07/30/2026
Home safe and sound from another thrilling tournament weekend at the Skidmarkz Summer Sizzle 🎾💥
This weekend marked our first NAFA tournament as a team and we’re walking away so proud!
For many of our dogs (and people!), this was their first experience racing in a two-ring tournament environment. It was loud, chaotic, and full of distractions- and they all rose to the occasion! We had a few kinks to work through (thats what first experiences are for, right?!), but every dog gave us multiple clean, polished, runs that showed us exactly what they’re capable of.
A few highlights:
😈🙊Ridge owned the start position all weekend…once she finished taming her inner demons of course 😉 This girl is incredible and brings her A-game each time she goes out!
👻🌪️Banshee absolutely CRUSHED IT this weekend!! She ran IN HER BAD LANE, IN A TOURNAMENT ENVIRONMENT for the first time, keeping things sooo clean, even with all the chaos of the two-ring circus. She is an absolute legend and we’re so proud!!
📣💥 Addie was our ever steady Eddie, delivering clean runs all weekend long and jumping in mid-race without a warm-up when the occasion called. She is so reliable- way to crush it, Addie Baddie!!
🥹🫐Niko debuted on a 4x4 last tournament and then jumped straight into the chaos of a two ring environment this tournament! He was so focused and after working through a couple of early kinks, he settled in and ran clean the rest of the weekend. We couldn’t be happier with his progress- he’s absolutely crushing it!!
🦄🪄Magic and Artie stepped into the 7th dog role and absolutely rocked it. They made some AMAZING choices and handled the two-ring environment like seasoned pros.
✨ Our dogs were FIRED UP and several were flirting with new personal bests- we can’t wait to see those times continue to fall!
👩✈️💅 also a shoutout to Alena and Caitlin for killing it as our temporary co-captains this weekend! We know we’re not easy to manage- thanks for keeping us on track!!
Saturday night was just as much fun as the racing. Our babies got to play on the mats and soak in the environment without the pressure of competition- thank you so much, Skidz, for making that happen (also your photo booth was absolutely ADORABLE 📸❤️).
And then there was Saturday night for the humans 😬🤭
What was supposed to be a simple post-tournament dinner turned into one of those nights that will become team lore. Think: a drunk teenager asking for life advice through tears (while hugging Emily), an infant insisting upon Jayne and Brett taking his chicken tender, and sudden music loud enough that we’re surprised our friends in KC couldn’t hear it 😆😆 It was a little overwhelming in the moment, but also somehow totally on brand for this team 😅
The weekend ended with one more reminder of why we’re so grateful for this group. On the drive home, Jess and Alena popped a tire on the Rush Mobile, and our teammates immediately jumped in to make sure they got home safely. Flyball is about so much more than racing. It’s about showing up for each other- whether that’s in the lanes, at dinner, or stranded on the side of the road and this tournament was an example of our team coming together for all of the above ❤️
Our first NAFA tournament was definitely a first- it was exciting, crazy, so fun and also helped show us just what this team is made of. Every dog stepped up, every handler learned something, and every race brought us a little closer to that polished team we’ve been chasing through all of our training.
We’re so lucky to have this team, these dogs, and these people. Here’s to many more wild weekends, a few fewer kinks, and hopefully just as many unforgettable memories. 💙💚🐾
We’ll see you again in August, Amana!
