Getting to Know the Candidates: Jayne McQuillen

My name is Jayne McQuillen and I am running for the NAFA Board of Directors.  

I was introduced to flyball in the fall of 1998, when a flyball competitor adopted one of my foster dogs.  She invited us to a practice and a few short months later, our dog was in the ring!  A year later, we needed a second dog for my husband to play with.  We eat, breathe, sleep flyball now!  I never would have imagined that 20 years later we would still be enamored with the sport.  As a bonus, we are sharing that love with our eight year old daughter.  The big attraction for us is just having fun with our dogs, however, we found a second family with our club and supportive community of fellow dog lovers.  

I am currently the club owner of Skidmarkz Flyball Club, Regional Director for Region 21, a volunteer with the NAFA Communications Committee and the new Special Measuring Committee (SMC).  I volunteered to draft the first version of the new Regional Director’s manual.  Which is a great help for new & existing Regional Directors, as often the responsibilities of the position were passed by word of mouth.  It also helps provide uniformity across regions and well as transparency to competitors about the role of Regional Director.  I am very excited to be involved with the (SMC), the new measuring device looks very promising.  We are working to make sure the measuring process is easy for competitors and clearly communicated.  As the Regional Director of an active and growing region, I have tried very hard to help new people find clubs to play on and helped new clubs develop from scratch.  Having the opportunity to fill these volunteer roles with NAFA has given a great insight into the complexity of issues facing the NAFA BOD.

In my real life, I work part time as an Administrative Assistant, which allows me time to delve into lots of other interests.  I spent 18 years involved in Australian Shepherd Breed Rescue organizations.  Helping first with a large national group, ARPH, as a foster home, Regional Representative for Iowa and a BOD member.  I was the founder of a smaller Midwest based rescue group, Protégé Canine Rescue where I also served for ten years as President.  Working in non-profit animal welfare organizations required a great deal of people skills, compromise and flexibility.  I currently run a business teaching dog training focused on performance skills.  COVID-19 has added new challenges to that.  Thankfully out of the box thinking has enabled me to find new ways to teach in these difficult times.

 My primary reason for running for the NAFA BOD is to utilize my diverse experience to grow the sport of flyball by creating a competitive environment that is accessible to everyone.  I have trained a broad array of dogs, some slow, some fast, some steady and some unreliable, and have dogs who fit in every category.  My club once could barely field 2 lineups, and barely ran under 24 seconds.  We have grown to a much larger team, with a wider variety of dogs.  Currently, I have one of the fastest dogs on the team, as well as one of the slowest which provides a great contrast in training and competing.  I believe whether it is a dog, team, or club that everyone deserves equal treatment and to have their interests represented in a fair way.  So many times those pet owners do go on to become the fiercest of competitors.  Many times they just find what I did, a fun outlet for their dogs and a fun group of dog lovers.  I really want NAFA to focus on making sure the bread & butter competitors are not taken for granted.