About Watson's
What Is Flyball?
Flyball is a competitive team sport. It first became popular as a sport in America and made its debut in the UK at Crufts in 1990. Flyball is a fun and energetic sport your dog will love.
Two teams of four dogs compete at the same time, each using a parallel 'racing lane' down which each dog in turn runs, clearing four jumps in succession before triggering a pedal on the Flyball box which in turn releases the tennis ball which the dog must carry over the jumps to the start/finish line. The first team to have its fourth dog across the finish line with the ball wins the race. Each dog must trigger the sensor at the finish line before the next dog can trigger the sensor at the start line.
If a run is not completed correctly the dog must re-run at the end of the line (for instance if the dog drops the ball, misses out a jump or starts too early, if the ball-loader assists the dog, or the handler crosses the start line while their dog is running). Each team consists of four to six handlers and dogs plus a 'box loader'.
In the UK there are two organisations, the British Flyball Association (BFA) and the UK Flyball League (UKFL). The principle of Flyball is the same in both organisations however there are slight differences between the rules in each. You can find out more about each organisation on their respective pages.
Two teams of four dogs compete at the same time, each using a parallel 'racing lane' down which each dog in turn runs, clearing four jumps in succession before triggering a pedal on the Flyball box which in turn releases the tennis ball which the dog must carry over the jumps to the start/finish line. The first team to have its fourth dog across the finish line with the ball wins the race. Each dog must trigger the sensor at the finish line before the next dog can trigger the sensor at the start line.
If a run is not completed correctly the dog must re-run at the end of the line (for instance if the dog drops the ball, misses out a jump or starts too early, if the ball-loader assists the dog, or the handler crosses the start line while their dog is running). Each team consists of four to six handlers and dogs plus a 'box loader'.
In the UK there are two organisations, the British Flyball Association (BFA) and the UK Flyball League (UKFL). The principle of Flyball is the same in both organisations however there are slight differences between the rules in each. You can find out more about each organisation on their respective pages.
Who are Watson's?
Watson's are a new team formed in May 2016 after team Captain Christina moved areas. Despite being a new team on paper, Christina has been competing in flyball since 2005 and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge which she uses to help new members succeed in flyball giving them happy, healthy dogs with a long career ahead of them.
We have a few experienced members but most have only been doing flyball for a short amount of time which makes the clubs successes even more fantastic. We are a wide ranging club in terms of people and dogs, we have seen the first ever Bracco Italiano to do Flyball, the top competing Australian Cattle Dog, top competing Irish Setter and the top competing Dachshund not to mention Whippets, Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Border Collies, Australian Kelpies, Jack Russell, Cross breeds and Spaniels which makes everyone welcome! We all love the thrill of competitions but most of all we have fun!!
Christina has competed at Crufts over several years which culminated to becoming Crufts Champion with her dog Summer in 2015. After her experiences at Crufts she wanted the rest of the team to see what it was all about and after only a few weeks of the club being formed, Watson's On Fire qualified for and then competed at Crufts 2017 where they came away with 5th place. We also had 3 of our club dogs competing in the Young Kennel Club Flyball Event at Crufts 2017 who came away with a fantastic 2nd place as well. The club were also lucky enough to be part of the Crufts invitational event in 2020 where we took a team of 2 year old dogs, who ran amazingly to take 5th place.
The club were lucky enough to qualify for the Outdoor British Championships in 2016 with a team in Div 4 and Div 25. There were extremely unlucky not to win both of the divisions and instead came away as Divisional Runners Up. Not to shabby after only existing for 3 months! In November 2016 after being formed for just 6 months the club qualified for the first ever British Indoor Championships. They took two teams and competed in Div 4 and Div 8. This time they went all the way and became Divisional Winners, taking home some shiny silverware.
In June the club experienced another high when they competed in the European Flyball Championships. Again they competed with two teams in Div 4 and Div 9.
In 2017 we took three teams to both the Outdoor and Indoor Championships. At the Outdoor's we came away with a 4th in Division 6, 6th in Division 21 and 3rd in Division 33. We faired much better at the Indoor Championships however and came away as Divisional winners of Division 5 and Division 12 and also finished 3rd in Division 14.
2018 gave us new adventures in the form of the newly formed UK Flyball League. We are very pleased to say we are the only club in Staffordshire offering a complete choice from indoor, outdoor, staggered and block in both the BFA and UKFL organisations. We feel that having a complete array of choices enables us to give our members and dogs the best flyball experience possible and to work out what gives the best result for each individual dog.
We attended the first ever UKFL Championships in 2018. We had an amazing experience coming home as Double Division winners - Div 5 and Div 9. We also took Divisional runners up in Div 13. We also took three teams to both the Indoor and Outdoor BFA Championships. At the Indoor Championships the team made the top 18 and finished divisional runners up in Div 3. Our other teams also took 3rd in Div 9 and 7th in Div 8. At the Outdoor Championships we unfortunately lost a dog to injury which meant a 6th place finish in Div 7. We also had a 4th place in Div 32 and 6th in Div 26.
2019 turned out to be a very big year for the team and will be known as the year the old guard handed over to the new generation. We saw many home bred puppies hit the lanes and create great excitement. One of those dogs, Autumn, became the World's fastest border collie! We broke the sub 17 sec barrier countless times and settled on a new club record of 16.37. Throughout the year 14 dogs became part of a sub 17 sec running team. We had our most successful Championship season to date... at the UKFL Championships we took home 2x Little league Division wins and a 2nd place, Div 2 Multibreed Winners and a 2nd place in Div 3, Div 18 League Winners and 2nd place in Div 2, 8 and 14. At the BFA Indoor Championships we took 2nd place in Div 3, 6 and 10, also a 3rd place in Div 11. At the BFA Outdoor Championships we came away as Div 10 and Div 24 Divisional Winners and took 2nd place in Div 18.
Unfortunately for 2020 covid-19 has put pay to our year of shows however we have some new puppies in the team, saw the retirement of some of the foundation club dogs but everyone has been working hard away from the lanes ready to make 2021 amazing.
2021 saw us finally able to resume our sport! At the end of July we took two foundation teams to Darley Moor where they posted a 16.30 club record and both teams came first. We also saw Ariel become one of just a handful of sub 4 second Labradors. Each week we varied in numbers and teams as covid hit different households however in August we were able to attend the BFA Festivals (Covid version of the Championships). We won numerous singles events and were winners of Div 4 and 14 plus 2nd place in Div 5. During this time we also welcomed a few new members and their dogs. In the last part of the year we saw 7 dogs make their racing debuts, 3 young dogs move into ring time and 2 puppies added to the team! In September we saw Flip, Moji, Autumn and Spring break into the 15s for the first time with 15.91 also winning Div 1 at Oswestry. Fast forward to the last show of the year in December and we then went onto see Epyc, Moji, Autumn and Optic post an incredible 15.42 giving us another new club record and a fantastic way to end the year at Holly Lodge! Finally we brought home 4 best of breed awards for UKFL singles!
2022 turned out to be an incredibly frustrating year and yet it was the most successful in the Club's history! Throughout the year we were hit with Covid and then kennel cough which meant we were only able to get in 7 training sessions for the entire year!
In May we headed to Oswestry on a very warm day to see the club post a new club record of 15.13 - Autumn (10"), Moji (10"), Epyc, Optic.
In June we went to Sutton Fields where we saw Autumn, Colin, Epyc and Optic post a new UKFL outdoor record of 15.33.
Despite having just come out of quarantine for Covid and Kennel Cough we were able to qualify for Crufts 2023 in July with Autumn, Moji, Chess, Comet, Colin, Epyc, Optic.
In August in the middle of a heatwave with 40 degree temps we entered the Championship season and wow did we have some amazing results. Double UKFL Champions which is the first time this has been done in UKFL history with the team winning both Outdoor League and Outdoor Multibreed Division 1's. We also bagged ourselves a win in Multibreed Div 2 and kept the trophy two years in a row!! Deathly Hallows were also Div 4 Winners in outdoor league and our Little League team flew the flag bringing home the divisional win aswell!
At the BFA Championships the club bagged the 2nd fastest time in speed trials and finished overall 3rd place in Div 1. The other notable result was Watsons On Time in Div 5 who placed 2nd under the new format of 10 team divisions.
We also took home 3 best of breed awards in UKFL singles.
2023 saw another crazy busy year in the lanes for the club. We saw a few dogs retire one of those being Aggy who was one of the first dogs through our doors in 2017 as a beginner. Along with retirees we also had 7 dogs making their racing debuts progressing through PC/Foundations into League/Open teams.
In March Chess, Comet, Colin, Epyc and Optic headed off to the green carpet at Crufts, all competing for the first time. They were incredible and put on a superb show to bring home a 2nd and 5th.
April saw us qualify for Crufts 2024 with Chess, Autumn, Epyc, Optic, Zander and Comet.
In May we headed to Holly Lodge where Chess (10"), Colin, Epyc and Optic took us into the sub 15 club with a 14.99. In June we saw Autumn (10") return to the lanes and alongside Colin, Epyc and Optic they posted a new club record of 14.82.
August as always saw the start of our Championship season and WOW, what a year!
14 teams and 5 singles hit the lanes across four days of racing at the UKFL Champs. Watsons Firebolt retained their Outdoor Championship Title and added the Indoor Championship Title aswell! Fantastic Beasts also retained their Outdoor Multibreed Title making us TRIPLE Champions in 2023, the first time this has happened in UKFL History and also the first time a team has successfully defend a Champion title. Muggles also took the Div 2 Outdoor win and Every Flavour Beans finished 2nd only to Fantastic Beasts in Outdoor Multibreed. Patronus took the Div 4 Indoor win and Daily Prophet took on the challenge of the Champions Cup taking overall 4th place in Silver. Lastly we had 2 division wins in Singles and 2 second places with Rydal also talking the overall Little League Champion title.
Our second Championship was the Outdoor BFA Champs. This time taking 6 teams and a foundation team, with 2 of those teams competing it out in Div 1 and 2. Some very close racing in Div 5 and 8 saw Turn Back Time and Prime Time both taking 2nd place however On Time went one better taking home the win in Div 12.
At the end of August we ventured back to Sutton Fields where Autumn, Colin, Epyc and Optic improved on their UKFL Outdoor record taking it to 15.28.
In October we headed to our last Championships of the year, the BFA Indoor Champs. Unfortunately we were missing some key dogs and teams had to be swopped round a little. That said we still had teams duking it out in the top 3 divisions which is an achievement in itself! Prime Time and On Time however had some awesome racing both bringing home division wins in Div 5 and 6.
At the end of the year we also took home two Best of Breed Awards in UKFL Singles.
We have a few experienced members but most have only been doing flyball for a short amount of time which makes the clubs successes even more fantastic. We are a wide ranging club in terms of people and dogs, we have seen the first ever Bracco Italiano to do Flyball, the top competing Australian Cattle Dog, top competing Irish Setter and the top competing Dachshund not to mention Whippets, Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Border Collies, Australian Kelpies, Jack Russell, Cross breeds and Spaniels which makes everyone welcome! We all love the thrill of competitions but most of all we have fun!!
Christina has competed at Crufts over several years which culminated to becoming Crufts Champion with her dog Summer in 2015. After her experiences at Crufts she wanted the rest of the team to see what it was all about and after only a few weeks of the club being formed, Watson's On Fire qualified for and then competed at Crufts 2017 where they came away with 5th place. We also had 3 of our club dogs competing in the Young Kennel Club Flyball Event at Crufts 2017 who came away with a fantastic 2nd place as well. The club were also lucky enough to be part of the Crufts invitational event in 2020 where we took a team of 2 year old dogs, who ran amazingly to take 5th place.
The club were lucky enough to qualify for the Outdoor British Championships in 2016 with a team in Div 4 and Div 25. There were extremely unlucky not to win both of the divisions and instead came away as Divisional Runners Up. Not to shabby after only existing for 3 months! In November 2016 after being formed for just 6 months the club qualified for the first ever British Indoor Championships. They took two teams and competed in Div 4 and Div 8. This time they went all the way and became Divisional Winners, taking home some shiny silverware.
In June the club experienced another high when they competed in the European Flyball Championships. Again they competed with two teams in Div 4 and Div 9.
In 2017 we took three teams to both the Outdoor and Indoor Championships. At the Outdoor's we came away with a 4th in Division 6, 6th in Division 21 and 3rd in Division 33. We faired much better at the Indoor Championships however and came away as Divisional winners of Division 5 and Division 12 and also finished 3rd in Division 14.
2018 gave us new adventures in the form of the newly formed UK Flyball League. We are very pleased to say we are the only club in Staffordshire offering a complete choice from indoor, outdoor, staggered and block in both the BFA and UKFL organisations. We feel that having a complete array of choices enables us to give our members and dogs the best flyball experience possible and to work out what gives the best result for each individual dog.
We attended the first ever UKFL Championships in 2018. We had an amazing experience coming home as Double Division winners - Div 5 and Div 9. We also took Divisional runners up in Div 13. We also took three teams to both the Indoor and Outdoor BFA Championships. At the Indoor Championships the team made the top 18 and finished divisional runners up in Div 3. Our other teams also took 3rd in Div 9 and 7th in Div 8. At the Outdoor Championships we unfortunately lost a dog to injury which meant a 6th place finish in Div 7. We also had a 4th place in Div 32 and 6th in Div 26.
2019 turned out to be a very big year for the team and will be known as the year the old guard handed over to the new generation. We saw many home bred puppies hit the lanes and create great excitement. One of those dogs, Autumn, became the World's fastest border collie! We broke the sub 17 sec barrier countless times and settled on a new club record of 16.37. Throughout the year 14 dogs became part of a sub 17 sec running team. We had our most successful Championship season to date... at the UKFL Championships we took home 2x Little league Division wins and a 2nd place, Div 2 Multibreed Winners and a 2nd place in Div 3, Div 18 League Winners and 2nd place in Div 2, 8 and 14. At the BFA Indoor Championships we took 2nd place in Div 3, 6 and 10, also a 3rd place in Div 11. At the BFA Outdoor Championships we came away as Div 10 and Div 24 Divisional Winners and took 2nd place in Div 18.
Unfortunately for 2020 covid-19 has put pay to our year of shows however we have some new puppies in the team, saw the retirement of some of the foundation club dogs but everyone has been working hard away from the lanes ready to make 2021 amazing.
2021 saw us finally able to resume our sport! At the end of July we took two foundation teams to Darley Moor where they posted a 16.30 club record and both teams came first. We also saw Ariel become one of just a handful of sub 4 second Labradors. Each week we varied in numbers and teams as covid hit different households however in August we were able to attend the BFA Festivals (Covid version of the Championships). We won numerous singles events and were winners of Div 4 and 14 plus 2nd place in Div 5. During this time we also welcomed a few new members and their dogs. In the last part of the year we saw 7 dogs make their racing debuts, 3 young dogs move into ring time and 2 puppies added to the team! In September we saw Flip, Moji, Autumn and Spring break into the 15s for the first time with 15.91 also winning Div 1 at Oswestry. Fast forward to the last show of the year in December and we then went onto see Epyc, Moji, Autumn and Optic post an incredible 15.42 giving us another new club record and a fantastic way to end the year at Holly Lodge! Finally we brought home 4 best of breed awards for UKFL singles!
2022 turned out to be an incredibly frustrating year and yet it was the most successful in the Club's history! Throughout the year we were hit with Covid and then kennel cough which meant we were only able to get in 7 training sessions for the entire year!
In May we headed to Oswestry on a very warm day to see the club post a new club record of 15.13 - Autumn (10"), Moji (10"), Epyc, Optic.
In June we went to Sutton Fields where we saw Autumn, Colin, Epyc and Optic post a new UKFL outdoor record of 15.33.
Despite having just come out of quarantine for Covid and Kennel Cough we were able to qualify for Crufts 2023 in July with Autumn, Moji, Chess, Comet, Colin, Epyc, Optic.
In August in the middle of a heatwave with 40 degree temps we entered the Championship season and wow did we have some amazing results. Double UKFL Champions which is the first time this has been done in UKFL history with the team winning both Outdoor League and Outdoor Multibreed Division 1's. We also bagged ourselves a win in Multibreed Div 2 and kept the trophy two years in a row!! Deathly Hallows were also Div 4 Winners in outdoor league and our Little League team flew the flag bringing home the divisional win aswell!
At the BFA Championships the club bagged the 2nd fastest time in speed trials and finished overall 3rd place in Div 1. The other notable result was Watsons On Time in Div 5 who placed 2nd under the new format of 10 team divisions.
We also took home 3 best of breed awards in UKFL singles.
2023 saw another crazy busy year in the lanes for the club. We saw a few dogs retire one of those being Aggy who was one of the first dogs through our doors in 2017 as a beginner. Along with retirees we also had 7 dogs making their racing debuts progressing through PC/Foundations into League/Open teams.
In March Chess, Comet, Colin, Epyc and Optic headed off to the green carpet at Crufts, all competing for the first time. They were incredible and put on a superb show to bring home a 2nd and 5th.
April saw us qualify for Crufts 2024 with Chess, Autumn, Epyc, Optic, Zander and Comet.
In May we headed to Holly Lodge where Chess (10"), Colin, Epyc and Optic took us into the sub 15 club with a 14.99. In June we saw Autumn (10") return to the lanes and alongside Colin, Epyc and Optic they posted a new club record of 14.82.
August as always saw the start of our Championship season and WOW, what a year!
14 teams and 5 singles hit the lanes across four days of racing at the UKFL Champs. Watsons Firebolt retained their Outdoor Championship Title and added the Indoor Championship Title aswell! Fantastic Beasts also retained their Outdoor Multibreed Title making us TRIPLE Champions in 2023, the first time this has happened in UKFL History and also the first time a team has successfully defend a Champion title. Muggles also took the Div 2 Outdoor win and Every Flavour Beans finished 2nd only to Fantastic Beasts in Outdoor Multibreed. Patronus took the Div 4 Indoor win and Daily Prophet took on the challenge of the Champions Cup taking overall 4th place in Silver. Lastly we had 2 division wins in Singles and 2 second places with Rydal also talking the overall Little League Champion title.
Our second Championship was the Outdoor BFA Champs. This time taking 6 teams and a foundation team, with 2 of those teams competing it out in Div 1 and 2. Some very close racing in Div 5 and 8 saw Turn Back Time and Prime Time both taking 2nd place however On Time went one better taking home the win in Div 12.
At the end of August we ventured back to Sutton Fields where Autumn, Colin, Epyc and Optic improved on their UKFL Outdoor record taking it to 15.28.
In October we headed to our last Championships of the year, the BFA Indoor Champs. Unfortunately we were missing some key dogs and teams had to be swopped round a little. That said we still had teams duking it out in the top 3 divisions which is an achievement in itself! Prime Time and On Time however had some awesome racing both bringing home division wins in Div 5 and 6.
At the end of the year we also took home two Best of Breed Awards in UKFL Singles.