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Important Update to Phase 1 Transitional Flyball Requirements
The NAFA Executive Committee held a meeting on Monday, February 22, 2021. The purpose of this call was in response to questions from many hosts and competitors about how to interpret various local and state/provincial rules regarding the recently published requirements concerning the wearing of face masks. As a result of this meeting, the Executive Committee voted unanimously to require that face masks be worn at all NAFA sanctioned events until further notice. Consistent with NAFA’s management of suspending tournaments for the past year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NAFA wishes to provide their host clubs, judges, and competitors with a single face mask policy across all regions as we return to playing flyball. In addition, this aligns with other dog sport organizations requiring that face masks be worn while participating in their events. This requirement supersedes previous guidance and is in effect for all current and future sanctioned tournaments until further notice. All other requirements and recommendations for Phase 1 (Transitional Flyball) remain in effect. Any questions or concerns should be directed to flyball@... Further details on the mask mandate can be found in the updated requirements and recommendations document on www.flyball.org Thank you, Steve Corona NAFA Chairman of the Board
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Mask Policy
Neil Flood
I apologize for a second note. In our recent update, I should have had better clarify with the Mask policy. Below is our policy, and I hope it clears up any confusion. I do want to add that NAFA strongly encourages all events to require masks, especially in the first few months of re-opening. While COVID numbers are certainly improving, we are far from in the clear, and new strains of the virus are presenting new risks and challenges. If we are going to gather and play flyball, one of the best things we can do is have everyone wear a mask. There will be situations where COVID numbers are low, and local mask mandates may be relaxed, but we are also seeing situations where COVID numbers aren't that good, yet local policy makers are removing the requirements. It is for this reason that we are being flexible, as there is no silver bullet of policy, but really encouraging host clubs to exercise and abundance of caution. Mask Policy - 1) First and foremost, a host club is required to follow any local (building, city, state/provincial) mandates that require mask usage. This requirement supersedes any NAFA or host club policy. 2) In the absence of a local (building, city, state/provincial) mask mandate, a host club has the option to require proper face masks. 3) A host club should make the requirement on masks known to potential competitors, the RD, and judge(s) prior to the closing date of their event, so as to provide people the opportunity to make an informed decision on attending the event. The decision to require attendees to wear masks cannot be reversed after the closing date, even if local regulations no longer require them. A club should be prepared for potential local/state/provincial policy changes between the closing date and the time of the event. 4) In the scenario that masks are not required by local regulations at closing date, but become required prior to the event, then all attendees must wear a mask - this scenario is out of the control of the host clubs and participants should be understanding and prepared for this possibility. 5) Finally, NAFA is supportive and understanding of people with disabilities or physical limitation, and we understand that there are situations in which a person may require an exception to the policy. As long as it is accordance with the local/provincial/state regulations, an exception to the mask policy will be extended to people that have a signed letter of exception for mask use, by a physician that is written on the official clinic letterhead and should be provided to the Tournament Director prior the start of racing. The exception should not detail the disability or medical condition the person suffers from. If you have more questions, please let me know. Sincerely, Neil Flood North American Flyball Association, Executive Director
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NAFA’s Requirements/Recommendations for Host Clubs for Phase 1 (Transitional Flyball)
Emma Mak
'NAFA’s Requirements/Recommendations for Host Clubs for Phase 1 (Transitional Flyball)' is now published on the NAFA website here:
http://www.flyball.org/rules/NAFAPhase1RequirementsRecommendations_final.pdf NAFA's planned opening is April 1. The rates of community spread and emerging variants, and percentage of population that has been vaccinated varies widely across North America. In some areas, it will still be quite some time before gatherings such as tournaments are advisable; however, when that time comes, we hope these requirements and recommendations will help hosts to design events that will prioritize the health and safety of NAFA competitors.
Any questions or concerns regarding the recommendations and requirements for Transitional Flyball should be addressed to flyball@....
Also, our thoughts are with all our competitors, both handlers and dogs, in the southern states. We hope you are able to stay safe, and have access to proper provisions. Please take care, and we hope you all get through the weather safely.
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NAFA Election Results
The NAFA Board of Directors held a Zoom meeting on Friday, January 15, 2021. As part of that meeting, the NAFA election results were ratified. Congratulations to all! Board of Directors: Emma Mak Lynda Mantler Jayne McQuillen Clyde Moore Memorial Hall of Fame: Chaos Jack-Jack Judge of the Year: Anthony Pirnat REGIONAL MVP’s (There were no nominees in Regions 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22) Regional MVP, Region 4 Shay Regional MVP, Region 5 Red Regional MVP, Region 6 Zip Regional MVP, Region 7 Sonic Regional MVP, Region 9 Jackson Regional MVP, Region 11 Blast Regional MVP, Region 12 Dusty Regional MVP, Region 14 Joly Regional MVP, Region 16 Cannon Regional MVP, Region 18 Kilo Regional MVP, Region 19 Wink In addition, the Board of Directors elected the following officers to the Executive Committee: Steve Corona - Chairperson Emma Mak – Vice-Chair Lynda Mantler - Secretary Dana Hanson - Treasurer
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Highlights from the NAFA Virtual AGM
Highlights from the Virtual AGM held on Saturday, January 16, 2021 are posted below. Flyball stats from 2020 season: It was certainly not an ideal flyball year, having only raced for 7.5 months across NAFA. However, here are some stats from the past year: ● 104 events hosted ● 29 different states/provinces hosted events (35 in previous years) ● 2422 teams that raced across 242 clubs (288 in 2019) ● 356 new iron dog titles ● 1138 dogs earned titles ● 121 different breeds earned points CanAm Update: NAFA is forging ahead with plans for CanAm 2021. We are all very hopeful that life is completely back to normal by then and that many of you are excited to attend this fall. We will be sending out a brief survey to club owners to gauge attendance and help us plan for the event. AKC TV and ESPN: Exciting updates from AKC TV and ESPN. I know there was an announcement a month or so ago that created some confusion. To be abundantly clear, the event you saw posted by EPSN/AKC was in fact NAFA’s CanAm event. The naming on that announcement was simply an error on EPSN’s behalf which will be corrected. ● AKC TV: We will be working with AKC TV throughout the year and plan to have a few regular NAFA events livestreamed on their site. They are also planning to livestream the CanAm racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday ● ESPN: We are excited to say that after the huge success of the ESPN Dog Days event last year, ESPN will be filming the NAFA Championship Races at CanAm on Sunday for broadcast a couple days later. There are many logistics to finalize, but this is a great opportunity to showcase NAFA Flyball! NAFA Tournament Re-opening Plans: NAFA will open for flyball tournaments on April 1, 2021. Right now, we are well aware that COVID conditions vary wildly across the Canadian Provinces and US States. In that regard we plan to have “Transitional” Flyball in effect for a number of months. Phase 1: Transitional Flyball Period This will allow clubs and teams the ability to play, based on local laws and regulations, perhaps in a limited fashion. We will be publishing a set of requirements and recommendations in the next couple of weeks for host clubs and tournament participants to follow during this transitional phase. During Phase 1: ● There will be no Regional or NAFA Championships at stake. ● We will remove the need for line and box judges. This removes 4 people from the ring, providing better social distancing and safety. ● The addition of a 7th dog slot on the C.2 form for warm-ups ONLY. Some people have expressed concern about introducing new dogs to flyball, and in some cases they have a number of young dogs that have not been allowed to become acclimated to the tournament environment. To help in that transition we will be allowing a 7th dog to be listed on the C.2 timesheet with a valid CRN. This slot is ONLY for a warmup dog, and it cannot run in a heat. We welcome your feedback on this during Phase 1 as we may consider adding this 7th slot, and even allowing them to race, once we return to normal racing. This would require some scoring and database rework; therefore, we will see how it is received before making a final decision. Phase 2: Normal Flyball ● Once restrictions on large gatherings are lifted in all regions, the US/Canada border is open and the vaccine is available to everyone we will move into Phase 2 Normal Flyball. We are hopeful that this will be October 1, 2021. ● When we enter Phase 2, all normal rules of racing will return. ● Bonus Points - To try and mitigate all the lost flyball and dog points, when we enter Phase 2 Normal Flyball and for a period of 12 months, the same amount of time we lost to COVID, dogs will accrue double the dog points per each heat. For example, instead of 1, 5 or 25 points based on team time the points awarded will be 2, 10 or 50 points based on team time. Bonus points for first place will still be awarded. Iron Dog Exception: We are extending the exception that any eligible dog that didn’t get to compete because of COVID will get credit towards their iron dog title for the 2021 season. Note, this won’t appear in the database until the beginning of the 2022 season. Measuring: While many of our plans to demo a new device were derailed in 2020, we took the opportunity to task a Special Measuring Committee to evaluate and make recommendations to the NAFA BoD on the current processes and rules around measuring. We are excited to report the following changes that the committee recommended and that have been accepted and approved by the NAFA BoD. ● New measuring device consisting of a standard self-leveling laser (typically used in construction) used with a NAFA designed ruler. This device will continue to measure a dog at the withers. This device has been extremely well received and is safe! ● We are encouraging handlers to measure their dogs on a table (typically a grooming table) but note, this is strictly the handler’s choice to measure on the floor or a table. This has a number of advantages, in particular the judge doesn’t need to be on their knees leaning over the dog. Even dogs who experienced issues in the past with the wicket have done well with the new device while being measured on a table. ● See the NAFA website for a brief video demonstrating and further describing this device. ● Devices will be sent to all RDs as soon as possible. ● Create measuring training videos with new measuring device for competitors, judges and regional directors. ● Implement a measuring certification program with the new measuring device for all judges. ● Regional Directors will be trained and play a larger role in measuring, working as a team with judges to minimize conflict of interest concerns. ● Mandatory Measuring will be implemented. ● Prior to the age of two (2) years, a dog only needs to be measured once giving them a Temporary Measurement. Handlers may opt to measure more frequently for practice before the age of two. ● After the age of two (2) years, dogs whose height will determine the jump heights for the team, are required to measure until they have a Permanent Measurement. ● A Permanent Measurement is obtained with 2 matching measurements from 2 different judges. A Permanent Measurement is good for the life of the dog - they will never have to measure again. ● Dogs over ten (10) years of age at the time Mandatory Measuring goes into effect are exempt from measuring. ● The Certified Measuring Judge position/program is being eliminated. All judges will be trained and certified to measure for Permanent Measurements. ● Challenges from competitors and judges are being eliminated. ● Implement a one-time Owner-Initiated Remeasure process. ● If the dog has a Permanent Measurement, they will not need to re-measure in the case of a world record heat. All other requirements set forth in the rulebook for validation of a world record, including video verification, will still be necessary. New Measuring Rollout Timeline: We understand that this will take some time for training and practice. Therefore, we have a roll-out plan that allows for plenty of time for this adjustment. There is an infographic on the NAFA website that outlines this rollout timeline. ● Phase 1: April 1st, 2021 ● Judges will be trained and become certified on using the new device and measuring ● Competitors are welcome to measure their dogs on the new device. They do not need to be “official” measurements for the purposes of racing. ● During this phase the wicket is still the official measuring device and all current rules are still in effect. ● Phase 2: Normal Racing Resumes (exact date to be determined but we are hopeful this can begin October 1, 2021 ● 12-month training period starts before mandatory measuring takes effect ● The laser level and ruler take over as the official measuring device. ● Competitors are encouraged to try the device, and practice measuring as much as they choose. ● Measuring is not yet mandatory however the Permanent Measurement can be obtained from a judge certified on the device. ● Phase 3: End of Training Period, Mandatory Measuring in Effect (exact date to be determined but we are hopeful this will be October 1, 2022) ● Mandatory measuring will be in effect and dogs running as height dogs will be required to measure until they obtain their Permanent Measurement. ● Dogs over the age of 10 years of age at the beginning of the mandatory measurement period are exempt from measuring. However, if they run a height that is clearly not accurate as a height dog, they could be subject to unsportsmanlike charges. The board has agreed on the high-level concepts for this new measuring program and is working on finalizing the details and specific wording for the 2022 rulebook. We plan to publish the details around this new measuring program prior to April 1, 2021. Thank you, Neil Flood - Executive Director North American Flyball Association
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Get to Know Your Candidates Part 2
Have you voted yet for BOD Candidates, Hall of Fame, Regional MVPs and Judge of the Year? The second and final round of Q&A with this year's Board of Directors nominees has been posted on the NAFA Blog. See all the candidates responses here: https://nafaflyball.com/NAFAblog/2021/01/06/qa-with-candidates-2-of-2/ For any questions about the election please contact elections@... Polls opened December 1st, 2020 and close Wednesday January 13th , 2021 at midnight CST. Results will be announced at the NAFA Virtual AGM on January 16th, 2021. Thank you, Steve Corona
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NAFA Virtual AGM Registration Information
Happy New Year NAFA Flyballers! The NAFA Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 3:00 PM CST. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGM will be held virtually via Zoom. Following are the details as to how the meeting will be conducted on-line. 1. The meeting will be open to a maximum of 300 connections. 2. If you would like to attend, please supply your name, email, and region on the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/vW8E4pFoAKG8mQrW8 3. To expedite the Q&A portion of the meeting, we are asking that all questions be submitted prior to the call on the form linked above. You may submit a question without attending the call. 4. The deadline to register and/or submit questions is Midnight CST on Friday, January 15th, 2021. 5. There will be no questions accepted during the call. 6. Call-in details will be emailed at Noon CST on January 16, 2021 to those that have pre-registered (limited to the first 300 connections). Thank you, Steve Corona NAFA Chairman of the Board
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Note from the NAFA Executive Director
Season’s Greetings to our NAFA Flyball Family.
The Board of Directors held their monthly conference call on December 19, 2020, to discuss amongst other topics, the current suspension of tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After reviewing data from both the CDC and Health Canada, in addition to the surge of cases since the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., the Board voted unanimously to extend the suspension of tournaments through March 31, 2021.
The Board is encouraged by the recent roll-out of vaccinations around the globe and expressed their interest in opening sanctioning for tournaments in the Spring of 2021. While the Board continues to work on safety guidelines for both hosts and competitors, the FY ’21 flyball year will be marked by the following changes:
1. There will be no Regional or ROCC Champions for the FY ’21 racing year.
2. Sanctioning may be staggered by Region based on venue (indoor vs. outdoor), current local restrictions on gatherings/events, and any other Local, Federal, or Provincial guidelines.
3. We strongly suggest that any club entering into a rental agreement carefully review deposit and refund policies contained within the contract.
4. NAFA reserves the right to extend non-sanctioning of tournaments should the pandemic continue to pose a health and safety issue to our community and the public at large.
We continue to work towards a re-opening strategy and look forward to being able to offer flyball in the near future if even on a limited basis. We will always take into consideration the advice of professionals from a variety of public and government health organizations across the U.S. and Canada. While we all wish to be back racing, we must do so with the safety of all competitors and the public in mind.
As a side note from the meeting, the Board also voted unanimously to waive Judges Requirements for the FY ’21 racing year. A decision on Iron Dog points was not considered at this meeting but will be discussed at future teleconferences.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Happy New Year!
Neil Flood – Executive Director
North American Flyball Association
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Board of Directors Candidate Chat
Please join the NAFA Election Committee and our Board of Director nominees for the one and only live candidate chat of this election year. The chat is scheduled for Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020 at 7:00 PM CST. The chat will happen here: NEW for this chat: We have had feedback that private messaging the moderator in the CBox software has been problematic for people. For this reason, those wishing to ask questions do NOT need to register/login. Questions should now be posed to the moderator in one of three ways: 1. Private message on Facebook Messenger to NAFA's page. 2. Private message on Facebook Messenger directly to moderator (NAFA Chairman, Steve Corona). 3. Email to elections@... The candidates and moderators will still be using the CBox software to post questions and responses live, and will be the only ones that need to login. If you have any questions please email: elections@... Candidates responses to the first round of Q&A have been posted to the NAFA Blog located here: https://nafaflyball.com/NAFAblog/category/getting-to-know-the-candidates/ Thank you, Steve Corona
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Board of Director Candidates Q&A Posted
The first round of Q&A with this year's Board of Directors nominees has been posted on the NAFA Blog. See all the candidates responses here: https://nafaflyball.com/NAFAblog/2020/12/08/qa-with-candidates-1-of-2/ Details of the live, on-line candidate chat will be posted soon. Thank you, Steve Corona NAFA Chairman of the Board
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AKC/ESPN Announcement
Neil Flood
Hello Everyone! A few people have notified me that recently ESPN & AKC made an announcement regarding a multiyear agreement for broadcasting a number of dog events. In that announcement was a list of events that included “AKC Flyball Championship”, which has naturally raised a lot of questions! To answer the biggest question, I am pleased to say that, yes, the event listed is NAFA's CanAm Classic! NAFA has been working with AKC, and in particular AKC TV, to gain some more exposure for our sport. AKC has been very excited to stream NAFA flyball, and the feedback they, and ESPN, received from the ESPN Dog Day in August 2019 was very positive. In fact, we’d worked with AKC TV on a plan for 2020 that include streaming a number of events, including CanAm, which unfortunately had to be abandoned. However, we are excited to work with AKC TV in 2021. We are still working through some logistics and will provide greater detail as it becomes available. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe, Neil Flood North American Flyball Association, Executive Director
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NAFA 2020 / 2021 Election Ballots
NAFA 2020/2021 Election ballots should have been delivered to your email inbox if you are a Club Owner, Regional Director, Approved/Supervising Judge or Board Member. If you have not received the ballot email, or if you have any questions about the election, please contact elections@.... Polls opened December 1st, 2020 and close Wednesday, January 13th, 2021 at midnight CST. Results will be announced at the Virtual AGM on Saturday, January 16th, 2021. As a reminder, you can meet this year's nominees for the Board of Directors here: https://tinyurl.com/y3bvc28l Thank you, Steve Corona
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Get To Know Your Candidates!
Election News - Get to Know Your Candidates! Biographies for the four Board of Directors candidates have been posted to the NAFA Blog. You can find them here: https://nafaflyball.com/NAFAblog/category/getting-to-know-the-candidates/ This year we are going to use a slightly different format than our usual BoD Nominee chats. The new format will consist of two written Q & A sessions and one live online chat. The Q & A sessions will consist of NAFA members submitting questions for the candidates. The Election Committee will compile the questions (weeding out any duplicates) and then submit them to the candidates. Candidates will have one week to submit their answers back to the election committee. Those answers will then be published on the NAFA Blog. The one live online Chat will continue to run as it has in the past. Below is the timeline for these sessions. 1. First Round - Written Q & A a. Questions will be solicited from the members November 24-28. b. Candidates’ answers will be posted December 8. 2. Live Online Chat a. Mid December (exact date TBD) 3. Second Round - Written Q & A a. Questions will be solicited from the members December 21 - 27 b. Candidates’ answers will be posted January 5 To submit questions please send an e-mail with your name, region and club name to: elections@... NAFA reserves the right to deny submissions should they be deemed to violate our Code of Conduct.
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Phishing Attempt - Subject "COVID-19 Request"
Please be aware that an email circulating with the subject "COVID-19 Request" is a phishing attempt and not a legitimate email from NAFA. Thank you! Steve Corona
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NAFA Tournament Sanctioning Update
Neil Flood
All, This weekend the NAFA Board of Directors met (via video teleconference) to discuss amongst other things when we may reopen for tournaments. While our hope was to potentially allow sanctioning to resume, the current spike across the US and Canada coupled with new restrictions on gatherings dashed these hopes. We continue to monitor the health recommendations by the CDC, Health Canada, as well as guidance provided by leading infectious disease medical experts and individual states and provinces. We are also encouraged by the news that an effective vaccine may soon be available. I want to provide our host clubs and participants as much lead time for planning as possible therefore, based on the current situation, NAFA will be suspending flyball events through the end of February 2021. The Board will meet again in mid-December to continue to evaluate the situation and communicate with the NAFA community on a monthly basis with the hope that we will be able to return to racing soon. While we would all prefer to be out playing flyball in a safe and healthy manner, our first priority is the health and welfare of our members and the communities that we all live in. In the meantime, we are working on a set of recommendations / guidelines for host clubs and competitors for keeping everyone safe when racing does resume. These will be released well before racing resumes. As we enter into the holiday season, the entire board hopes that you and your families remain safe and healthy during this time. We look forward to the time when we can meet again in the lanes. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions. Sincerely, Neil Flood North American Flyball Association, Executive Director
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Agenda for Board of Directors November 15, 2020 Teleconference
The agenda for the upcoming Board of Directors teleconference on Sunday, November 15, 2020 has been posted on www.flyball.org. The minutes from the August and September Board teleconferences have also been posted for review. Thank you, Steve Corona
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NAFA Shirt Orders
The Logo Shop store is still open to purchase the winning designs on the item of your choice. All orders received by midnight November 8, 2020 will be shipped to home November 23. Orders received after November 8 will be shipped later.
https://mylogoshop.com/nafacanam/
For Canadian destinations, the orders will be sent USPS. The least expensive way will be to send the orders to one person per team. The orders will be tallied and mailing calculated. The Logo Shop will contact the team members and get payment for their orders including the shipping.
Canada orders can be placed without putting in the credit card number. There are two options at bottom of checkout page: - PO number (Canada orders) - enter CANADA in the box - Credit card number (US orders)
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NAFA Nominations
The nominations for the three board positions are posted here: http://flyball.org/elections/FY2021/FY2021-BOD-Nominations.html See the remaining nominees for "Clyde Moore Memorial Hall of Fame", "Regional MVP" and "Judge of the Year" at http://www.nafaflyball.com/database/nomination_report.php?FY=2020 Thank you.
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NAFA Apparel Contest Winners
NAFA is proud to announce the winners of the apparel design contest for this year!
Two designs have been chosen and will be available for sale later in October.
Here are the winning designs submitted by Elizabeth Theesfeld and Angela Graczyk
Congratulations to both!
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Tournament Reopening Status Update
Neil Flood
All, First, and foremost, I hope all our flyball members and their families are continuing to stay safe and healthy during the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. These are certainly trying times for everyone, and we’ve continued to monitor the health recommendations by the CDC, Health Canada, as well as guidance provided by leading infectious disease medical experts.
While we would all prefer to be out playing flyball in a safe and healthy manner, our first priority is the health and welfare of our members and the communities that we all live in. The NAFA Board of Directors met this weekend and discussed the timing of returning to racing. While some geographies are improving others are seeing a rise in positive tests and hospitalizations and we still don’t know the impact of the overlapping influenza and COVID-19 seasons.
I want to provide our host clubs and participants as much lead time for planning as possible, therefore based on the current situation, NAFA will be suspending flyball events through the end of January 2021. The Board will now begin evaluating the situation on a monthly basis with the hope that we will be able to return to racing soon. The Board will also be putting together some recommendations and best practices for host clubs and competitors for keeping everyone safe when racing does resume.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions. I hope everyone remains safe, and I look forward to the time when we can all meet in the lanes.
Sincerely, Neil Flood North American Flyball Association, Executive Director
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