9. HONORARY LIFE MEMBER - Honorary Life Members shall mean a person, whether a member or not, who upon the recommendation of the Committee, or upon a written nomination signed by not less than five members, is elected by a resolution passed in Annual General Meeting by a majority or not less than two-thirds of the members voting thereat and who in the opinion of such meeting has rendered outstanding services to the Club or for other good and sufficient reason. Such nomination is to be received by the Committee at least one calendar month prior to the Annual General Meeting, and is to be supported by a qualification/justification for the nomination. An Honorary Life Member shall not be required to pay any subscription, but shall be entitled to all the benefits and privileges of ordinary membership. Such appointments shall not exceed two per year.


At the 2008 AGM, 5 members nominated Cathy Trudinger for Honorary Life membership, this was voted upon by the members:

Cathy Trudinger (August 2008)

Cathy has been a Flyball competitor since 1998 when she commenced racing with her little black dog Jeddah. Jeddah was ahead of her time and was one of the few dogs who had a self taught “swimmers turn” something that is one of the most crucial parts of Flyball racing these days. Jeddah’s fastest time at training was 4.30seconds, however in competition in her earlier years of racing she was consistently running 4.60 seconds at the end of the day. This is not bad for an 11” height dog.

The highest title award to be achieved in Australia is named after this little black dog – the Jeddah Award. Jeddah is now 15years old and was competing up until and including the start of this year. In this timeframe, Cathy has served four terms on the AFA committee, dating from 2001- 2005. During this time, Cathy was webmaster for the AFA website, totally revamping and updating the site, from 2003-2005. Cathy had also represented the Flyball community by volunteering to be the AFA rep at many competitions. Cathy’s passion for the growth of Flyball is also demonstrated by actively instructing as a Flyball instructor for Croydon and District Obedience Dog Club for the last 10 years, actively promoting Flyball at the club and participating in Flyball demonstrations.

We believe Cathy to be an ideal nomination for life membership as she always displays good sportsmanship and is very passionate about Flyball and its direction in the future.

Our Two new Honorary Life Memberships

The AFA Committee had nominated two long serving AFA Members for Honorary Life Membership of the AFA, this was voted upon by the members at the AFA AGM 2007.

Kylie White (August 2007)

The AFA Committee recommended that Kylie White be elected as an Honorary Life Member of the AFA in recognition of her outstanding services to the sport of flyball and in particular to the operations of both the CDC Club and the AFA over 10 years.

Brief support data – Kylie has for many years been a key member of the CDC flyball Club and one of the key organisers of CDC’s flyball competitions, including the two day Canberra Show Competitions. In 2005 she was a key organiser of the Australian National Championships in Canberra and is again involved in organising the 2008 Nationals. Kylie has also been a long serving member of the AFA Committee fulfilling the role of AFA Public Officer. In 2007 she accepted the appointment as Vice President when this position became vacant.

Rosie Milton (August 2007)

The AFA Committee recommended that Rosie Milton be elected as an Honorary Life Member of the AFA in recognition of her outstanding services to the sport of flyball and in particular to the development of the sport in Queensland and the operations of the AFA over the past 10 years.

Brief support data – Rosie has been a member of the AFA since 1997 and via her dedication and support was instrumental in getting flyball established in Queensland. Rosie has been an AFA accredited Judge for many years and has supported numerous AFA Competitions travelling long distances at times to Judge. Rosie has also served in a number of positions on the AFA Committee, including Secretary in 2006. In 2007 Rosie agreed to accept the appointment of AFA Supervisory Judge when this position became vacant.

Gary Hardwood (August 2000)

Honorary Membership has been awarded to a man who dreamed about Flyball becoming a sport in Australia, and set about over a number of years spreading his dream to other people like a virus. Although the man in question is no longer involved in the sport, his enthusiasm inevitably infected many people. The man we are talking about was responsible for the establishment of Queanbeyan Flyball club and later chaired the first meetings attended by Flyball enthusiasts from NSW and ACT that lead to the establishment of the Australian Flyball Association. He also travelled to many areas along the east coast including Melbourne’s Keilor Obedience Dog  Training Club, who were infected with enthusiasm as a result of engaging in unprotected Flyball with the man in question - Mr Gary Harwood. (Article from Flying Times #22 31 August 2000)

To view all AFA Life Members