball is about dog training which is building a "one on one" relationship with your dog. Whether or not someone wants to play flyball with their dog, I want them to enhance their relationship with their dog no matter what dog sport they choose to get involved in.

I did a little Search Engine browsing and uncovered Cascade Comets Blogspot. It is very informative and makes good use of video to illustrate their points. The Cascade Comets Dog Sports Club is based in and around Seattle, WA and focuses on Flyball and other dog sports. The purpose of their blog is to provide a history of their training techniques and team events.

Unorthodogs Dog Blog is somewhat older than the flyball blogs previously mentioned with archives that date back to November 2006. They have a delightful mixture of dog training, tournament experience, video and plain ol' "flyball humor". I'm really looking forward to reading and viewing all they've got there.

Sure Shots Flyball Blog is focused pretty much on their personal training philosophy. They have a "no-nonsense" approach to training with the "expectation" that their dogs will give it their all. I find a lot of what they say intriguing and I can't wait to try some of what they suggest in practice.

I have added links to the blogs mentioned in this post to the side of this blog so that my readers will find it easy to check them out as I hope they will. Flyball is about "community" and helping each other out.

Now, I just know because I've written this post, I'm going to get email suggesting more sites and blogs that I failed to mention here. Well, I hope I've got you reading and searching the internet for some more good sources of more information. I think it's exactly what we need.

Good Reading,
Good Luck and Good Racing!

Getting Started: Flyball Resources

Flyball Newbie

"I want to do flyball but, I don't know how to get started. Help!"

Flyball has benefited from the incredible growth of the internet. All a new person interested in learning about flyball needs to do is punch in a search for flyball and many websites will pop up to point the way.

A good place to begin is the various flyball sanctioning organizations. Here in the US and Canada there is the North American Flyball Association. NAFA was organized in the mid 1980's and was the first sanctioning body to formally organize flyball. Another flyball sanctioning body operating in the US/Canada sphere is the United Flyball League, International.

Various other flyball sanctioning organizations located worldwide are:
British Flyball Association
Belgian Flyball Federation
Australian Flyball Association
Flyball in Germany
South African Flyball Dog Association

Another site that is privately maintained is The Flyball Homepage. This site contains links to flyball teams, equipment, flyball in the "News", a Flyball FAQ page and The Flyball E-mail List. "The List" as it is sometimes refered to has a subscriber base of well over 1000 people worldwide and is an indispensable source of information for all things "flyball".

Flyball.com is a message board that offers those who register a FREE e-mail account!

"Push the Limits" Flyball Team maintains Flyball Chat. Chat Nights are Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning at 8:00 pm Atlantic Time or anytime. Flyball Chat began in 1999 and remains a popular way to "meet & greet" flyballers from everywhere. If you have questions about how to get started, you will meet people here who can help you.

Good Luck and Good Racing!

Good Sportsmanship. What Does That Mean?

Flyball is unique in that it is the only dog sport that I know that requires a team of humans in order to participate. Dog sledding has a team of dogs but only requires one musher for the team. Flyball involves not only one handler for each dog but, an additional human must load the flyball box. It also helps to have a ball shagger to pickup those confounded loose balls and someone calling passes at the line.

So, it is extremely important that each person on the team contributes to the "teamwork" of the team. No dog can earn points for a heat unless all four dogs cross the line over the jumps with their ball under the allotted time. A three dog finish won't earn points. The dogs need us to accomplish this task. .....and, we need each other.

Good Sportsmanship is the brother to Teamwork. Since people are so important for a team to function successfully (and, in flyball, that means getting credit for points), I regard the people on a team to be at least as important as are the dogs. In the name of "competitiveness", some people have forgotten this. Winning becomes so important that they lose sight of that. In the quest for the fastest team, they make choices that negatively impact others.

We all have choices to make. ....but, when those choices impact others (such as, which dogs are running on which team? or, who's handling who's dog?) we need to be sensitive to others feelings. That is "internal" team sportsmanship. Be aware that someone thinks their dog is the "best" in the world even if it takes that dog 8 seconds to go down & back.

Conversely, as individuals, we need to be realistic about what our dog can do. We need to think about the team as a whole and if your dog is not ready to compete (drops ball, goes around jumps or is prone to crossover) then you need to be mature enough to recognize that and be ok with sitting out until your dog's issues are successfully worked through.

If we work well as a team with each other, then displaying good sportmanship in the ring should be a breeze. It is the competition itself that matters. Not who "wins" and who "loses". If you think about it, you need that other team racing on the other side for, without them, it's just not Flyball!

Good Luck and Good Racing!