NAFA ® News

Volume 1, Number 4, November 1995
The Official Newsletter of the North American Flyball Association
The NAFA News is published by North American Flyball Association (NAFA) as a means of formal communication between the Board and the individual competitors. It is published bi-monthly and distributed free of charge to all registered Delegates, Team Captains, and Officials. The information contained is intended for all competitors to see. Delegates are urged to copy or post the NAFA News for all their team members to read.

Articles of a broader interest to Flyball enthusiasts are published in The Finish Line.

Copyright © 1995 by NAFA. Contents may be reproduced for use by members of teams associated with NAFA. Others may reproduce providing credit is given to NAFA.

In this Issue:

From The Starting Line

by Dennis Wieske

It has been almost two years since the electronic starting, timing and passing lights have been available to tournament directors all around North America. In that time, the level of competition has become such that all competitors have an equal chance of winning their division. In my opinion, the lights have made way for some very exciting Flyball competition. It has also made it easier for a tournament director to find someone willing to be a line judge (now that they dont have to call the passes). Still, the line judges responsibilities are formidable. Tournaments now average over seven races an hour. That is a lot of activity on the lines. I applaud everyone who is willing and able to meet the challenge of being a line judge. However, there seems to be a trend towards the line judges not being up to meeting these responsibilities.

It may look easy but it is not. A good line judge knows the rules and has an understanding of how a tournament is run. This means that a tournament director must carefully choose those people who will be sitting on the line. After all, sitting on the line for the whole weekend, watching dogs run back and forth, is not an easy task. The individual chosen should be someone you would want to sit on the line when you were trying to win your division. We, as competitors, must also be willing to put as much dedication and commitment into judging, as we put into our racing. We must all work on this problem together, in order to insure that all our tournaments run at high standards.

Executive Directors Corner

by Clyde Moore

As I read through the list of Approved Head Judges the other day, I noticed many names who I dont believe have judged a tournament in the last three to four years, if ever. Many have not judged under the Electronic Judging System that we are now using at nearly all sanctioned tournaments. At this time I would like to ask all of the judges that I have just described to either solicit an assignment where they can judge a division at a tournament under another judge or consider having their name removed from the list of Approved Head Judges. Because of the need for judges, I hope many of you will volunteer to judge a division in the near future. If you dont feel that you will want to judge in the future, please notify Clyde Moore or Dave Samuels.

The following is the list of Head Judges, approved and provisional.

NAFA Approved Judges:

NAFA Provisional Judges:

Words from the Chairman

by Bob Murray

As neither Dave Samuels or Kevin Hughes are running for re-election to the Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank both of them for all their hard work. Im sure both will continue to promote Flyball activities in the future.

It was a real pleasure to meet a lot of Flyball people in Houston, now I'm looking forward to meeting the Flyball people in Minnesota on November 10, 11 & 12. The board has had a busy year with many accomplishments and problems solved. Best of the season to everybody.

Note to all Regional Directors

by Clyde Moore

At the Board meeting held on July 14, 1995 in Houston, the Board voted unanimously to adopt the following:

This means that in the case of a best 3 out of 5 format, you will not be allowed to run any more heats after one team has won three heats. The same principle holds for 2 out of 3 formats, so to guarantee more heats per race you might want to go to a 3 out of 5. If tournament directors want to run 5 heats in a race they would have to use a scoring system where each heat counts.

The Final Word

by Steve McAvoy

Rule 6:16(d) Box Malfunction

The proper procedure to follow when a box malfunctions during a heat is as follows:

  1. The box loader should indicate to the box judge that there is a malfunction. (It is recommended that the box loader step in front of the box and stop the heat.)
  2. The box judge notifies the head judge that there is a possible malfunction.
  3. The heat is stopped so that the box may be inspected. (Some judges may allow the other team to go ahead and finish their heat before inspecting the box.)
  4. After inspecting the box, if the head judge believes the box malfunctioned, the heat will be rerun. If he finds the box to be working properly, the heat will be forfeited to the opposing team. (For this reason teams should instruct their box loaders and other personnel not to attempt to repair or in any way tamper with the box until it has been inspected by the head judge.)
If you have any questions concerning this or other rules and your rule book does not completely answer your question, contact me and I will be glad to help you understand the rules.

Steve McAvoy, Chairman, Regulatory Committee