swap runs ?

[Sarah Fix]

I too am going to miss the opportunities that swap provided and would love to see it continue.  Maybe a vote of competitors would be appropriate??

My other question is - for those of us who have already had our trials approved with the swap for early next year, do we need to change our format?

[Lisa Schmit In The Zone Agility]

 I dont understand why the swap option is going away.    As you can see by the posts above, many exhibitors  (clubs) really like the swap option.     Can you please explain why this is going away?      I honestly cannot think of one reason to stop the swap option.     Just because there are different options for classes is not a reason to do away with the swap option when exhibitors love the swap option and it is so easy to do with no new course builds.   Why cant we have both?

I too have submitted trial applications through June with the thought of doing swap.

[dogrsqr]

I feel that if the swap run remains it should be available for any class that is only offered once in a day.  I’ve never really understood why it’s only available for Chances and Jumpers.  All of our dogs are behind in Regular, Weavers and Touch and Go.  We already often skip Jumpers, Tunnelers and Chances when we enter a 3 day trial just to cut down on total number of runs. I almost never enter Hoopers or Barrelers.

Gina Pizzo

[Cindy Conner]

I like the swap option and would like it see it continue. The local competitors attending our trials also like the swap option. Our club offers the swap option on Sunday, day 3 of our double run format trials. It makes for an efficient course building day, folks choose the classes they need and we have been able to have the trial end around 3:00 pm which is great for the folks who have to drive 4 to 6 hours to get home.

Cindy Conner

[Jean Sather (McCreight)]

Agree with others that SWAP seems to have been a popular offering at trials in our area (Montana).  Especially with the cost of runs increasing a bit next year, I would think people who needed one of the SWAP offerings might be inclined to pay for two of those, where we might only receive an entry for one class otherwise ...  Every little bit helps!

[Chris Nelson]

Guys,

I'm not in much of a conversational mood, so we'll just cut to the chase here.

Swap was ONLY brought around because people wanted more opportunities to run Chances.   That's it.   It gave people 4 rounds instead of 3.

With the new class offerings you could offer 2 rounds of Chances every single day, that's 6 rounds over a 3 day trial.   

There is no reason to have swap when that is an option.     

Anyone who has already submitted trial applications or Premiums with Swap can keep them.   You just can't offer it on any new applications going forward

[dogrsqr]

Thanks Chris.  I’m a little worried about how this new system is going to work but we’ll wait and see. Take care of family.  All of this can wait.

Gina Pizzo

[Linda W. Anderson]

Just curious - is there any way to actually see how many people used the "swap" option for Jumpers?
Linda

[Lindsey Cooper]

Linda - let's see if I can help with some stats.

I've offered swap at three of my trials this year. I'm definitely one of those people who choose regular and jumpers over chances.

Here are total numbers for the Elite runs:

March:
Chances 1: 21
Chances 2: 14
Jumpers 1: 25
Jumpers 2: 16
Regular 1: 21
Regular 2: 10

April:
Chances 1: 25
Chances 2: 23
Jumpers 1: 27
Jumpers 2: 17
Regular 1: 25
Regular 2: 12

October:
Chances 1: 23
Chances 2: 20
Jumpers 1: 24
Jumpers 2: 15
Regular 1: 21
Regular 2: 13

Lindsey
Mountain Dog Sports

[Chris Nelson]

Just a little note for folks.

for 24+ years, NADAC never had swap.    Folks seemed to do pretty good for two plus decades with that.

The new format is allowing clubs WAY more options with offering classes, so I really don't feel too bad if we're being honest.

[BeckyAH]

Just a little note for folks.

for 24+ years, NADAC never had swap.    Folks seemed to do pretty good for two plus decades with that.

The new format is allowing clubs WAY more options with offering classes, so I really don't feel too bad if we're being honest.

Keep not feeling bad.

Change is hard.  I dislike it.   I get it.

We'll  all get over it and our psychology is not your issue.

[Margaret MacEwen]

I also like the swap option, I don't see a downside. 

[KarissaKS]

Many moons ago, before the double-run concept came about, competitors were guaranteed to have 2 Regular, 1 Jumpers, and 1 Chances each day (save for games-only trials, at least). This meant that regardless of how many days of a trial you entered, you'd at least have a shot at your core NATCH classes. Now that the double run format is so popular, it's pretty common (at least in my area) to see a schedule similar to:

Friday: Regular (2), Chances (1), Jumpers (1), random games
Saturday: Regular (2), Chances (2), random games
Sunday: Regular (2), Jumpers (2), random games

If I was only able to attend the trial on Friday and Saturday, I would only have one shot at a Jumpers Q. If I consistently am unable to show on a Sunday then I will quickly become deficient in Jumpers Qs just based on limited availability. The swap option is appreciated because it lets people enter the runs they need.

I get that there is a lot of flexibility now, but it is still unlikely that trials are going to be able to offer classes that will make everyone happy when using the double run format. For example, a recent Facebook post asking what class people thought was the most fun resulted in one club proclaiming that they would offer Tunnelers 6 times in a weekend. Some people might think that's the most awesome thing ever, but I see that and go, "ugh, I'll pass."

I've never liked the double run format and this sort of thing is just one more negative against it. I wish Regular, Jumpers, and Chances still had to be offered every day of a trial.

[dogrsqr]

Clubs don’t have to hold double run trials.  Traditional or mixed format are still available and I’m guessing that the mixed format might be offered more. 

My concern is also that clubs will start offering the classes they think people need or those that are most popular.  Only time will tell and hopefully they will be responsive to comments from all exhibitors.  Our club really doesn’t plan on changing what we’ve been doing which is to offer the core NATCH classes and then try to offer the same number of other classes throughout our 3 trial year.

Gina Pizzo

[Lorrie Stelz]

At the few trials I was at, Swap took only a couple of extra minutes.  There were just a handful of us that did it.  But, it was greatly appreciated by us.  I'm one of the people that need Jumpers and Reg.  Although I LOVE competing in Chances, we usually have enough, so with my old boy, I'd swap out for an extra Jumpers. 

I wish it could go to a vote, but I accept whatever you decide, Chris.