Youth event exposes kids to outdoors, field trialing

By Bryan Brasher
Memphis Commercial Appeal
article at commercialappeal.com

Sunday, October 12, 2008

DANCYVILLE, Tenn. -- After 30 minutes of chasing a bird dog through the knee-high grass of rural Fayette County, little William Thomas Martin paused for a much-needed breath of October air.

His face was red. The back of his neck was soaked with sweat. And for the moment, he had done all the running he wanted to do.

It took almost six years, but Martin finally found something with as much energy as he has.

"I'm 5 years old, but I'm about to be this many," said Martin, holding up six fingers. "I'm really tired. I've never seen a dog that can run so fast."

That was one of the chief goals of the fifth annual Bass Pro Shops/AFTCA Youth Field Trial -- to introduce children to things they may never have seen before.

The host members of the West Tennessee Field Trial Club wanted to show youngsters a path of enjoyment that led away from their PlayStations and into a perfectly manicured field trial course.

They wanted the kids to move out of cell phone range for a few hours and within range of a sport that needs a booster shot of youth and enthusiasm.

The club members achieved all of their goals during a three-hour period filled with chuckles, screams and dog-tired little people.

"An event like this is good for the kids and good for the sport of field trialing," said Blake Kukar, co-chairman of the event and owner of Circle B Kennels in Dancyville. "We're trying to take kids who have never experienced field-trialing and give them just a little taste of what it's like."

Truthfully, the kids got more than a little taste.

They began the event at 7:30 a.m. -- for some of them, the earliest they've had to be anywhere besides school.

They were given Bass Pro Shops T-shirts and taken onto the field trial course in small groups. Each group had its own dog and its own mentor/instructor from the West Tennessee Field Trial Club.

When a quail was pointed, the children were taught to gather behind the dog -- just as a field-trialer would during a major competition. Then the children were allowed to flush the quail in a hilarious free-for-all that must have been heard by people in the next county.

"They just love flushing the birds," said Linda Hunt, co-chairman of the event and a member of the Field Trial Hall of Fame. "For a lot of them, it's totally different than anything they've done before.

"I don't know who enjoys it more -- the kids or the adults working with them."

This year's trial drew 28 children, ages 3 to 13. The tiniest tikes were so common that Hunt actually ran out of extra-small T-shirts.

"I think we had more of the little-bitty kids than we've ever had before," she said. "That makes this even more fun."

Besides those colorful T-shirts, participants received trophies, subscriptions to Field Trial Magazine and videos of the National Championship for Field Trialing Bird Dogs held every year at Ames Plantation in Grand Junction.

They also met field-trialing celebrities like 2008 national championship handler Larry Huffman of Michigan City, Miss., and famed trainer Buddy Smith of Collierville.

Event organizers don't expect all of the youngsters to become dedicated field-trialers. But if some of them decide to take up field-trialing down the road, the sport would certainly welcome them.

Despite its popularity in the Mid-South, field-trialing is considered by some to be a dying sport. Young handlers-trainers are rare, and many diehards think events like these are crucial for the sport's survival.

"Our club is contractually obligated by the Amateur Field Trial Club Association to hold events like this for children," Kukar said. "But even if we weren't, we'd still want to do this.

"We want to get kids involved with the outdoors -- and as an adult, if you can't have fun watching kids run around after dogs, there's something wrong with you."

To reach reporter Bryan Brasher, call 529-2343; e-mail: brasher@commercialappeal.com.