Sooner or later it will happen to any Captain. That late Thursday evening call (...or maybe Friday) before a Tournament. It's a teammate informing their club that they cannot attend the flyball tournament they committed to weeks earlier. The reasons are varied. It can be dog injury or illness. It can be a family emergency or an employer. It really doesn't matter. What matters is that the best laid plans for a flyball weekend have now gone astray.
In the past, clubs faced with this dilemma had only two options: Declare themselves "FEO" or pull out of the tournament all together. Nobody likes pulling a team. They lose their entry and teams scheduled to race against a pulled entry were now forced to race a bye race for a time and NAFA points for a title.
This past weekend, at the Howl-o-Fest Tournament hosted by Canine Express, I had the good fortune to talk to two teams who had requested and been granted permission to run "Performance". It was an interesting mixture. Two separate clubs had teams in jeopardy because teammates had backed out of the weekend. The first club had called in the cavalry from a nearby club that they knew. Then, they received a call from a third club that was also in jeopardy because of multiple emergencies. They relayed that "S.O.S." to the club that was helping them out and more troops arrived. So, in the end, a club that was not originally entered in this tournament was providing temporary teammates and dogs for two other clubs. What unexpected fun!
Terms:
"FEO" means a team competes For Exhibition Only. A team cannot enter a tournament as an FEO team. Once a team declares it is FEO, it cannot return to regular competition. FEO teams cannot earn tournament points or NAFA points. FEO teams are ineligible for (tournament, division) placements and are placed in the lowest seed of any elimination rounds. An FEO team may not run if the opposing team raises an objection with the Head Judge. See NAFA Rules of Racing, Chapter 6 (e), (i-vi) Reporting for Races, for more information.
Performance teams include dogs that would otherwise be ineligible to compete because the dogs earned points on another club's team within the preceding 87 days. The intent is to allow teams that have already entered a tournament and find themselves unable to field a complete team the ability to compete. Consult the NAFA Official Rules of Racing, Corporate Policies and Procedures and By-Laws Appendix B for more information.
How does this work?
1) You must declare the team "Performance" prior to the start of racing. Once a team is declared to be Performance, it remains a Performance Team for the rest of the Tournament.
2) A dog's club affiliation is not affected by reason of running on a Performance Team.
3) A dog may be listed on an additional timesheet (double entered) provided the entry is in another class that allows a second entry. As an example, if the Performance Team is competing in the Regular Class, any dog listed on the Performance Team may also compete in the 4 Breed Class or the Open Class. It may not be listed on a team in the Veteran's Class since the Veteran's Class does not permit dogs entered in that class a second entry.
4) A Performance Team is not eligible for any tournament placements or awards.
5) A Performance Team will not be awarded any wins for races or heats.
6) Performance Teams cannot set a World Record Time.
7) Performance Teams cannot earn Regional Points.
8) Times recorded by a Performance Team are used to calculate NAFA points for titles for the dogs and no other purpose.
What is the "benefit"?
1) It allows Performance Teams to compete directly against regular seeded teams thus keeping divisions filled and competitive.
2) It keeps the competition "fun" by providing close racing among competitively seeded teams instead of the possible "bye" race created by a pulled team.
3) It allows teams to earn points towards NAFA titles making declaring Performance more valuable than declaring "FEO".
Conclusions
NAFA is testing the concept of temporary teams (pick up teams) for a period of one racing year. Performance Teams very closely resemble the current model presented by U-FLI. Both organizations allow temporary teams that include dogs that would otherwise be ineligible to be listed due to earning points on another club's team. Both organizations allow these temporary teams to remain seeded in the regular racing divisions. And, both organizations allow dogs competing on these temporary teams to earn points towards titles.
In addition, both organizations do not allow temporary teams to earn race or heat wins. They do not allow tournament or divisional placements. They do not recognize "record" times to be recorded by temporary teams. NAFA does not allow Regional Points to be earned by temporary teams. U-FLI has no regions and thus, no counterpart to NAFA's policy.
The only difference in treatment of temporary teams between NAFA and U-FLI is that NAFA does not allow a team to declare itself "Performance" after a tournament has commenced racing. It's a minor difference. Since it is a one year pilot program, that question can be re-visited during the year-end review and adjustments made if feedback from the NAFA community justifies it.
Good Luck & Good Racing!
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