Questions lead to answers lead to plans lead to actions…or, do they?
What would you say if I were to ask you, “What are your flyball goals? What makes flyball a fun sport for you to participate in?”
“How did you decide to get started in the sport and what keeps you coming back for more?”
“Do you have specific preferences for how the sport is played and how it is governed?”
I imagine the answers I would get would be similar and at the same time different from each and every person who plays flyball.
The similarities, I believe, keep the sport together and have kept it going over the years. As for the differences, I believe they can either split us apart or add flavor and spice. Differences can help mold or change or grow flyball. Or, they can help destroy it. I wonder, “Can differences both destroy and grow flyball at the same time?”
As you can see, I have more questions than answers. That is because what I see in the flyball world today makes me curious. I see some stagnation in flyball. In part with the numbers but, mostly in attitudes among people and interactions between people. I see the same things happening over and over. I see unacceptable behavior toward others. I see anger. I see frustration. Yet, at the same time, I see hope. I see people pulling together, standing up for each other, helping each other.
Some things I already understand. Some things I still want to know because I want to help the sport grow. I want it to be the best thing since sliced bread for all my fellow dog-friends. This is a commonality that many of us share. It is the one thing that bonds us together and makes us work so hard at having fun. Am I right?
What is your opinion? What are your goals? What do you want to happen in flyball? What direction do you want it to take? Regardless of why you play and where or how you got started and whether or not you know the answers to these questions, one thing I’ve found seems to be the same for each and every one of us at one time or another…we wanted to see our dog do it!
I don’t know about you, but I still want to see my dog do it! I’ve also over the years morphed into someone who wants to see other people’s dog(s) do it just as much as my own! I want to see other people having so much fun playing with their dog(s) that they go home from training or from a tournament with the absolute-hugest grin all over their face and their family members ask if they’ve been on another planet!
Flyball is flyball is flyball…or is it? This is the key that unlocks all the answers and points everyone in a specific direction. It lays the groundwork for everyone’s goals and a related plan of action, both on a personal level and on an organizational level.
How do you know what to do and where to start and how active to become? Only you can decide. Only you can decide what your flyball goals are. Only you can decide what your values are. Only you can decide what type leadership you will follow, or what type leader you will be. Only you can decide whether you want to make a difference, or to speak up, or to question, or to offer suggestions, or to offer a pat on the back for a job well done, or to exercise your right to vote, or to try to get something changed, or decide to just let it all go and not care what happens. Only you.
<Linda>
1 comment so far ↓
My flyball goal in the basic is to go out and have a fun time training with my dog. I enjoy the team feel of flyball, which is what makes it appeal to me over other dog sports.
Winning is obviously fun, but even if you come in dead last and just a smidge over 24 seconds every heat, its thrilling to see a teammate’s dog run in a tournament for the first time. That first race and those first points are as thrilling for the team as the 30,000 point race. I’ve seen both recently with my team, and I can truely say that is what I am in the sport for.
Flyball to me is about getting a group of people together who share a passion for dogs, enjoy training their dogs, talking about dogs, and have fun doing all of it. Working with my dog is why I started, and the team is why I know flyball is the sport for me.
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