I recently sent the following idea to one of the flyball organizations:
"Hello,
I am not sure who to send this email to, perhaps the Rules
Committee or Judges Committee? I have a suggestion for a new 'judge' position
based on 3 occurrences at a tournament a few weeks ago. The idea is not mine,
but I am forwarding you my related thoughts, observations and others'
observations.
The idea: there is a need for a 'runback judge'. This is someone who observes what goes on in the runback area while racing is going on. The head judge does not and cannot see back there many times.
Three instances happened at the tourney I mentioned above where a runback judge would have been helpful.
1) a dog in the right lane crossed into and stayed in the left lane after its own run and prevented the left lane from re-running a dog in order to complete the heat. The crossing dog's handler did not have control of their dog. This created a safety issue as well as interference. The judge did not see it.
2) A dog bit another dog and drew blood during racing in the runback area; both dogs were on the same team. The judge did not see it.
3) A large dog crossed into the opposing lane in the runback area and chased down and grabbed a very small dog around the neck. The small dog was not bitten but there was lots of slobber which indicates a lot of mouthing by the large dog. If the small dog was bitten it could have been a disaster. The handler of the larger dog did not have control of their dog. The judge did not see it to even issue a warning.
In all 3 of the above instances, I believe a runback judge (similar to box judge or line judge) could have helped the head judge tremendously and overall having a runback judge would add to safety.
Thank you for considering this idea and I look forward to hearing back.
Sincerely,"
I don't know if this idea has ever been discussed officially by either NAFA or U-FLI. I (do) know that the topic of identifying the 'racing lane' has been and I believe NAFA has said the runback area is not an official part of racing. I'm not sure what U-FLI says about it.
But, I wonder if maybe the runback should be defined as part of the racing lane. Maybe there should be a judge back there (who helps the head judge) to call out the rare instances of dog bites, interferences, warnings to handlers who don't have control of their dog and warnings to help prevent potentially aggressive dog behavior.
I also thought of something else that happens in the runback area for which it is obviously called out as a penalty and a loss for the offending side even if the head judge does not see it...fouling in the ring. Kind of hard to miss seeing that one even without a runback judge.
I don't know if this is a good idea for flyball(or not). I don't know if it is needed and I don't know if other flyballers like the idea. But, I hope I hear back from the organization no matter what their answer is.
Sincerely,
I Like Flyball!
2 comments:
We had an incident at a Tournament in September where a dog ran in from the outside ran through our line up and was quickly caught and run out of the building by his owner. While the dog was in and out of the building in less than 5 seconds, we all know that flyball is often won by thousandths of a second, so imagine how it messed up out entire run! The second dog released early as the dog scared her and her dog jumped out of her hands, and I (sitting 3rd) didn't want to release until everyone was undercontrol! None of the judges saw anything because the dog was literally in and out. Luckily we got a rerun of the heat.
I'm also recalling an incident in Region 1 where a dog on a tug was swung into the other team's side of the runback with "malicious intent" and the whole can of worms that unleashed.
Both incidents could have benefited from a runback judge (or two? would you need one on each side?)
However, I can also see the other side of this. Finding volunteers to fill 2 line and 2 box judging positions can often put a burden on teams that are trying to also run in their own tournament, filling another 1 or 2 judging spots could be a nightmare.
Also, can you imagine NAFA having to pay 6 - 12 more volunteers at the CanAm?
Yep, Lexi, I had some of the same thoughts as you about finding volunteers to fill 2 runback judge spot(s) and I wondered myself if it would complicate things or truly help. I still don't know the answer but I think the idea is at least worth looking into (and I hope the organization is gathering more info. or opinions or something...I haven't heard anything in over 3 weeks.)
Reference the example from R1, if you're talking about the April 2011big hearing, I was told the truth was completely different and the video and testimony presented in the hearing substantiated nothing truly happened. Having a runback judge may have alleviated that 'can of worms' as you said.
Post a Comment