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Fourth Edition European DogFrisbee Festival
7 days DF festival, in 6 countries, starting on 17 April & final 20&21 August
Kathy Miller and Ruckus Challenge 2011


                                                                      



Who is Kathy Miller?

Well, actually it’s not that hard to figure out she is Mike Miller’s partner. 
They have been involved in dogfrisbee from the early years and are still
actively  promoting the  sport. For decades  they have  been organizing
competitions  in all formats, judging, assisting upcoming players, helping 
foreign players on the World Cups …

On top of that, they are still playing on a high level with their dogs Ruckus
 and  his  sons RT and Big Boy. All three are Belgian  Shepperds,  mainly 
Malinois but with a touch of Tervuren.

In 2007 the bad news of Kathy being sick struck like lightning. But as 
we all know  and love her, she didn’t let it hold her back for a minute and
she’s fighting her disease with everything she can.

We (Sven, Katrien) have had the honour and pleasure to meet
 them and be hosted by them at the Skyhoundz Worlds. We 
really enjoyed their Pairs routine on the qualifier and were stunned by their 
performance.

Althought they might have never been World Champions, we can state they
are one of the cornerstones of this marvellous sport. That’s why they really
 deserve to have the Challenge  named after them. 




What is the purpose of this competition?

We will try to explain you our aim of this competion and why !!!!!!!!!!

Kathy  and  Mike Miller  have  always  tried to keep dogfrisbee the way
 it was in the  beginning,  to play  with your dog and to have fun. This is
 also the reason  they have never  committed  themselves  to one format,
but why they have  contributed  to the development of all formats.  For
this reason as well they never really believed in a club, but continued to
 play as a group of friends under the name of the 
Southern California K9 Air Corps.
 The last couple of years they see more and more a professional attitude
 showing up in their beloved sport, with a number of  players who can afford
 to live of the sport,  or at least earn  some nice  pocket money with it. Some
 competitions offer money as price, or material prices of high value (like cars).

Both know this was not the wish of  Irv Lander, founder of the sport  and a
good  friend of theirs. On top of this they do not feel this is a right evolution
for the dogs involved, and the quality of the competitions.

And that is the reason why the "Kathy Miller and Ruckus Challenge" will become
  a yearly competition, with only one extremely important goal.

BRINGING BACK THE FUN IN DOGFRISBEE, 


How will we try to achieve this? Very simply, as this competition is not format-bound, 
and apart from the classics, there will be a lot of fun parts, and by this the competition 
will have  no influence whatsoever on European or World listings.

Of course there is free entry, and the competition is open for everybody, disregarding 
whether they are a club member or not.   The entry fee is held  low by choice, and the 
return of the competition will be donated to a good cause.

Because of the big number of fun parts, even good players will be surprised, 
and we are quite sure there will be surprising winners.



In Memorium Kathy Miller


It is with immense sorrow I must inform all in our discdog community of the passing of my best friend, the love of my life, my wife of 40+ years and one of the most active participants in watching, teaching and enjoying the sport of K-9 disc. After suffering a massive seizure in early April, and waging an amazing battle hoping against all odds to beat what was explained as a terminal illness (lung, brain and liver cancer), Kathy's battle came to an end Saturday morning around 5 am while sleeping next to me in our bed at home. After complaining of difficulty breathing, but stating implicitly she was in no pain, she was started on morphine the night before to help her breath. She was comfortable for the last hours of her time with us and slipped away quietly.

Kathy has left a huge legacy for us all to partake of. She was awarded two Lifetime Achievement awards (Skyhoundz and Ashley Whippet) for over 20 years of involvement, dedication and love of the sport of K-9 Frisbee, which was one of the largest joys of her life. She and her two boys, Knight and Ruckus, enjoyed many freestyle rounds, demonstrations, and tons of appreciation from friends and opponents alike. Never being a champion because she just could not throw distance, but always a winner in everyone's mind, she stood in high finishing places after her first rounds, but would then give it away to whoever could get those d/a throws out. No matter, she was always back for more. It would be impossible to number those who joined the sport because of her and most all of her organizing skills will be used by all those who learned from her forever.

For those of you in Belgium, Please know the Kathy Miller Ruckus Trophy Tournament was on her mind from the time she was told about the plan. There is nothing more honoring than to have something which you love so well dedicated, executed and continued in your name. Know that where ever you are, when ever you hold this contest, she will be present watching over all who take part. She was just so excited to know we were going to be able to be there this year, and never failed to tell anyone who would listen the story behind how and why this event was created, and what she had hoped it would continue doing. Create fun, companionship and entertainment for pups and people as well. From me, Thank you so very much for giving my beautiful wife such a remarkable gift in her final time with us.

She has left all of us; Ruckus, Ziffy, BigBoy, RT (Runt, she hated the name) and myself with a hole in our lives which will never be filled and she will never be forgotten. We will love her forever and know she is now over that Rainbow Bridge with all of our past lost ones who were waiting for her with open arms. Knowing the way Irv loved her, I would imagine she was on his arm as she crossed.

One of the biggest highlights of her life and disc dog career was being 5th in the World Pairs 2006 and the rousing appreciation we received for our last professional competition at Skyhoundz World Last Chance Qualifier, Chattanooga Tn, 2008. If you would like to see our last ever Demonstration taped in Northern California at the Crusty Classic, Kathy's last time working with disc, please enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOMlDaeV41A Do not raise the volume high as the recording was close to a speaker, and it is a bit distorted. The first ever contest Kathy and I attended was the Torrance Local in 1980 (a contest we have run since Irv asked us to take it over 10 or 12 years ago) and her last was the Ashley Whippet World Finals LaMirada California October 31st this year. She had just a ball on that day, riding around in her wheel chair dressed as a witch, (long black hair and all) passing out Cracker Jacks to anyone who would call out Trick or Treat....

My friend, my sweetheart, my love for life, our lives will never be the same and we will miss you always.
Mike, Ruckus, BigBoy, RT and Ziffy

The photos below are 2006 Skyhounz Atlanta, 2007 Steve Crusty Walsh memorial contest Lodi California, and 2007 Torrance California, which we continue to produce in honor of Irv Lander.