New Policies of the AFA

This page lists new policies or changes to existing policies that have been agreed to by the AFA committee. These policies are seen as 'on trial' until the AFA committee is happy that they have ironed out any problems. AFA members will then be given the opportunity to vote on whether to make them permanent changes / additions to the AFA Rules and Policies. New policies will be communicated to members via this website, the Flying Times newsletter, pre-competition talks and/or letters to clubs and judges. The committee welcomes feedback from members and judges about these policies, and it will be the members that will ultimately decide whether they will be adopted permanently.

Notification # 29 - on Trial Sandbagging
Notification # 31-Amendment to Count Back Rule and Clarification re handler running two dogs in same heat.
Notification #32 - – Rule clarifications – Rules re collection of loose balls and Rule regarding what is allowed during warm up periods before each race.

AFA Notification Number 32 - – Rule clarifications – Rules re collection of loose balls and Rule regarding what is allowed during warm up periods before each race.

Rules regarding collection of loose balls during races.

Under the Rules (Chapter 9.2 (k)) teams are required to collect loose balls during or at the end of each heat (this is a safety issue as well as being a potential distraction issue for the other teams dog/s). Teams may elect to have a ball shagger to assist in collection (refer Rule Chapter 5 (a)) or teams may elect to have one or more of the team members collect the loose balls. There is no requirement in the Rules for teams to have a dedicated ball shagger. If a Judge feels that a team is failing to satisfactorily collect its loose balls they shall issue a warning for the first offence. A second and any subsequent offence will involve the offending team losing the heat in question.

Rules regarding the warm up period before a race

Under the Rules teams are allocated a warm up period before the start of each race. The duration of the period is normally advertised in the Catalogue and announced before the start of each competition and is normally between 90 seconds and two minutes

During this warm up period teams are required to set up their box and adjust jump heights. Teams are also allowed to “practice in the ring” during the warm up period. This includes novice dogs included in the team being able to do run backs or partial runs, the use of jump aids whilst warming up dogs and general assistance by team members and runner

During the warm up period the normal Rules and penalties for fouling, crossing, interference, distraction, aggression and poor sportsmanship all still apply.

AFA Notification Number 31 –Amendment to Count Back Rule and Clarification re handler running two dogs in same heat.
1. On Trial Rule re Count back (effective 1st August 2011).

The Committee has reviewed the count back Rule 9.2 (q) taking into account the concerns raised by the Supervisory Judge and others regarding problems implementing the “best of 5 heats” averaging decider. The Committee agreed that the current Rule was complex and could involve difficulties and interpretations where one team had less than 5 completed heats. The Committee concluded that the most practical solution was to eliminate the average calculation altogether and to use the fastest head to head heat time as the final decider of places. The Committee agreed to adopt “On trial” the following Rule changes effective from 1st August 2011.:

DELETE from 9.2 (q) ii) on Page 28 the words:

“then average time using the 5 best completed head to head heats for each team (i.e. add the 5 best times of all completed heats run by each team head to head and divide by 5 to determine average completed heat time. Best average time wins.) If average time is even –“

The AMENDED 9.2 (q) ii) to read:

ii) Count back based first on head to head RACE wins during competition (where more than two teams are tied the count back for each team shall be the total RACE wins scored against all of the teams that are tied (the combined number of wins)); if two teams are still even the teams are compared on head to head heats; if two teams are still even - then fastest heat time head to head decides the winner. Competition organisers must state which option is to apply in Competition Schedule and announce this at start of Competition.

2. Rule Clarification – one handler running two dogs in same heat.

The Committee also considered the matter of one handler being able to run two dogs in the same heat.

The Committee noted that this is an unusual situation that was not excluded by current Rules .

The Committee agreed that the practice of one handler running two dogs in the same heat is permissible provided it can be done safely, with all dogs in the ring under control of a handler at all times except when running, and that the Judge in the ring having the discretion to instruct a handler or team to discontinue the practice in that competition if he/she concludes that the handler is unable to do it safely.

Given that this is a safety issue, the AFA Representative may also be involved.

The Committee sees no need to change the existing Rules, but decided that a Rule Clarification Notification should be issued to all Judges and Members to advise them that:

the practice of one handler running multiple dogs in a heat is not prohibited, but must be done safely;
There must be one handler for each dog in the Ring (i.e. one handler may not hold two dogs or simultaneously hold one dog and run another); and
Judges and AFA Representatives have an overriding duty of care to ensure safety of handlers and dogs in the Ring at all times, which means they will have to prevent a handler from running multiple dogs in one heat if they observe it to be unsafe

Notification No 29 "on trial Rule" - Sandbagging

Background:
The AFA is aware of the potential for teams to use sandbagging in order to avoid breaking out of a competition and to gain an advantage, and is determined to prevent it.

Current rules on sandbagging, while well intentioned, are difficult to enforce in practice due to the lack of measurable, objective evidence, such as is available for breakouts or bad starts or crosses. The penalty for sandbagging is quite severe, and Judges are understandably reluctant to impose it given the difficulty of lack of objective evidence.

The AFA Committee has considered a number of penalty regimes that allowed Judges to demonstrate to a team suspected of sandbagging of the Committee’s determination to prevent it, without having to exclude the team from the competition at the first transgression.

However, it was also seen as important not to go too far the other way and give a team too many chances, which would allow them to gain an advantage.
Rule on Trial:

The AFA Committee has resolved that the following be adopted effective from 1st August 2011 as a Rule on Trial, as a new Section 9.5 of the Rules and Policies, with the following changes to the September 2010 Rules edition:

INSERT:

Section 9.5 – Sandbagging

If a Judge suspects a team of sandbagging (eg they have had a breakout and their starts or crosses suddenly become very sloppy), the Judge shall discuss his/her concerns with the team captain.
The Judge shall request the attendance of two other officials (such as other Judges and/or the AFA Representative) as Observers for the team’s performance at all later heats.
If the Judge and the Observers all agree that sandbagging has taken place in a later heat, the Judge shall award the entire current race to the non-offending team. This shall be done by reversing the result of any heats in the current race that were won by the offending team and awarding them to the non-offending team. Remaining heats in the race shall be run as per the racing schedule. The offending team shall run in these additional heats under the conditions of Rule 7 (f). This sanction does not extend past the current race.
If the Judge and the Observers all agree that sandbagging has taken place a further time (which could be a later heat in the same race as c. above), the team shall be excused from the competition by the Judge in the ring and the AFA Representative, and may not place in the competition.

NOTES:

This is not a Black Card on the handler(s) or dog(s) in the team, which means that the handlers may continue to run dogs in other teams in this competition, and the dogs do not have to appear before the Incidents Subcommittee before entering any future competitions.
For the current competition, the results of all races prior to the team being excused shall stand, and all remaining races involving this team shall be run by the opposing team without opponent until the race is decided.
All officials involved in the decision to excuse the team shall sign the Incident Report, which shall be forwarded to the AFA in the usual way.

DELETE:

The following text from 9.2 (r) Black Card (i) on Page 29 of the September 2010 edition:

(This includes sandbagging)

INSERT:

The following text into 7 (f) Forfeit for Infringement of the Rules of Competition:

(viii) Sandbagging. Note: this applies to the entire race (refer 9.5).

Notification No 29 "on trial Rule" - Sandbagging

Background: The AFA is aware of the potential for teams to use sandbagging in order to avoid breaking out of a competition and to gain an advantage, and is determined to prevent it.

Background:
The AFA is aware of the potential for teams to use sandbagging in order to avoid breaking out of a competition and to gain an advantage, and is determined to prevent it.