October 6th-8th, 2006
Day Four
Finally the first "real" day at St. Jakob's Arena has arrived. AKC Agility Director and AKC/USA Team Captain, Sharon Anderson left with many supporters on the tram system to get the USA Supporters seating area decorated and ready to go for the next few days. When they arrived at the arena they found that the Swiss had marked out a nice large location for the over 100 seats the USA needs for the next 3 days. The USA team also got the good news that they have one of the inside team locker rooms for all their dogs and themselves. There are a few hockey sticks they need to share with, but it is a perfect location that is quiet for the dogs to relax in between runs during the day.
At 11:45 the team arrived by bus at the arena to bring in all their crates and equipment. Next they were cleared through the Veterinarian check that all teams must clear to compete. All health certificates and titers are checked at this time. Plus each dog must match the ID number that was previously sent with the entry forms. This is done thru either a tattoo or a microchip.
Coach Nancy Gyes and Asst Coach Kathie Leggett then went up to the stands to watch some of the other teams and to begin to plan their practice strategy. They based their sequences on where they expected the equipment to be when Great Britain left the floor in front of our team. Due to the short time every team is allocated and to provide the maximum benefit to the team it is important little time is wasted on setting/moving equipment.
Nancy and Kathie met with the team supporters who had volunteered to help set equipment and monitor the 3 practice sectors during our 16:15 minute practice time.
When the buzzer sounded the AKC/USA World Team and all of their support crew hit the floor. The buzzer means that practice time is ticking. All course adjustments and height changes must occur during the 16:15 minutes of practice time. This means excellent coordination was needed, especially at the very difficult tire jump and A-frame that both needed to be adjusted. The plan also included moving a few jumps, the viaduct and the teeter to get the sequences the coaches wanted the team to run. Without the USA World Team Supporters the practice time could not have been as well utilized as it was. The team would like to thank everyone who helped make their practice a smooth one.
The practice session was a positive one that helped to give the handlers and dogs a chance to rate the surface and to get familiar with the equipment. The cohesiveness of this team truly was seen when Team Member Karen Holik realized her shoes were not quite right for the surface during the 16 minutes and within 2 minutes she had team member, Ann Braue's shoes on her feet and was back practicing. Large Dog team member, Ann Braue will not be able to compete due to a torn ACL, but that does not mean she is not here in Basel giving her all for the team - even her footwear!
The team had their last meeting tonight at a private dinner just for them and their coaches. All of our handlers and dogs are ready to go and all of our supporters are ready to cheer them on for the next 3 days.
Tomorrow will start with the Opening Ceremonies which includes a parade of the 34 countries represented. There are 105 Small Dogs, 106 Medium Dogs and 167 large Dogs entered this year. The competition will start at 9:45 am with the Large Dog Jumping, followed by Medium then Small dogs Jumping and finally the Large Team Agility (Standard) will run. The USA runs 7th in Large Team Agility.
Watch the website on Friday for results. GO TEAM USA!!!
Click on image for caption and larger view.
) |
) |
) |
) |
) |
