Our letter below to the AKC on February 1, 2006 proposing the Juniors Program implement a point system. It would reward Juniors who finish in the top four places at each show, reward Juniors who go every weekend, build confidence and motivate Juniors to continue competing rather then today get frustrated because the current system is a Win/Lose Program. For the AKC the new system would increase Junior participation which would grow the program and ulimately increase revenue for the AKC.
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February 1, 2006
Mari-Beth O’Neill Amercian Kennel Club AVP of Special Services 5580 Centerview Dr. Raleigh, NC 27606
Dear Ms. O’Neil: We are writing to you because we want to follow-up to our email with a proposal for the AKC to consider a major change to improve the Juniors Program. As a family, we have competed in Dog Showing both Juniors and conformation for five years. We have competed in many Juniors events and have ended up many times in the top 4 positions or not placing at all. When we first started we never knew why we lost. This is because we never knew what the set criteria for the evaluation of the Juniors were. Also we were not sure what we did wrong if we lost. Many times, when you would ask the judge the reason you lost he or she could not answer the question. This doesn’t help because how can you improve if you don’t know what to improve on. What makes things more frustrating is that you have to earn 10 wins in Juniors to compete in some of the top Juniors events. The Juniors that finish in the top 4 places in each class at an event are all equally good. One could argue that they all should receive something for their efforts. Juniors is not about showing the dog, but about handling a dog. In conformation you get nothing for coming in reserve or opposite. However, in Junior Showmanship the Juniors should get something for coming in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even going to multiple events. It is so demotivating especially to a child who is between 10 -18 when all you can do is finish in the top 4 positions and never get that first place win. We constantly over hear new parents and even parents whose child has been showing in Juniors for awhile. They say things like, “Why did my child lose? Was it her or his handling skills? Did they do the “L” improperly? Does the judge not like little dogs?” When they go up to the judge to ask why, many times the judge can’t remember. The fee to enter one Junior Showmanship competitions is $25. To go to a handling class it costs $15 or less. In the handling class the teacher tells you what to improve on and how to win. At a dog show you pay all this money and when you lose it’s like all that money went down the drain. At least you want to know why you didn’t win so next time you can. We would like to propose a Point System for all Juniors. The point system would reward not just the top 4 places but all juniors who attended the event. The point system would provide a set criteria to evaluate all Juniors and provide them a mechanism to at least know what they did wrong at event and where they need to improve. The point system would reward a Junior who may not finish in the top 4 spots but who goes every weekend and is committed to the sport. Overall, the point system would reward all juniors and motivate them to continue competing even if they do not win every event. The ultimate goal of the point system would be to motivate Juniors to compete more and to help them improve and potentially attract more kids to the sport. For judges it would provide a uniform set of criteria on how to evaluate each Junior handlers skills. Proposed Junior Point SystemNovice Juniors and Open Juniors would be evaluated slightly differently because Novice Juniors are just starting in the sport. Each judge would evaluate a Junior based on 5 specific areas. Within these areas the Judge would provide a score from 1 to 3:
1 - Needs Improvement 2 – Average – performed OK, but could still improve. 3 – Outstanding.
The specific criteria areas:
1. Appearance - how well the Junior is dressed for the event and how well their dog is groomed. Are they presentable? 2. Presentation - how well the Junior and the dog move around the ring during their specific evaluation. Do they act as a team? 3. Stacking – how well did they free stack their dog? 4 and 5. Handling Patterns - a triangle (forward or backward), an “L,” etc. A judge has the option to do one handling pattern in the novice classes vs. two in the open classes. A judge would add up the class score. At this point the judge could have top 4 places. However, if there is a tie then the judge would make all the top handlers do one more handling pattern. The handling pattern would determine the tie break, but not be added to the final score. The top 4 placements in a Junior class would earn additional points to their score and the best junior overall would receive additional points. There is no reward today for Best Junior Handler at an event.
A chart of how the point system would work
General Scoring: 3 Points - Outstanding 2 Points - Average 1 Point - Needs Improvement
Class Scores for top 4 finishers: 1st Place – 5 points 2nd Place - 4 Points 3rd Place - 3 Points 4th Place - 2 Points
Best Overall Junior at an event: Additional 5 Points The point system could be implemented from a system perspective no different then earning points in conformation. This isn’t the only type of Juniors program that has a point system. The American Hunter-Jumper Foundation, Inc (AHJF) also has a point system for Juniors (see Attachment 1). They have a more complex point system with more specific areas. If this point system is put in place you could also have a place on the AKC website where Juniors can go and enter their Junior Handler # in the AKC Store and find out their progression on their points related to that year or an event. They could even purchase point progression reports. We believe a point system would provide all Juniors with an opportunity to accumulate points as a result of their participation at every show. For those Juniors who win in the top places they will earn more points. Then ones that place below them will win fewer points. However, the Junior that does not place will still earn points if he or she shows every weekend. Potentially they could qualify for events where the top Juniors in the county compete. Ultimately, kids earning points at every event would be motivated to get more points and more Juniors will want to continue competing. This will be better then getting frustrated and not continuing. Potentially, more kids would be attracted to the sport which is really the ultimate goal of Juniors to attract kids to the sport at an early age who will continue in dog events as a adult, either showing in conformation as handler, breeder, or other events like agility. Our proposal is just a starting point and would be more then willing to participate in a committee to evaluate, investigate, and implement a point system type program. We think it is important for the AKC, whatever the decision they decide, to survey other Juniors to get input from them on what they like or do not like with today’s system. Also their opinions on a proposed system like the point system we are proposing and if this system has already been proposed then we would like for the AKC to reconsider implementing a similar system. We love the sport of dog showing. It has been one of the most exciting activities we have done as a family. We would like the sport to be more fair in terms of the judges having a criteria for evaluation and not subjective. Also to provide an opportunity for Juniors to improve their handling skills. A lot of these kids will continue competing as a hobby or as a career in dog showing and it is important to provide them a formal mechanism to do that. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely,
Leah Tedesco - Open Senior Olivia Tedesco – Open Junior Jim Tedesco – Junior Parent Maria Tedesco – Junior Parent
H: 847-235-2002 C: 781-760-2357 Email: jtedesco@gis.net
Cc: Dennis B. Sprung – President/CEO David W. Roberts – AVP Registration and Customer Services
Attachment 1
PDF of the original letter to the AKC on February 1, 2006
It has been posted: www.dogplace.org
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