It's a wrap for Sophie...
 Sophie Atkinson first tried out for the YKC Agility Team GB
in 2019 and made selection, but due to Covid-19, the tournament didn't happen in
2020 or 2021. She qualified, however, for the team in 2022 and travelled all the
way to Finland - and what an experience that was! But that's another story.
She's agreed to share her recent experience this year in what would be her last year as a
Junior.
This year, the
Junior Open Agility World Championships (JOAWC) were held in the UK for the first
time, proudly hosted by the Kennel Club at Dallas Burston Polo Club from 12th
- 16th July 2023.
Selection for the YKC junior team was
held at Dog Sports Derby (DSD) back in February 2023, run over a series of
courses provided by the named judges for JOAWC 2023.
This
year I tried out with all of my dogs - Maddie (10), Skye (5) and Hazard, my young BC
I also tried to qualify with a friend's small dog, Lulu (11), a terrier X that I
had been running since 2022 when her owner/handler Jo Stewart unfortunately injured her knee
badly. I was delighted when I qualified three of the dogs and pleased with
young Hazard who performed well under the pressure but sadly missed out.
Unfortunately, as I turn 18 this year, I
will no longer be eligible for selection for JOAWC in 2024 so it was now or
never.
Despite the rather stressful selection
process - or so my parents told me afterwards - I would highly recommend
that any Juniors who are interested in representing their country and competing against
like-minded Juniors on the international stage do research and practise hard on
European style agility courses in order to develop the required skills for both
you and your dog. Then get yourself entered into the YKC Team GB qualification
process in 2024.
 I attended two YKC-organised training and
team building sessions, one at DSD and the other at Lechlade, where the whole
team came together before the tournament in July to integrate new members into
the team through various team building events. It was also a good opportunity to practise on further sample courses in front of the YKC management / coaching
team of Greg Derrett and Anthony Clarke.
Due to the diverse geographic locations
of team members, much of the regular skills practice and weekly training was
left to the individual team member and their regular trainers. For me, it meant
doing more European-style courses including some examples from the European
judges with my trainer Lucy Norton in order to help me develop/hone my skills. For my two
dogs, it also meant making the transition from UK Intermediate jump height to the FCI
Large height for both Maddie and Skye measure above the 48cm FCI cut off height
for Intermediate as compared to the 50cm cut off used in the UK.
The competition
This year the majority of the team elected to camp together so we were
primarily all on site for the whole event and could meet together to socialise
and support each other, both during the various training sessions as well as
during the actual competition runs and at the end of each day.
After arriving on Tuesday, our first team
event was a training session in the afternoon, followed by a BBQ, kindly hosted
by Lorna and Simon Peachey. Each team member was presented with a Notch bracelet
and charm and a T-shirt as a memento of the occasion. It was also a great ice
breaker when all 50 of us had to retreat inside as the heavens opened, luckily
after the food was ready!
The following day the squad unofficially
trained at the Dallas Burston venue in the morning in order to get acclimatised
to the sand surface as well as the Galican competition equipment. In the
afternoon, we all went 10-pin bowling, off site in Leamington.
The remainder of the overseas Junior
teams arrived and made camp during the morning to complete what was certainly a colourful campsite. Each country was allocated a team tent overlooking the sand
arena to use as a base during the competition.
Thursday was the day for our vet checks
and height measures in the morning and official training in the afternoon. Team
spirit began to really bond everyone together in preparation for the opening
ceremony on Friday morning and for us all, the Team Jumping round as well as my
U19 Small jumping round.
 The Opening Ceremony was held in the rain
but it didn't dampen anyone's spirit as we all dressed up - including the
parents - in our red, white and blue accessories and entered the arena as the
final team because we were the hosts. I was honoured to be chosen by my
team-mates to be one of the four flag bearers at the front of the GB squad,
something I will fondly remember for a very long time.
Late on Friday, the organisers decided to
postpone the competition the following day due to a weather warning for very
strong winds and heavy rain. This turned out to be a very wise decision as we
woke on Saturday to very stormy conditions, just as you'd expect for July! I'm
just glad we were in a caravan rather than a tent as several of the others were.
As a team, we took the opportunity between the rainstorms to meet some of the
other teams and begin to organise our trinket and shirt swaps. In the evening
the majority of Juniors attended and thoroughly enjoyed an on-site disco.
Sunday was a very early start with much
better weather. A 6am team meeting in the team tent ensured that we were all
wide awake. With the remaining Individual Jumping runs for both my Large dogs as
well as all of Team and Individual Agility runs to be shoe-horned in to the
final day schedule.
It was certainly a hectic one for me personally, being in
the correct ring to walk the course in the allocated time slot, then back at the
ring for the correcting running order with the correct dog. However, the GB
management team was very calm and well organised in making sure they sent out
reminders in good time for us all.
The Team competition is the total of
several Individual runs added together, so there was an increased pressure to do
well for your teammates, but we all supported each other, and it was very fun!
 Thank you
I was very grateful for my parents and Jo being excellent grooms for the
whole tournament.
A big thank you needs to go out to the
four tournament judges who created some clever, open flowing courses which
tested both dog and handler skills and were a real joy to run, even when the
rains came.
Full results and run details for all competitors are available
online on Agility Plaza and you can read a summary of Team GB results in the
Kennel Club press release - Young agility handlers and dogs break records at
Junior Open Agility World Championships as well as on the
Agilitynet Show News page so I won't repeat them here.
After all of the competitions, it was time
for the closing ceremony and the final podium presentations to be made in the
main arena in front of all the spectators and honoured guests from the Kennel
Club as well as all Junior team members.
All the members of YKC Agility Team GB
got behind each other and were very much
involved in supporting those who had made the podium as you will see if you
watch the video summary of the event which has been excellently put together to
music by Taylor's dad. Follow this link to watch the video and get a real taste of the
team GB experience. It is a very close team!
To conclude
I have really found my experience on Junior Agility Team GB, in this my
final eligible year, an absolute dream come true for me and fulfilment of an
agility goal that I had set myself all those years ago when I first started
running Maddie. I'm extremely proud to have run three dogs to bow out at such a
prestigious event here in the UK and most of all elated to have been a small
part of such a wonderful team and special group of people, many of whom will
undoubtedly be agility friends for life.
Looking back on the past two years, my
experiences this year and last were very different. Finland was full of firsts
for me. My first time going competing abroad with a dog, while the UK event was
closer to the experience of a UK show, probably due to not having the travel.
Both shared an amazing atmosphere.
 Good luck to the other Juniors who aged
out including Blair Hands, Amelie Selby-Bird, Grace Watts and Will Bacchus. I am
sad to know that my Junior days are over, but I'm excited to see what is next to
come and I know that I've made some life-long friends.
Thank you to everyone who has been a big
part of my achievements, my parents, my trainer Lucy, my training colleagues, all
of the team's parents for their organisational skills and additional support in
providing all of the extras, my agility friends new and old, but a really big
special thank you to Jo and her unwavering support with Lulu since I started
running her, not only at the JOAWC 2023 event, but for the many hours of training
and competition all around the country and for just being there with Lulu
whenever she was needed.
I'm also extremely grateful for the
support, advice, banter and general timely words of wisdom provided by all of
the YKC management team - Greg, Ant, Ann, Vicky and Tina whose vision for the
progress of junior agility in the UK I was so proud to be part of and which will
surely provide a secure foundation for my rather daunting transition into the
senior team process in years to come.
I'd like to extend my thanks to those
involved in the organisation of the whole event which must have been a really
stressful time for many and to the YKC Team sponsors for their continued
generous support to the team - Natural Instinct, Dog Sports Derby and Galican.
My final words would be that I cannot
recommend strongly enough to all agility juniors to aim high with those goals
and get involved with the GB selection process. Keep training and honing those
skills and always enjoy the journey, whatever happens.
 About
the author...
Sophie Atkinson has been competing in dog agility since she was 11
years old when she started running her family WSD Maddie. Her dad did a little
bit with Maddie early on but then Sophie got hooked.
She will be doing her A-levels next year and plans to go to
university afterwards to study Canine Behaviour while progressing on her agility
journey!
Sophie lives in Lincolnshire.
Photos: JOAWC by Simon Peachey
First published 21st September 2023 | 