The Retriever Advisory Committee Meeting

 RETRIEVER ADVISORY COMMITTEE

September 26, 2013

The Retriever Advisory Subcommittee on Rules Report for 2013

2013 has been a year of change for the Subcommittee; our long time advisor, Nelson Sills, retired as did Bob Kennon. Both gentlemen served this committee well over 30 years and were important contributors to our sport. Bill Daley from California has also left the Committee after many years of invaluable service.

This spring the AKC Performance department appointed John Russell to replace Mr. Kennon and Ray Vreeland to fill the east coast position. I look forward to working with both these knowledgeable and caring gentlemen. At the time of this writing the western time zone position has not been filled.

However, the Committee has continued to endeavor to keep our sport healthy. Field Trials, like other sports, are undergoing many changes and there is a growing concern about the Amateur’s involvement. Some of these changes are subtle and some are simply products of our times; the most obvious of which is the dominance of the professional within our field trial Open All-Age Stake.

Almost all field trials are Amateur-operated productions. Many of these hard working Amateurs are being discouraged by the com­manding influence of the professional at the trial. We have endeav­ored to give an option to clubs to take part in a one hundred percent Amateur operation.

We believe the Open All-Age stake to be the most important and significant to our sport and breeding programs; and to this end we have limited the number of times a club may invoke this “Amateur” (without an Open) option to once every other year.

Following are the changes to the Rule book which would be nec­essary to have this option operational!

Looking at the Rule Book…

Create a new Section 9A.

Section 9A. The Amateur All-Age Stake,run without an Open All-Age Stake, may only be selected by a Field Trial Club which regularly hosts two All-Age trials, (consisting of both Open and Amateur All-Age stakes), per year. This Amateur only stake is available to qualified clubs on an every other year basis and must be accompanied by two minor stakes.

pg. 22 Section 11: last sentence of 3rd paragraph insert

“and if the club is eligible to select the Amateur option, presented in 9A.”

so it will now read:

A club, may not offer Amateur stakes without offering an Open stake, except the Nationlal Amature stake, and if the club is eligible to select the Amateur option, presented in 9A.

What the new rule means …

Every other year a club, (that normally gives two trials a year), may select for their second trial, to run an Amateur All-Age stake, with two minor stakes and no Open.

Submitted by the Retriever Advisory Committee -

Subcommittee on Rules

Chairman – Katharine B. Simonds

Members – John Goettl, John Russell and Ray Vreeland