A few weeks ago, a spectator came up to me at a flyball tournament, asked me about my dog and then asked how she could get started in flyball. Cool. This person was on the right track. She was curious and she was proactive. She even knew one of the flyball websites by name!
The interesting thing was the tournament she had just watched was hosted by another flyball organization. Surprise! And, does it make a difference to someone new to flyball?
This new person is lucky because she lives in an area where both U-FLI and NAFA tournaments are held. (Not all areas have both.) She has the opportunity to visit each organizations' tournaments and talk to their representatives or their participants. She can gather information first-hand and discover what might best suit her needs.
If she assumed all flyball is the same, to a degree she'd be correct. The game, itself, is pretty much the same no matter what organization it falls under. But there are differences which if you're new to the sport you may not know until after you are a long ways into your flyball hobby.
How about shortening the learning curve a little. If we explore both U-FLI and NAFA, each is vastly different in how they are operate.
Chapter One
U-FLI is a free-enterprise business organization. Its leadership is by private ownership. It does not have public voting among its participants and its customer base is its flyball participants. Just like a regular business it strives to respond to its customers needs and wants. If it does not, the company's bottom line will show it and presumably changes are made in support of an overall goal of increased customer satisfaction.
NAFA is a non-profit organization. Its leadership is by a Board of Directors, Officers and an Executive Director. It provides (limited) voting among its delegate vote holders on specifically-chosen topics and it conducts annual elections for some of its leadership positions. It has no members or customers. Its business operates similar to our government which includes politics, special interest groups and power-struggles in its decision-making. Technically speaking, the BoD, Officers and the Executive Director are able to make whatever decisions they deem appropriate without regard to its participants wants or needs.
Stay tuned for Chapter Two and more fun with flyball coming soon.
Keep smiling,
I Like Flyball!
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Flyball Attack dogs and owners who do not pick up after their dogs beware of the underground electric fence. No visible training flags.
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