CHAMPIONSHIP WRITE-UPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, & CAPTIONS

  • These are all due 30 days after the trial ends.
  • Submission of your write-up and accompanying photos (with captions) of winners is an essential responsibility of holding an NGSPA Championship. It provides a record of what took place at your trial and gives proper credit to all of the competitors, entities, and people who were responsible for its success.
  • TIMING and PENALTIES – These items are to be received by AF/UKC within 30 days of the end of your trial. Penalties of late items are: delayed entry of the winning dog’s placements to the Field Trial Stud Book, denial of the publication of your write-up, anger of your participants who have discovered their placements are not on their pedigree, participants who have been looking for the published results and photos and have not seen them. This is disrespectful to say the least.
  • They are also due to be loaded on your individual NGSPA Championship web page within 30 days. This keeps our website up to date and gives a reason for the browser to visit and spend time there.
  • They are due to our NGSPA NEWSLETTER within 30 days because they have deadlines to meet for every issue. It is an excellent way to ensure the results of your trial are read by the largest audience.

GUIDELINES FOR YOUR SUBMISSION TO THE PUBLISHERS

– WRITE-UPS –

It is best to submit write-ups in WORD format.  All three publishers can deal with WORD. When any dog is mentioned for the first time it must carry the dog’s full registered name and call name in parentheses (after that only the call name is OK), the name of the handler, and optionally- the name of the owner(s). The form of the write-up is flexible. Learn by examining those of other clubs (NGSPA and American Field). Mention sponsors, judges, bird planters, dog wagon drivers, meal providers, grounds providers, etc. People who have helped out deserve to be recognized and everyone loves to see their names in print, especially your sponsors.

MOST IMPORTANTLY – Mention the handlers and owners who have traveled from all over the country to attend, without whom your trial would have failed.

The running of the dogs is often the most difficult part of the write-up. Scribes at our Championships are pretty much non-existent, as are marshals who ride every brace. Sometimes the judges volunteer to do write-ups. The best practice is often for the Field Trial Chairman to advise the judges in advance to take good notes because they will need to sit down with him/her at the end of every stake to go over the running by brace. Be sure to advise them that you want a tight description of the top two dogs so as to be very clear about why the Champion was so named. Then more copy on any of the dogs that were in contention, and summary copy on the others. Often it is sufficient to cover the winners and the dogs in contention or that did a remarkable job. The running of the dogs may be in order by every brace by stake, or it may show only the placing dogs and other dogs which the judges felt were in the running. This often depends on the size of the stake, and the number of stakes in the trial. Double-check the spelling of all names and give your text a final proofreading for spelling and grammar. Be certain of the spelling of the dog’s registered names.

Send write-ups in a WORD file attached to an email.

– PHOTOS OF WINNERS –

Get a nice-sized group together if possible: winning dogs; their handlers, owners, scouts; judges and field trial officials, and others. Be certain the signs of the sponsors, especially a Purina sign and bags of Pro-Plan are clearly visible. Format the photo to include all people, dogs, and the sponsor’s signs. Try to get an excellent photo with dogs properly “stacked”. Format your photo with the listed objects as close-up as possible.  Distant photos showing a lot of background require cropping and facial detail can be lost. Photos from a digital camera or a phone camera are both acceptable, but those of a digital camera are often of superior quality. Clearly identify the stake represented by each photo: ASD, OSD, OAA, AAA, Derby.

Send digital photos in jpeg format as attachments to an email. You may combine them with the same email containing the write-up.

– CAPTIONS –

Each photo needs an appropriate caption: a list of the names of the people and dogs in the photo, in sequence by row, from left to right. Indicate the judges. If there is more than one row then list the row (rear/back, middle/center, front, etc.) and identify the people/dogs from left to right. Be sure you identify the appropriate stake on each caption so that if they get separated it will not be a problem to sort it all out. Be sure to send the captions in the same email as the photos.

HOW & WHERE TO SUBMIT YOUR WRITE-UPS & PHOTOS

– AMERICAN FIELD/UKC –

Email everything to Dinora Wellmann, Editorial Department Specialist, for the American Field/UKC. She was a former employee of the American Field before their purchase by the UKC, she works from her home. Mail to her gets routed through the UKC office in Kalamazoo, MI, and is therefore inefficient and slow. That is why it is best to use her direct email and phone for the best results.

Dinora Wellman Contact Information

Email: dwellmann@ukcdogs.com

Phone: 312-663-9797 extension 4. (Leave a message if she is not in and she is good about returning calls. In the office: Monday-Thursday.)

Mailing address: United Kennel Club, ATTN: Dinora Wellman-Hunting Ops, 100 E. Kilgore Rd., Kalamazoo, MI, 49002-5584

– NGSPA WEBSITE POSTING –

Go directly to your Club’s Championship web page. The pathway is >ngspa.org> select EVENTS>select CHAMPIONSHIPS>select your CHAMPIONSHIP. Scroll down the page and you will find the section for CHAMPIONSHIP COORDINATORS. Under the Past Trial section, there is a button for your Essential Data Form, upload your photos here. In an email submit your WORD format write-up (you may include photos) to ngspa.info@gmail.com. Include the name of your Championship in the subject line. If you have any questions or if you have problems entering your data then contact NGSPA web manager: Anthony Rusciano.

– NGSPA NEWSLETTERS –

At the same time that you email your information to the American Field and the NGSPA website also email it to our newsletter. What could be easier!

Newsletter Email: news@ngspa.org