If we only had two words to describe the 2011 AWI World Championships.....it would have to be WOW and THANKS!!

Fortunately, with an amazing grasp of the English language, we are able to be a little more thorough with the happenings of 10.8.2011....

What an event, what a venue, what a turn out of top top talent.  The weekend started with most teams arriving to the field throughout the day on Friday. Russ Green from Denver drove all the way out, hauling most of the equipment needed to put this event on; without his help, freestyle rounds might have been done to an old transistor radio and a bullhorn.

At 7:00 am Friday morning the field was already underway with set up.  Purina went out of their way to roll out the red carpet for the AWI.  Katie Flamm and Jim Matthews were instrumental in providing a world class facility and world class support.  Anything we asked for, anything we needed, was provided almost instantly.  As the field went together and we saw more and more banners popping up from our awesome sponsors, Barknetwork.com, ProPlan, Centaur VA, DK Douglas Vaulting Vests, and of course, Hero Disc USA.  We were starting to realize what a big task it was to try and display these sponsors in a way that shows our appreciation for their support.  Fortunately we received some much needed help when Paul and Shelley Winsworth showed up.  They helped ALL day long, and LeRoy Golden arrived, suddenly 4 people were knocking that field out pretty quick.  Purina provided a great staff who got sand raked over the sprinkler heads, bleachers placed and just helped us out SO much.

Skyhoundz World Champion Kirby "McNabb" displayed some SoCal taggin' skillz and threw the Barknetwork logo down in the middle of the field, check out the cool time lapse video of her on www.barknetwork.com  As Tampa Digital arrived, the scaffolding went up and a ton of video equipment was unpacked for a world class livestream, the first time a world championship disc dog event has been streamed.  And they did a world championship job of it.  Once the field was done, everyone descended on a local dive bar aptly named The Roadhouse.  Not quite prepared for 40+ disc doggers, they still accommodated us outside as we all enjoyed a perfect fall evening in the Midwest and spent some quality time with friends, both old and new. With teams from Germany, Italy, Canada, Slovenia, Poland and China, we truly had an international event and everyone was able to have a beer together.

And then we all turned in early to prepare for the 34th Ashley Whippet Invitational World Championship.  With no less than 10 present and past World Champions this event was poised to deliver an incredibly deep and talented field, and it did not disappoint.

Saturday morning started off with bagels and coffee courtesy of Hero Disc USA...as bagels were being delivered, near tragedy struck when Andrew Han was t-boned while making a left hand turn.  His van was totaled, but fortunately all his dogs, and Ahan, were ok and not harmed. Again, the disc dog community showed that it is truly a disc dog family, and came to his aid.  Everyone got Ahan and his pack down to the field and the event started only 5 minutes late with an opening throw, ok, opening ROLLER, to a Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig named Chops.  After executing a near perfect "around" Chops tracked down the roller like it were a truffle, and the event was under way.  We also had a special presentation to European Champion Timo Kehlbeck of $1,000 and a custom made vaulting vest from DK Douglas for his huge win last month in Switzerland.

Jeff Hill and Enzo, of SoCal set the tone with an awesome, innovative round, and 47 more competitors followed suit, putting forth their best efforts with Mark Muir and Gipper wrapping up the first round.  We saw teams from newer clubs like the Minnesota Disc Dogs coming out and matching skills with long time vets having 20+ years in the sport.  All sharing the field, the excitement and the camaraderie of the day.  Slovenian competitor Amadea Colja celebrated her 18th birthday and after the presentation of a yummy chocolate cake, picked up by Julia Zimmerman, we think she was on a sugar buzz to rival that of Danny Eggleston!!

The judges saw some incredible freestyle routines to start the day off; I don't think a single person there wanted the tough job of trying to figure out which world class routine stood out the most.  Jim Safford (Human) Jaeleen Sattler (Team) and Tom Wehrli (Dog) got the catch ratios from Heather Bednar and then tried to determine which teams were bringing just a little more to the table that day.  Julia Zimmerman updated the scores, live to the internet, Chris Wehrli ran just about everything in the control tent and kept the event running smoothly and easily covered everything we had forgotten!!  Round out the staff with Rick Brydum as the scorekeeper, Chris Sexton announcing and Brad Sattler helping out with every little last minute thing, we watched the event photographer, Jackie Scheetz, document everything for us to enjoy for years to come.  Eileen made the trip out from Hero to (wo)man the sales tent, and from being the AWI China Director to hauling the Hero sales items out from California, Mike Miller proved to be as valuable of an asset as his long time disc dog legacy would indicate.  Setting up an international compound, Mike made everyone feel welcome and provided the event with a great piece of shade to relax in and socialize with teams from all over the world.

As it often can, the Toss & Catch round separated the field a bit and those who could keep the nerves to the minimum and get the disc down the field, rose to the top.  Throwing down a round high 17.5, Chuck Middleton and Bling Bling also threw down the gauntlet.  Starting the sport in 1986, Chuck has had one dream that had evaded him for 25 years....we use the word HAD because that round of T&C was an indicator of things to come.  Putting out a score like he did, out of the #8 slot, Chuck and Blingx2 had only to sit back and see if their score would hold.  Defending AWI World Champs Lawrence Fredrick and Harley Davidson took the line a mere half point ahead of The Lone Star Loner, and came up just a bit short, putting up an uncharacteristically low 9 points.  As we have seen time and time again, Toss & Catch can blow a competition apart.  With Middleton's 17.5 round looking stronger and stronger, we cut to the top 26 teams, and everyone prepared for a second round of freestyle.

Under idyllic conditions and a breeze that only occasionally rose up enough to affect a routine, we saw the top 26 teams in the world that day come leave their hearts on the field.  Teams pulled out all the stops and brought their biggest and best tricks to try and wow the judges and show off for friends and family watching the livestream on Barknetwork.com.  One trick that was super memorable for most was watching Lawrence wipe the disc across his forehead, then do a nail delay on an upside down disc.....take the disc down, bounce it off the ground and bring it back up to the nail delay!!  Plus, we saw the Jurassic guy execute the handstand throw...not bad for someone having as many surgeries in the past few years as LF has.

In the end, experience and talent rose to the top as the top 3 stood above the rest.  Tracy Custer and Chill in third place, LF and Zorra in second and realizing that 25 year old dream, Chuck Middleton and Bling Bling become the 34th team to earn the right to call themselves the best of the best.  And a spot on the Lander Cup, of course...wherever it may be.  Those three teams have a combined 55 years experience in the sport!!

Putting icing on the cake, Chris Sexton was inducted into the AWI Hall of Fame!!  Chris spoke about not feeling like he "deserved" something like that....deserved is very different than earned, and you have done both Chris. You are responsible for so much of this sport, the honor was both deserved as well as earned.  Congratulations!!

The after-party was a hit as we all descended upon the Purina Incredible Dog Arena for a catered meal from Qdobas and a keg of local beer that Adrian brought in.  After eating and every team getting a really cool, completely custom dog tag from Mad Dog Metalworks, the games began.  The Dodgebees came out and we had a few exciting rounds of mayhem, it was awesome to see the Chinese teams join us for some "international relations" and the night progressed into a human dock diving challenge...the pool there may never be the same.

As we rolled into Sunday, the wind was a little stronger, as if Irv had managed to keep it fairly calm Saturday, but was now busy playing with all the wonderful disc dogs who have joined him over the Rainbow Bridge.  The atmosphere was markedly more relaxed, the Lander Cup had stayed out the entire night partying, and we were ready to contest the first ever AWI Toss & Catch World Championship.  With 45 teams taking the field, the competition was just as fierce as the day before, and when the dust cleared, Mike Hanson had pulled in a huge win with MaggIE.  That's right....not MaggEY, but using a borrowed dog, Mike and IE racked up two huge rounds to take home some cold, hard cash, and put their names on the Dog Bowl, a beautiful crystal bowl that now has two names on it, and is itching for more!! Smashing the next closest team by 5 points, Mike "gave" second place to Chuck Middleton and the littermate of his World Champion pup, Psych. Birthday kids Jackie Scheetz and Towser pulled in a strong 3rd place against some of the best arms in the sport, proving that she might be one as well!!

For those of you not able to make it, we had an event program where we thanked everyone who had helped out over the year, here is a re-print of that:

Acknowledgments:

The 2011 AWI Series has been a huge success because of all of our sponsors, competitors, judges, staff and host clubs.  We cannot remember and personally thank everyone who contributed, but here is a partial list of the people and organizations responsible for the success of the AWI, we thank each and every one of you with all the sincerity and humility possible.  Thank you for this opportunity to bring the AWI to a park near you:

Our sponsors: Hero Disc USA, BarkNetwork, Purina ProPlan, Sasha’s/ Centaur VA, DK Douglas Vaulting Vests and Mad Dog Metalworks. Your support made this possible!!

Our AWI Tournament Director China - Mike Miller and AWI Tournament Director Europe - Julia Zimmerman.  Thank you both for running incredible events and exposing the AWI to more and more people.

Shimbosan, Sam and Eileen at Hero… ‘Nuff said!!

Tania Lex for her invaluable help with the rules, procedures, ideas and just about everything else.

Alex Stein for bringing the sport to the public consciousness and still being involved all these years later.  Tom and Chris Wehrli and the entire Wehrli family for all you do to not only preserve the sport but ensure it’s progression.  Adrian Custer for ALL his help...x2!!

Our US Host Clubs and our main contacts in each club:

Central Florida Disc Dog Club - Gary and Sarah Duke and Chuck Hensley

Houston Canine Frisbee Club - Eugene Hensley and LeRoy Golden

Disc Dogs in Southern California - Bruce Brantley, Becky Wong and Cheryl Kamimubo

Colorado Disc Dogs - Scott Amman, Chris Sexton and Rick Brydum

Southern Ohio Flying K9’s Club - Heather Bednar

Minnesota Disc Dog Club - Tania Lex

New England Disc Dog Club - Nadja Palenzuela and Kara Gilmore

The Hot Jam - Adrian and Tracy Custer

W indy City Disc Dog Club -  Tom and Chris Wehrli and the Wehrli family

And a very, very special thanks to everyone who put up with countless calls, texts and emails from us to bounce ideas off them, get feedback and give an idea of what will make the series better and even more fun for the awesome dogs and the competitors.  A lot of the ideas for the AWI have come from these people:  Heather Bednar, Russ Green, Sarah Duke, Gary Duke, Tania Lex, Todd Murnan, Mike Hanson, Clint Marlow, Uwe Geiberger, and Bjorn Tigges & Julia Zimmerman - our IT gurus.

Some people may have been forgotten, there are just so many who have helped make the 2011 AWI Series such a great success.  Let’s roll that momentum into the Finals and thank ProPlan and BarkNetwork.  Paul and Kathy Carson from BarkNetwork and Kaite Flamm from Purina have gone above and beyond to ensure that the 2011 Finals will be an event to remember!! 

The main thanks goes out to all of you, the competitors and your amazing dogs. Thanks for spending your time and money to come support this event and to allow us to provide a safe, fun place for you to play with your dogs.  Without you, this series would not exist.

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!!

Very special final thanks to Russ Green, Paul Winsworth and LeRoy Golden for all their help Friday.  Jim Matthews at Purina, George, Jeff and Jim from Tampa Digital, and their entire awesome, professional crew....Adrian and Tracy Custer for everything they did both weekends the AWI was fortunate enough to be at Purina Farms, ALL their work!!

Once again: Hero Disc USA, Purina ProPlan and Barknetwork.com, we never could have done this without their support.  

Please, PLEASE support the sponsors who support our sport.

See everyone next year at a Qualifier near you, and again at the 2012 AWI World Championships, the 35th Anniversary, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 29 & 30, 2012 at Purina Farms!!

You guys ROCK!!

The AWI