Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

From the ADAA Chair ... Grand Prix 2008 Report

03 to 06 October

View the Results

First and foremost, I would like to thank Alison Muddle who did an absolutely phenomenal job of working with the GP Sub-Committee and putting the Grand Prix together, especially as it was at the new venue of Macksville.

Next I would like to thank all of the HERO's (official and unofficial) who contributed to the weekend. You did a FANTASTIC job. From an organisational point of view, both before and during the Grand Prix, hearty thanks must go to both Alison Muddle and Damian Noud. Alison led the sub-committee/team who organised the Grand Prix and then was still responsible for organising many things over the weekend. Damian arranged all of the HERO's as well as the on-the-field setup for the weekend. Massive jobs done exceptionally well.

Thank you to the Grand Prix Sub-Committee who did a huge amount of work to make the event such a success, including the transition to the new venue (which was supported by the Nambucca Tourism Council):

• Alison Muddle (SunCoast FunDogs) - Chair
• Wendy Blakeston (Brisbane Agility Dog Club)
• Sam Bois (Wild About Agility Gold Coast)
• Allison Britton (SunCoast FunDogs)
• Joanne Lewohl (Brisbane Agility Dog Club)
• Damian Noud (SunCoast FunDogs)
• Cathy Slot (Agility Dog Club of Queensland)
• Maria Thiry
• David Yould (Brisbane Agility Dog Club)

The Sub-Committee was supported by a number of people before and during the event. Thanks to Alyssa Ablitt, Marion Allen, Justin Bryan, Jeanette Durante, Paul Durante, Cassie Fishbourne, Sharon Fraser, Marilyn Harris, Sally Hopkins, Kellie Jeffries, Natalie Kirkwood, Lyndal Nichols and Tracey Swan. Thank you to Paul Sparrow of Precious Pets Photography, the official photographer for the event. All of his photo’s are now available for perusal (and purchase) http://www.preciouspetsphotography.com.au/photo_galleries/thumbnails.php?album=99.

Of course no ADAA competition can be held without volunteers. For the Grand Prix a number of members travelled to the event for the sole purpose of helping out for the weekend. Thanks to: Betty Lambert, Glen Wessling, Kay Crook, Karen Wilkinson, Kerry Reynolds, Cathy Slot, Nancy Smith, Paul Durante, Robyn Yould, Tayla Ferguson and Vern Muddle who all came for the weekend as full time helpers (our Grand Prix HERO’s). Also to Justin Bryant, Darryl Gooding, David Varcoe, Michelle Weston and Ruth Winn for being part-time HERO’s. Damian Noud led a small group of handlers/workers who set out and put together the rings and equipment on Friday. Then there were the many members who, in addition to participating with their own dog, helped throughout the weekend. It was great to see that not only did the competitors enjoy themselves but those who came along and helped for the weekend as well. Thanks to you all.

Thanks must go to Agility Dog Club of Queensland Inc and Brisbane Agility Dog Club Inc for supplying the equipment used at the Grand Prix (driven down by Natalie Kirkwood). Lastly, a huge thanks to all of our Judges (for the Grand Prix as well as at all our competitions throughout the year). Special thanks to Steve Drinkwater, Katie Jones and Liz Yuill giving up their opportunity to compete so that they can judge for us. Thanks also to Jody Brown, Debbie Duce, Cassie Fishbourne, Natalie Kirkwood and Cathy Slot for stepping up to judge the balance of events.

As is the case every year, the Board and organising sub-committee look for ways to improve the Grand Prix. This year event results were posted for everyone to have a look at, minor prizes for individual events were available for separate collection reducing the time required for presentations, and scribe sheets only were completed at ringside and these were input direct to the results database (no scoresheets required). The new venue and catering also seemed to appeal to most people with lots of favourable comments. There were some fabulous runs over the weekend, including upcoming handlers and dogs, which is very promising for the sport and ADAA. And certainly the attitude of participants both in and around the whole venue was just great.

Finally I would like to thank our Platinum sponsors Brisbane Pet Motel (Leanne Wegner and Paul Tesch) and Vet n Pet Direct.

Sunday night saw prizes for the available Challenges presented. Congratulations to:

Results for events are also available for viewing as PDF documents:

Cathy Slot
ADAA Chair

[Top]