Young Kennel Club (YKC) members representing Team GB took home two overall bronze medals after competing for the first time at the European Open Junior Championships in Slovakia over 7th-10th July 2016.
‘Team GB Red’ won bronze in the Large team overall on Saturday 9th July, which was made up of Belle Howlett with Leia, Sammy Pegg with Blaze, Adam Stretton with Jet and Daniel Croxford with Briar. The team won gold in the agility round and placed 24th in the jumping, their combined scores meant they were able to take home the bronze medal for the Large team overall.
Jack Ryan and Jet also won a bronze medal in the Individual under 15’s category. He came 10thin the jumping round on Friday, then 5th in agility on Sunday, which meant his total scores earned him 3rd place overall.
Other successes included ‘Team GB White’, who came 2nd in the Large team jumping round, Daniel Croxford with Bess, who came 3rd in the Individual jumping small height category and Cameron Bunce with Ziggy, who came 3rd in the agility junior medium height category.
In addition to the two overall bronze medals won by team GB, they also won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the agility and jumping individual rounds.
The European Open Junior Agility Championships attracted hundreds of dogs and handlers from all over the world, with 24 countries represented at the competition including Italy, Russia and the USA. This was the first time a junior team from Britain made up of YKC members has competed at the championships.
Team GB is sponsored by CSJ Specialist Canine Feeds and the Kennel Club. The coaching team consisted of Mark Laker (Team Manager), Paul Moore (Team Coach), Ann Roberts (Team Support), Sam Chapman (Team Assistant) and Rachel Mowbray (Team Vet) who travelled to Slovakia with them.
Agility Team GB Manager, Mark Laker said of their achievement: “Slovakia 2016 was the first time the KC had supported a team of junior handlers going to the European Open, and the team were absolutely brilliant. Coming home with bronze, silver and gold medals across all heights and age groups was fantastic.
This has been an incredible introduction for Agility Team GB Juniors to a top level International competition. We're already looking forward to next year’s competition.”
Ceri Rundle, CSJ’s founder and sponsor of Team GB, said: “CSJ is proud to support the Agility Team GB YKC as these very talented youngsters play a major part in securing the future of the sport in the UK. Congratulations to everyone in achieving such great results.”
The European Open Junior Championship 2017 has been confirmed to be held in Luxembourg from 13th-16th July 2017. Details on the 2017 squad selection process will be available in due course.