FRONT RANGE AGILITY TEAM

Chief Ring Steward PROCEDURES

From Amy Galperin

CHIEF RING STEWARD PROCEDURES

YOUR JOB:
To find volunteers to work the various jobs at a trial,
To set up the schedule,
To make sure people know the schedule
To make sure people understand what their job assignment is
To make sure the volunteers are taken care of!!!

FINDING VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer sheet in catalogs
FRAT trials have a form for volunteering for the trial. This form will have the name of the volunteer, what job they are interested in doing and the days they are available. The form may also list in what classes the volunteer is entered. The trial secretary will send you a package with the forms in it. They should also send you a list of all participants, and what classes' people are entered.

Calling up friends, sending out sign up sheets at trials and club meetings, calling up club members.
This used to be the most common method for finding volunteers, but people are now aware of the volunteer form and most usually fill it out.

FRAT Club members
All FRAT club members are expected to work a trial if they attend. Many members will volunteer to work even if they are not entered. You should compare the secretary's list of participants with the membership list. The club secretary or the newsletter editor will have the most up to date list of members.

TO SET UP THE SCHEDULE
The jobs that you are responsible for filling:
Score Table -Three people Ribbons - One person
Scribe - One person Scribe Assistant - One person
Scribe Runner - One person Timer - One person
Leash Runner - One person Gate Steward - One person
Jumper Setters - Three people Course builders - 4 - 8 people

Score Table Each agility type (AKC, USDAA, etc) has their own method of doing scoring. The trial's chief score keeper is responsible for making sure the score table folks do things right. You need to make sure the chief score keeper is doing this.

Ribbons This person should be able to write clearly, and can be systematic in organizing their tasks. They will work with the people at the score table to organize the winners and qualifiers. They are responsible for putting the proper class, Standard Course Time (SCT), dogs' running time and dogs' score on the correct ribbon. They should also make sure the ribbons are handed out, by telling the trial secretary they are ready to be given out. Often the ribbon person gets the pleasure of giving out the ribbons. This task is really an easy task because the score keepers will have sheets listing all this information.

Scribe Many people do not like being scribe because they cannot watch the dogs, and some people do not like feeling responsible at a trial (they have enough responsibilities at work and home!), so this is not an easy job to fill. You need to choose people for this job that will be agreeable because they work closely with the judge during each dogs' run. This job is very easy task to teach someone, but it takes a few runs before the scribe understands how important it is to keep their eyes on the judge not the dogs or handler! You must emphasize this as you are getting them organized for the first time.

Scribe Assistant This person is a very critical for keeping things moving. It is their job to make sure the scribe sheets are in the correct order. They coordinate with the gate steward to keep the running order sheets right. It is helpful for the scribe assistant to know most of the dogs at the trial. The scribe assistant's job is to put the next dog's running sheet on a clipboard. When the scribe is done with a dogs' run, the scribe assist and scribe switch clipboards. The scribe assistant then gives the completed sheet, with the recorded time, to the scribe runner and sets up for the next dog. The scribe should have complete confidence that the right sheet is on the clipboard.

Scribe Runner This is the job for people who just like to move, a great job for someone's child. The scribe runner takes the filled out scribe sheet with the recorded time to the score table. They also pass any necessary messages between the score table and scribe. Sometimes they can also function as leash runner.

Timer - Most people, who like to volunteer, want to be timer. In USDAA and NADACC there are some games that have more than one time and the timer needs to be on their toes. You need to choose a responsible person, who will keep awake and remember to press the button at the right time.

Leash Runner - An easy job, but needs someone who does not mind doing a lot of walking.

Gate Steward - This person is very critical for keeping things moving and can help make the trial fun or be a real pain in the neck. The Gate Steward should be someone who can pleasantly line people up, have a sense of humor and can be assertive when needed. It is really helpful if they also know the dogs. It is nice when the Gate Steward just checks people in by sight, making sure someone who has more than one dog is showing all the dogs listed. The Gate Steward is responsible for making sure the running order is correct and identifying dogs that are absent or have scratched. They also organize conflicts between rings and will switch dogs if there is a problem with someone running more than one dog too close together. The Gate Steward has the dogs lined up three deep, one "on line", one "in the hole" and one "on deck". They keep the participants aware of the running order and which dog is in the ring. This is easiest done by simply crossing out the dogs name as it runs. The Gate Steward is also responsible for getting the next dog on the line at the right time. They also coordinate with the Scribe assistant and help make sure the score sheets are in proper running order. A good Gate Steward is really a big help.

Jump Setters This job is an easy one. The chief ring steward should make sure the jump setters know how to do the triple, double, broad and tire jumps. The judge will usually have specific areas they want covered with jump setters and sometimes marks it on their course sheets. Someone should volunteer to do the chute, a job that you may end up begging people to do.

Course Builders The chief course builder is in charge of getting the course builders organized. You need to set up who is helping. The courses are usually laid out in two halves so you should have someone who is experienced for each half. The rest of the course builders can be people who are willing to listen, carry things and jump in when needed. We have enough experienced course builders that we should not be making the same people build courses for each class at the trial.

MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW THE SCHEDULE
Putting it on the Colorado Agility List
Get help from the Colorado agility webmaster

Putting it on the FRAT Home Page
Get help from the FRAT web master

Give it out at the club meeting before the trial

Post it at the trial
In the past we have used an erase board. The Chief Ring Steward picked up the board to fill out before the trial. now it is easier to bring a printed copy of the job sheet and have a copy place like Kinkos's enlarge it.

MAKE SURE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THEIR JOB
You are not necessarily responsible for telling each volunteer what their job is, but, you are responsible for making sure they are being helped. For instance making sure the chief score keeper is helping the table people, and the jump setters are being helped either by the judge or by you. You also should be checking to make sure each job is filled for each class. It is your job to make sure people are in the right place at the right time.

To make sure the volunteers are taken care of!!!
At the end of the trial you know you did a good job if no volunteer felt lost and the judge felt things went smoothly.