What is Flyball?
Flyball is the fast growing sport of dog relay racing. The North American Flyball Association (NAFA) has governed and promoted the sport for the United States and Canada since the early '80s, and is responsible for molding the sport into what we know today. In 2005, the United Flyball League International organization (U-FLI) was created as an alternative governing body for the sport and we look forward to seeing what this new authority will have to offer this sport as it evolves.
Regardless of which organization sanctions the tournament, a flyball race consists of two teams of four dogs taking turns racing over hurdles to trigger specially designed boxes and return with the balls ejected from them. This is a fast-paced, family friendly sport with a lot of action.
In a tournament, the NAFA hurdles can be between 8" and 16" high, while the U-FLI hurdles can be between 6" and 12". This height is set by the shortest dog on the team, so fast small dogs are usually in high demand. The hurdles are spaced ten feet apart, with six feet between the start line and the first jump and fifteen feet between the last jump and the flyball box, for a total racing lane length of fifty-one feet. Two lanes are spaced at least ten feet apart and two teams compete against each other to determine the winner of the race.
NAFA Scoring:
Dogs are awarded points toward titles based on the team's time to complete the race. Each of four dogs runs in turn, but if a dog makes a mistake, such as dropping the ball or missing a jump, that dog must re-run, incurring a time penalty for the team. If all four dogs complete the racing pattern in under 32 seconds, each dog on the team is awarded 1 point. If all dogs complete the pattern in under 28 seconds, each dog is awarded 5 points. And if all dogs complete the pattern in under 24 seconds, each dog is awarded 25 points.
NAFA Titles are awarded to dogs with the following accumulation of points:
Flyball Dog (FD) 20 points
Flyball Dog Excellent (FDX) 100 points
Flyball Dog Champion (FDCh) 500 points
Flyball Dog Champion Silver (FDCh-S) 1000 points
Flyball Dog Champion Gold (FDCh-G) 2500 points
Flyball Master (FM) 5000 points
Flyball Master Excellent (FMX) 10000 points
Flyball Master Champion (FMCh) 15000 points
ONYX 20000 points
Flyball Grand Champion (FGDCh) 30000 points
Hobbes Award 100000 points
U-FLI Scoring:
Dogs are awarded points toward titles based on the team's time to complete the race. Each of four dogs runs in turn, but if a dog makes a mistake, such as dropping the ball or missing a jump, that dog must re-run, incurring a time penalty for the team. If all four dogs complete the racing pattern in under 35 seconds, each dog on the team is awarded 10 points. If all dogs complete the pattern in under 30 seconds, each dog is awarded 15 points. If all dogs complete the pattern in under 25 seconds, each dog is awarded 25 points. And if all dogs complete the pattern in under 20 seconds, each dog is awarded 30 points.
In addition, each dog on a winning team will be awarded 5 points for each heat won.
U-FLI Titles are awarded to dogs with the following accumulation of points:
Top Flight (TF)............................................100 points
TF-I...............................................................500 points
TF-II..............................................................750 points
TF-III...........................................................1000 points
Top Flight Executive (TFE).....................2500 points
TFE-I..........................................................4000 points
TFE-II.........................................................5500 points
TFE-III........................................................7000 points
Top Flight Premier (TFP)........................9500 points
TFP-I.......................................................12000 points
TFP-II......................................................14500 points
TFP-III.....................................................17000 points
Top Flight First Class (TFFC)..............20500 points
TFFC-I.....................................................24000 points
TFFC-II....................................................27500 points
TFFC-III...................................................31000 points
Top Flight World Class (TFWC)..........35500 points
TFWC-I...................................................40000 points
TFWC-II..................................................44500 points
TFWC-III.................................................49000 points
Top Flight Extreme (TFX)....................54500 points
TFX-I.......................................................60000 points
TFX-II......................................................65500 points
TFX-III.....................................................71000 points
Top Flight Ultimate (TFU).....................77500 points
TFU-I.......................................................84000 points
TFU-II......................................................90500 points
TFU-III......................................................97000 points
U-FLI also awards milestone plaques at point accumulations of 20,000, 35,000, 50,000, 75,000, and 100,000.
Flyball is the fast growing sport of dog relay racing. The North American Flyball Association (NAFA) has governed and promoted the sport for the United States and Canada since the early '80s, and is responsible for molding the sport into what we know today. In 2005, the United Flyball League International organization (U-FLI) was created as an alternative governing body for the sport and we look forward to seeing what this new authority will have to offer this sport as it evolves.
Regardless of which organization sanctions the tournament, a flyball race consists of two teams of four dogs taking turns racing over hurdles to trigger specially designed boxes and return with the balls ejected from them. This is a fast-paced, family friendly sport with a lot of action.
In a tournament, the NAFA hurdles can be between 8" and 16" high, while the U-FLI hurdles can be between 6" and 12". This height is set by the shortest dog on the team, so fast small dogs are usually in high demand. The hurdles are spaced ten feet apart, with six feet between the start line and the first jump and fifteen feet between the last jump and the flyball box, for a total racing lane length of fifty-one feet. Two lanes are spaced at least ten feet apart and two teams compete against each other to determine the winner of the race.
NAFA Scoring:
Dogs are awarded points toward titles based on the team's time to complete the race. Each of four dogs runs in turn, but if a dog makes a mistake, such as dropping the ball or missing a jump, that dog must re-run, incurring a time penalty for the team. If all four dogs complete the racing pattern in under 32 seconds, each dog on the team is awarded 1 point. If all dogs complete the pattern in under 28 seconds, each dog is awarded 5 points. And if all dogs complete the pattern in under 24 seconds, each dog is awarded 25 points.
NAFA Titles are awarded to dogs with the following accumulation of points:
Flyball Dog (FD) 20 points
Flyball Dog Excellent (FDX) 100 points
Flyball Dog Champion (FDCh) 500 points
Flyball Dog Champion Silver (FDCh-S) 1000 points
Flyball Dog Champion Gold (FDCh-G) 2500 points
Flyball Master (FM) 5000 points
Flyball Master Excellent (FMX) 10000 points
Flyball Master Champion (FMCh) 15000 points
ONYX 20000 points
Flyball Grand Champion (FGDCh) 30000 points
Hobbes Award 100000 points
U-FLI Scoring:
Dogs are awarded points toward titles based on the team's time to complete the race. Each of four dogs runs in turn, but if a dog makes a mistake, such as dropping the ball or missing a jump, that dog must re-run, incurring a time penalty for the team. If all four dogs complete the racing pattern in under 35 seconds, each dog on the team is awarded 10 points. If all dogs complete the pattern in under 30 seconds, each dog is awarded 15 points. If all dogs complete the pattern in under 25 seconds, each dog is awarded 25 points. And if all dogs complete the pattern in under 20 seconds, each dog is awarded 30 points.
In addition, each dog on a winning team will be awarded 5 points for each heat won.
U-FLI Titles are awarded to dogs with the following accumulation of points:
Top Flight (TF)............................................100 points
TF-I...............................................................500 points
TF-II..............................................................750 points
TF-III...........................................................1000 points
Top Flight Executive (TFE).....................2500 points
TFE-I..........................................................4000 points
TFE-II.........................................................5500 points
TFE-III........................................................7000 points
Top Flight Premier (TFP)........................9500 points
TFP-I.......................................................12000 points
TFP-II......................................................14500 points
TFP-III.....................................................17000 points
Top Flight First Class (TFFC)..............20500 points
TFFC-I.....................................................24000 points
TFFC-II....................................................27500 points
TFFC-III...................................................31000 points
Top Flight World Class (TFWC)..........35500 points
TFWC-I...................................................40000 points
TFWC-II..................................................44500 points
TFWC-III.................................................49000 points
Top Flight Extreme (TFX)....................54500 points
TFX-I.......................................................60000 points
TFX-II......................................................65500 points
TFX-III.....................................................71000 points
Top Flight Ultimate (TFU).....................77500 points
TFU-I.......................................................84000 points
TFU-II......................................................90500 points
TFU-III......................................................97000 points
U-FLI also awards milestone plaques at point accumulations of 20,000, 35,000, 50,000, 75,000, and 100,000.
