Alaska Flyball – how did it happen?
I’ve been asked this question several times recently, and so I share my story behind Flyball in The Last Frontier. OK, maybe not the last frontier in flyball circles, but we Alaskans have a true affection for the term and no story about us would be complete without it.
It’s been said that long, long ago a few people in Alaska were once intrigued with flyball. There was an early version of a flyball box, one having a single foot pedal and tin can to hold and pitch the ball. Later, a newer version with a solitary hole and carpeted front was tried. Sadly, flyball in Alaska never seemed to take-off nor did it become an active dog sport. A decade of years slipped by.
In January, 2004 the winds of change blew upon The Last Frontier and there appeared two dogs who knew the game well. In the midst of an icy lair, with authority and raised sticks, the ACES hockey team declared “let there be flyball!” And, so the command was fulfilled with a 2-dog flyball extravaganza presented by Timber, Indy, Erin and Linda in April, 2004 to Anchorage, Alaska ACES hockey fans. Timber and Indy wowed the crowd. The crowd went wild!
A short time later, there appeared another two dogs who also knew the game. These four dogs decided they wanted to share flyball with all their dog-friends. Word spread like tennis balls in the runback area and about six months later the first flyball club in Alaska was formed by these four dogs (Timber, Indy, Willoughby, Colby), their humans (Linda, Curtis, Stacy), and all their friends (Debi, Christie, Karen, Jim, Angela, to name only a few) and their friends’ dogs (Killian, Toby, Amber, Rio, Phoebe, again to name only a few).
We eventually decided to call ourselves Alaska Dogs Gone Wild. In January, 2005 the ACES hockey fans enjoyed an encore and improved flyball show by a spectacular 4-dog lineup. Timber, Indy, Willoughby and Colby (as the anchor dog) lit up the lane while the ACES announcer, who couldn’t keep up and lost track of the script we gave him, adlibbed and shouted…”I’ve lost all control here folks! There’s Indy, no that’s dog #2, go,Timber. There’s Willoughby. Look at happy Colby…that’s a happy dog right there! You see folks that’s why dogs are better than cats. Cats could never do this. The opinions expressed by Bob Lester are mine and mine alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of ACES staff or management.” The crowd went wild again, claps and shouts and stomps on the bleachers and cow bells and all. I can still hear them now!
We held our first practice season in a horse barn in Anchorage where sometimes our dogs gulped bits of stuff we rather they hadn’t; but we still appreciated just having a place to play. We relaxed and socialized afterward at a local Kaladi Brothers Coffeehouse; occasionally I think I noticed a few patrons wince or curl up their noises when we all walked by and clumps of horse barn dirt brushed off our shoes. I think we must have watched my video from Quick Silver’s 2003 Mercury Rising tourney at least three dozen times during those first few months…the music turned up loud and everyone glued to the action!
Our first regulation box was purchased used from Canine Express and flown “free” as luggage (yes, imagine that on an airline now, “free”) on my return flight after a trip back from a Michigan tourney. It mostly saw the horse barn practices, but believe it or not it is still being used in training some of our new dogs today. Later a brand-new Willoughby box became our weapon of choice and we were then ready to play with the big dogs and hold our first tournament.
To coin a phrase, it’s been baby steps, a lot of struggles and some successes along the way. Over time as our ranks grew, differences arose. Relationships became strained. To some, the differences didn’t matter and they were welcomed as a positive influence. To others, differences were not accepted. Some decided to hang on to hope and in mid-2008 Northern LightSpeed became a tentative step into the unknown exploration of flyball in the Last Frontier.
Since its humble beginning in that stinky, yet appreciated, horse barn a lot of hard work has gone into Alaska flyball over the years. It took some hard hits and it has grown and shrunk and vacillated in between. What does the future hold? That is a good question. All I know for certain is that to this day I can still hear the crowd from the first two times Alaska ACES hockey fans got a taste of flyball…that is too sweet to ever forget!
<Linda>
2 comments ↓
Great post Linda. I hope to one day return to Alaska to run a tournament again. Miss you all.
Thats a great post. I am planning on coming up to Alaska this next year in June, at least with my own dogs, and if possible with a whole team. Gives me an excuse to see somewhere I’ve always wanted to see, and have some fun while there.
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