It the beginning (before Rooky Racers) there was the Diana Brimblecombe Flyball Team run by the lovely Sarah North.... "back in those days" you had to travel miles to find a team to train with. This is where Chris and I started Flyball.
We wore team colours that were a fetching shade of grey ! (spot Chris, and yes, even in those days he was on his phone lol!).
Sadly Sarah decided to fold the team, at which point most people gave up Flyball... however from the ashes two new teams were born.
First off the mark were the Rooky Racers, and a few months later Bone Idol (hence the good friendship between these two teams).
Our first ever race was in Division 7 at Fairview Farm on May 4th 2009, with a declared time of 21.70 we were seeded first in our division.
Full of anticipation of a good days racing and easy wins Muttley, Milly, Tosca, Indy & Indie set off to demolish the competition....
Rooky Racers 21.70
Shooting Star
Rebels 22.04
Malmesbury Monks
22.06
Bassett Allsorts
22.11
Soxon Runners
22.41
Fourpaws Running
22.44
...we ended up coming last with a best time of 23.21 (!) lol.
Since then Indy and Indie have moved on but still race with other teams closer to where they live.
Four years later we now have 4 open teams, 2 that run under 20 seconds and a fastest ever time of 18.81 seconds.
A lovely group of dogs and people that make being with the Rooky Racers a real treat (and gets me out of bed every Saturday morning to help run training with a hang over !!).
Some then and now photos:
Training chute:
2009 = Chris fixed special chute:
Now = Nigel multi level luxury GTI chute:
2009 = x1 Peter Cave KV9
Now = x2 Black Brain from Belgium (First team in the UK to get these... )
2009 = Our first ever starters team get 1st in London.
Now = Alfie and Benji from London 2009 join Milly and Harry in 2012 to get 1st at the BFA Champs Div 22
In 2 weeks time (27th/28th April) we hope to have 6 teams racing at Cantley Park in Wokingham, quiet a few people will be camping over and I think a few beers might also be consumed...
So any dogs who are in the Rookys ... whether in starters training or open who want to race at Cantley please let me know.
If you cant make it but want your dog to compete we should have enough spare hands to pick them up and race them on the day, just collect them in the evening !
You will find us at Cantley by looking out for our tall red flag and big event tent :-)
Andy
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