Entlebuch, salašnický pes, štěňata, chovatelská stanice, z Lesní zahrady, Barnie, Aisha, Stoklasa, Stoklasová, Stoklasovi

This year, we have been the main organizers of the EUROPEAN TREIBBALL START (co-organizers were Jiří Čedík and Pavla Hejčová Langová) and it was a truly European event. Of the originally registered 50 teams from 5 countries (Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Germany, and the Netherlands), 45 of them finally arrived, of which 15 were foreign. The evening before the race, the first meeting on future European rules took place, attended by 22 representatives from 5 countries. Some people came from abroad only for negotiations on European rules and as observers for the race.
Because of the rich international participation and negotiations on future European rules, we decided to design the SMART run as the task called MIX, which was the MIX of elements from various European rules. The race designed in this way provided fair conditions and an equal chance for victory to teams from different European countries that train according to different rules. This task gave the participants the opportunity to experience live and at one place how races look like in different European countries, and they were well prepared for the initial negotiations on European rules.
New Czech rules premiered at the race, which underwent a relatively fundamental revision in the framework of harmonization with foreign rules. For the judges (Jiří Čedík, Pavla Hejčová Langová and myself), judging according to the new rules with the inclusion of foreign elements was more demanding, but everything went smoothly and without complications.
The representation of breeds was very varied: English Cocker Spaniel, Bauceron, Border Collie, Rough Collie, Entlebuch Cattle Dog, Bohemian Shepherd, Italian Greyhound, Jack Russel Terrier, Dachshund, Miniature and Medium Schnauzer, Malinois, Mudi, Portuguese Water Dog, Small and Medium Poodle, Pyrenean Shepherd, Sheltie, and several mixed breeds.
Having in mind the international nature of the event, we started preparing for it well in advance and very carefully. In addition to beautiful trophies and name tags with the race logo, we also offered T-shirts and sweatshirts with the logo of the race. We baked homemade Czech cakes and tested Czech dishes in the restaurant next to the hall. We found them all very tasty. On the Friday before the race, we met at a joint training with the Italian race participants. We found them to be very well prepared, we just corrected some formal mistakes resulting from different rules. After the training, we spent a very nice evening together in a neighbouring restaurant.
Saturday evening was dedicated to preparing the playing field for the race and discussing future European rules. Representatives of 5 countries had the opportunity to meet personally and exchange information about the state of treibball in individual countries. We talked about steps that should lead to the preparation of uniform European rules that would make it easier for the representatives of all countries to start more and more often at foreign races.
The race was held on Sunday. Thanks to generous sponsors and many participants, we could afford not only to rent the luxurious hall, but also to buy nice trophies and prizes for the competitors. The participants greatly appreciated the variety of included tasks and the opportunity to try the MIX of tasks from different European rules. There was a great and friendly atmosphere at the race. Treibball is still a rare sport where almost everyone knows each other, cheers for each other, and supports each other. We were at the place where agility is mainly practiced. Agility has already become a much more mass sport with great rivalry, so they envied us the atmosphere a little there.
Our Aisha made us very happy. She ran both runs precisely, cleanly, and quickly and deservedly won in the top TRB 3 class in tough competition of the best European teams. Jirka Čedík and Pretty, who train with us in Pesopark (Jirka has also expanded our coaching team since this year), made us also very happy. They started for the first time in the highest class TRB 3. They ran two clean runs without penalty points and finished in third place. The teams from Pesopark were very successful and they won six first and three third places.
Total results of the race. We thank all the participating teams for the pleasant and relaxed atmosphere at the race, the amazing discipline and punctuality, as well as the careful preparation for the race. We saw beautiful performances in all categories. We thank Karina Divišová for the opportunity to organize the race in the wonderful Tachyon Sport Arena and for her perfect cooperation during the preparation of the race, for the excellent service on site not only during the day, but until late in the evening when we discussed the European treibball rules. We thank Jirka Čedík and Pavla Hejčová Langová for judging the race and Pavel Hejč for the professional sound during the entire event. Thanks to Petra Jirošová and her pefectly-coordinated team, everything ran smoothly and without delays. We thank to Jirka Dušek, Míla Dušková and Silvia Gunárová for preparing the playing field before the races. We thank Pavla Černáková and Kačka Bechyňová for sensitive measuring the dogs and checking the chips, and we thank Jarka Chlumská for the health check-up of the dogs. Thanks to the language skills of Jirka Čedík and Vivien Davidová, we were fully trilingual, which was a bonus that the numerous foreign participants at the race greatly appreciated. We thank Martin Zobač for the wonderful photos.
We are happy with the positive feedback of the participants, and we are looking forward to the next meeting at the EUROPEAN TREIBBALL START 2025 on 15 March 2025.

Photo: Martin Zobač, Bohdana a Milan Stoklasovi
Video: Jiří Čedík, Věra Janatová, Bohdana a Milan Stoklasovi