NAFA ® NEWS

Executive Director's Corner

I am pleased to announce that NAFA^® will once again be represented in the obedience publication "FRONT and FINISH". They have agreed to publish the articles which will be written by Judy Hagan (Hawkeye Hustlers Fame). We would like the cooperation of all members and hope that all Flyball people who compete in the obedience ring will share their triumphs even the funny failures with Judy so that the obedience world learns just how smart our Flyball Dogs really are. Send any contributions for the monthly articles to:

From the Starting Line

You would think that being able to sit down on the job all day would be the easiest job to have at a tournament. You would be wrong. The LINE JUDGES have many responsibilities. In addition to judging the race, the line judge records some of the statistical information needed at the tournament. This is the same information NAFA uses to compute our dog's Flyball points. It is the responsibility of the team captain to present the lineup to their respective judge. The captain may delegate this responsibility to a team member. Once the line judge records this information we are ready to begin racing.

The head judge will check with the table and the line judges to see if all the switches are set on the Electronic Judging System, or if the stop watches are reset for manual timing, so that the race can begin. The line judge watches the start finish line to ensure that the dog does not cross the line before the signal. A false start is indicated by a red light on the bottom of tree for electronic starting, or by the line judge's eye in the case of manual starting. All early starts are signalled by the waving of a flag by the respective line judge. A line judge is only responsible for flagging infractions occurring in their own lane. During the race the judge will also check for dropped ball, missed jumps, early passes, or any other infractions of the Rules of Racing. When the last dog is running, the line judge will set the switch on the EJS to the LAST DOG position, usually as the dog has cleared the third jump on the return, or stop the watch for manual timing when the dog crosses the finish line. The winner of the heat is determined by the fastest time on the clock for EJS, or by the agreement of the line judges if manual timing is used. When the line judges do not agree, or the difference between the time clocks of the EJS is .003 seconds or less, the head judge will call a tie.

Now that the Electronic Judging System is available to all sanctioned tournaments in North America, many people have come forward to line judge. However on some occasions all or part of the electronic may fail. Line judges may find themselves in a tough situation. They must trust their own eyes when calling starts, passes and finishes. Being consistent is important. For many judges, the standards of the EJS aid them in making their calls. Calling the finish is sometimes the hardest call to make. It is generally easier to see the finish if you watch the center of the ring rather than you own lane. The stop watches are not used to determine the winner. So calling the finish by sight is most important.

If you are fortunate to have full use of the EJS, there are a few points to remember. Before the race be sure the line judge's switch is set to the START position. As the dog crosses the start line, immediately check the lights on the tree for a false start. As each pass is made, check the top light of the tree for a bad pass. The passing light will only stay lit for about two seconds. If you follow the dog starting down the track you should be in position to see any of the lights when they flash. Before the last dog crosses the finish line, be sure to set the line judges switch to LAST DOG. Once the LASTDOG switch is set, LEAVE IT ALONE. If the last dog makes a mistake and must run again no time will be recorded. The head judge and the table will supply a time based on the average time of the team and how many dogs ran.Do not reset the switch until the head judge resets the main switch. Resetting the switch may interfere with the timer and the finish times may vanish. After the heat, mark the win or loss. Also fill in the time (manual timing only) no finishes or forfeits when they occur. This will stop the table from writing times when they have not been earned.

Reminder...Nominations...Reminder

NAFA Committees

Recording Secretary:

Susan Borup

Secretary/Treasurer:

Melanie Davidson

Finance (Vice Chairman):

Katy Kaylor

By-laws & Trademarks:

Noel Kujawski and Susan Borup (Assistant)

Regulatory:

Steve McAvoy

Marketing & Promotion:

Katy Kaylor and Alan Weiner (assistant)

Membership:

Alan Weiner

Public Relations:

Glenn Hamilton

Judges & Guidelines

Sue Borup, Val Culpin (assistant), and Alan Weiner (assistant)

Lights (US):

Clyde Moore

Lights (Canada):

Vacant (Interim: R Murray)

Hall of Fame:

Katy Kaylor

Words from the Chairman

Next Board Meeting in Detroit.

The Board's intention at the February 3, 1996 meeting was to have our July meeting in Vancouver, B.C. After receiving prices for air fares and hotel rooms, it was evident that the costs were going to be too high. We must apologize to the Flyball^TMpeople in Western Canada and the USA, we will certainly miss meeting these people.

We then decided to go to the least expensive location, which turned out to be Detroit. With Steve McAvoy and Susan Borop driving from Illinois. Glenn Hamilton, Mel Davidson and myself driving from Ontario, and Clyde Moore walking from Flint, MI. (SURE) this brought the cost down to a more manageable amount. We will still be flying in: Katy Kaylor, Val Culpin, Alan Weiner and Noel Kujawski. I am feeling confident that the accomplishments of the meeting will be well worth the efforts. The Final Word by Steve McAvoy The question has arisen as to whether dogs must have the ball in their mouth when they cross the start/finish line. This is covered in Rule 6.16(b)"Each dog must hurdle the jumps in succession, trigger the box, and return over all the jumps with the ball in its mouth". The dog MUST have the ball its mouth when it crosses the finish line. If the ball is not in the dogs mouth when it crosses the finish line, it would considered a fault, the dog must be flagged, and make a rerun in order to finish the heat.