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Jersey Agility Festival - How did it all begin?
Finals winners of the first festival in 1997, Alistair Johnson,
Valery Johnson and Celia Golding, with judges Ian Stowers and Paul Skinner
Back in 1995 four agility enthusiasts got together and
formed Paws Agility Club Jersey. The format for agility training in those days, was only once a week outside and often got
cancelled during the winter months due to wet weather. A new indoor horse riding school had just been built at Les Marais,
Bel Royal and was a perfect indoor training venue for agility. The four enthusiasts formed Paws Agility Club Jersey, with
Katie Bennie as President, Sally Rees as Vice President, Fiona Sangan as Secretary and André Rees as Treasurer. As
the club had no funds everyone that joined lent various pieces of equipment to make up a full set. The committee then started
a fund raising campaign by running a fun day competition in January 1996, then a jumble sale and also applied for a grant
with Sport, Leisure and Recreation which covered half of the cost of a full set of equipment. When enough money had been raised
the equipment was ordered and arrived in June 1996, just in time for the first licensed show.
Next February the second licensed show was held, then in June 1997 the ‘Jersey Agility Festival’ was born from an idea by André Rees. The format was very similar to today, attracting Jersey and UK competitors, with qualifying classes over several days, culminating with the finals at the end of the last day. It was the first time in Jersey that an agility show had been run with two rings running at the same time and also was open to all Jersey and UK competitors, with no invitation necessary. Over the first few years it was held at the old Hockey club field behind Jersey Bowl, St. Peter and was held on Friday and Saturday afternoon and evening, then all day Sunday. In 2000 the Festival then moved to Beuvelande Campsite, St. Martin, where the competitors can camp right next to the Festival. After 4 successful Festivals Sally and André Rees retired from the committee of Paws Agility Club, however the new committee decided not to run the Festival the next year. As the Festival was so popular and so many competitors from the UK still wanted to come over Sally and André decided they would continue to run it, so formed Jersey Agility Club to enable them to run the Festival, with all the proceeds now going to charity, Jersey Hospice. In 2002 electronic timing was introduced to Jersey for the first time (Taryntimers) and also in 2002 the much sought after Teddies were introduced as first prizes. The Festival has proved very popular over the years, being the biggest agility event in Jersey, typically attracting 160 dogs, one year it went up to 180 dogs. In 2007 the first overseas competitor from France came over and this has increased each year since, with even competitors from the Netherlands who compete at the FCI world championships. Also a special mention must be made of Cynthia Brealey, who is the only UK competitor that has been to every Festival since it began in 1997. Each year all the judges were from the UK, with several of the judges having previously judged agility at Crufts. In 2009 for the first time there was also a Jersey judge and a French judge. Each year there has always been a raffle at the end of the festival, which is always very popular with the first prize always being a return crossing on Condor Ferries for two and a car, kindly donated each year by Channel Islands Direct. After running another 7 successful Festivals Sally and André decided to have a year off in 2010, and Scallywags Agility Club agreed to hold the reins. After a year off Sally and André Rees gave the Festival in 2011 a makeover, renaming it the ‘Jersey European Agility Festival’, giving it more of a European theme, attracting more competitors from Europe, and also introduced a nations theme each day, with a French day, Spanish day and a British day, with food and drinks from each country on each day. Also a new Nations team event was introduced on Sunday, with the highest placed team from each nation entering a new Final on Monday afternoon, along with the classic individuals finals. Also for the first time there was also an Obedience show alongside the Festival. A special mention must be made of Tony Griffin who helped with the processing of all the entries and running orders for many years, which is a huge task and also Cindy Heys for all her hard work organising all the sponsorship over the last few years. Over the last 9 Festivals which were run for charity, over £10,500 has been raised for Jersey Hospice. Another special mention must be made of the very generous support and sponsorship over the years from Jersey Tourism, Techni-Cal, Ransoms Garden Centre, Pets Paradise, The Pet Cabin, Nutro and Channel Islands Direct. Thank you to all
the judges over the years: 1997
Ian Stowers, Paul Skinner Plans are now well under way for the 2012 festival, with the event moving to a new venue, the Royal Jersey
Showground in Trinity. This is a fantastic venue with a lot more space and also there will be camping at the show alongside
the rings. Again we will be having nation themed days and meals each night at the venue. Sponsors:
Associate Sponsors:
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