TimeFlyZ Smash Records!
Saturday 6th July saw the team’s first ever trip to Oswestry for what was to become a truly memorable competition for TimeFlyZ!
Some of the team headed to the Welsh border the day before and stayed overnight, the rest set off at the crack of dawn on the day. The whole team were filled with nervous anticipation for the day ahead, excited to make our mark at this competition which was hosted by Storm Chasers.
As always, we set out with the aim of giving our best and achieving the very best from all of our dogs, but on this particular occasion we had one united goal above all others: to achieve a seed time for TimeFlyZ worthy of a top division place at the UKFL Championships in August.
With just a few clean runs prior to this competition, TimeFlyZ had a fastest recorded time of 17.36 seconds. We knew that this was nowhere close to the time this young team could achieve. We knew what our dogs were really capable of, but to secure a place in one of the top divisions at the Championships we had to run clean – and fast (around 16 seconds) – to prove it, and we had just this one event to do it!
TimeFlyZ (Deena, Nera, Phaze and Switch) were the first of our teams to race, the ringside was crowded and we were all feeling nervous. Warm ups went well and we put in a good performance in the first and second leg, though neither run was clean. Reassuring words from the sideline settled us. The next leg saw a good start from Deena, followed by impressive runs from Nera, Phaze and Switch, with tighter passes than the previous leg. As the race time flashed up there was a split second of disbelief followed by absolute elation for the whole team…
The arena erupted as team mates congratulated each other and other teams showed their support. It was an amazing moment of happiness, tears, relief, pride and love for – and within – our whole team. Our amazing dogs did it – in race 1 – and completely bypassed the 16 seconds in the process, making them the 9th fastest UKFL team and County Record Holders! This was, without doubt, the most incredible moment in TimeFlyZ history so far, and it could not have happened without the whole team’s commitment, hard work, dedication and perseverance.
The noise of our celebrations caused a knock in Deena’s confidence but TimeFlyZ continued to work together as a team to support her and race for the remainder of the day. We were unable to improve on our time but felt confident that we had done enough to see us into the top divisions for next months Championships.
TimeOut (Bella, Logan, Roxy, Hartley, Willow and Wibble) raced consistently throughout the day. Each race saw some great starts, some tight passes and good performances from all of the dogs who looked technically great. We didn’t achieve a division win at this competition, but did ourselves proud! There are still some things we need to fine tune before the Championships but overall the team are looking strong and we’re excited to see what we can achieve on the big day!
TimeFlyZ PupZ (Marvel, Gus and Skwish) raced in Little League and all showed a real improvement in terms of their reaction to being in the ring, with strong, focused runs each time out. There’s still a way to go – mainly in relation to ball retrieving/holding – but when it all comes together, they are going to be amazing in the lanes! Watch out for them in the Singles competition at the Championships!
Thank you to Green Pantry, Cambridgeshire Canine Massage and Seraquin for supporting our team. This was a momentous day for TimeFlyZ and we’re grateful to everyone (past and present) who has contributed to the team’s success.
TimeFlyZ Flyball Team 