CZECH FLYBALL

Flyball is a sport and fun for all breed and cross breed dogs having a huge range of temperament.Two teams of 4 dogs race against each other on 2 same racing lanes. Each lane consists of 4 same jumps and boxes releasing the ball.Dog handler giving the command go but not leaving or crossing the start line sends the dog on the lane who runs in turn over 4 jumps, triggers the box relasing a ball and when making the „swimm-turn“ returns over the 4 jumps carrying the ball. At the same time the first dog is crossing the start/finish line the next dog can ran through the start line. The team wins when all 4 dogs are the first returned with all balls of course.Very important is the best team entirety and very good tolerance between all dogs is required. Team racing is usually very thrilling and in this moments FLYBALL becomes the real adrenalin sport. Till the last moment it is not decided which team will win as in split second it can happen anything.

In the past, most people who started attending flyball trainings in the Czech Republic practised other dog activities as well, be it agility, dog obedience, protection, or rescuing. Flyball was introduced to the country by Antonín Grygar who came across this discipline during an agility competition in Belgium. For two years, a series of flyball competitions was held within Czech agility tournaments under the name "O pohár Pedigree" (Pedigree Cup). The end of this Cup, however, seemed to bring about the end of Czech flyball – almost no competitions took place any more.

Two Czech teams ventured to participate in 2004 European Flyball Championship, held in Belgium – Hop Trop Prague and a newly formed team, Dream´s Family. Hop Trop Prague won the 6th divisions on both days, The Dreams ended up 3rd in the 4th division, still managing a new Czech record time of 18.70 sec. In the Czech Republic, several new flyball tournaments took place during that year, hosting more and more new teams. In autumn of 2004, the first Czech Flyball Championship was held.

For Czech teams, 2005 flyball year started by the spring Polish Championship, and a successful start it was: Dream´s Family became Champions of Poland, Hop Trop Prague becoming Vice-Champions. A rarely held individual race was won by the only Czech representative, mixed breed dog Tim. Czech monthly magazine "Pes – přítel člověka" started to publish a comprehensive series of articles dealing with flyball training. In September, 2nd Open Czech Flyball Championship was organised, attended by 6 teams. At the end of October, a voyage of three Czech flyball teams was organised to 3rd Gießener Flyball Cup held in Germany. Dream´s Family won the 1st Division, the other Czech team – Hop Trop Prague – took 3rd place.

The year 2006 wasn´t any less important to Czech flyball – vice versa: during the first week of May, Trmice by Ústí nad Labem hosted 2nd international flyball tournament named Eager´s Cup, attended by 7 teams – 4 Czech, 2 German, and 1 Dutch. This competition was, at the same time, the first event of the Czech Flyball Cup – Purina DOG CHOW Cup, a series of 4 tournaments with an annual results counting. At the end of July, three Czech teams went to France to represent their country at 2006 European Flyball Championship. Hop Trop Dreams team took 3rd place in the 2nd division, racing a new Czech record time of 18.50 sec. Hop Trop Prague team were placed 3rd in the 3rd division.

The flyball year 2007 started again by the international Eager´s Cup tournament, this time hosting a record number of 18 participating teams coming from 5 European countries! Hop Trop Dreams team managed to shift the Czech record time to 18.31 seconds, while many other teams encountered remarkable improvements of their results. Worth mentioning is also a flyball tournament in Prague-Letňany, attended by 10 Czech teams from the whole country; in autumn, the event was attended by 13 flyball teams. Two Czech teams have now regularly been able to race times around 18 seconds, while five others have been achieving times around 19 seconds.

2008 will be a remarkable year for Czech flyball as well. European Flyball Championship, organised in Krásná louka, may also be considered a celebration of 5th anniversary of flyball rebirth in the Czech Republic.