In the second part of our in-depth interview with the organizers of the Agility World Championship in Estonia, we take a look at the venue, get a glimpse into the history of its creation, the influence of the judges and have a peek into the Estonian Agility scene. A small country, but anything else than a small name in the Agility scene in recent years.

agilitynow.eu Let’s leave the cancellation and the pandemic on hold and return to the event next year. You have chosen the modern Tondiraba Ice Hall as the location for the tournament. How difficult was it for you to find a suitable arena? Especially due of the fact, that there are not many alternatives of this size apart from the Tondiraba Ice Hall and the Saku Suurhall in Estonia.

AWC 2021 You already did mention all the possibilities- we had to choose between Saku Suurhall and Tondiraba Ice Hall. We visited both of the Venues and listed all the pros and cons. Finally, we came to the conclusion that Tondiraba is the best solution for us. It is good to have a choice and it would be even better if there were more choices. Choosing between two is an easy Task.

agilitynow.eu How much preparation there is behind an event of this dimension is also shown by the example of 2016’s event. A good four years earlier, an Estonian delegation was sent to Spain for the World Championship in Zaragossa to clarify various questions. Among other things, on financial issues and organizational processes. What important conclusions could be drawn from this period? Or to put it another way, will we feel a touch of Spain in the far north?

AWC 2021 It is possible that in the end of September the days are sunny and warm with temperatures up to 20 degrees. The idea to have our delegation at as much AWC-s as possible was to gather insight of how different teams worked. There are so many small tasks that have to be done in order to have a good result. No one organizes an event this big hoping that it will work out. Some solutions work better and some not so good. It is good to have experience and since this is the first time Estonia organizes the AWC we have to rely on the experience of others. The main conclusion is that you have to have a plan and in case that does not work plan B and plan C as well.

agilitynow.eu When you traveled to Spain in 2016, the plan was to hold the World Championship two years earlier already in 2018. What made you deviate from the original plan, or you had to deviate?

AWC 2021 When we travelled to Spain, we had the intention to apply for the suddenly free spot of AWC 2018. At the FCI Agility committee meeting in Zaragoza Sweden was elected to host AWC 2018. So applying for the AWC 2020 was not a deviation from the original plan – it was the original plan’s plan B.

agilitynow.eu Much of the work takes place offside the field in the background. Usually months in advance and away from the public. Can the preparation time be estimated in days? And how many people are working on the Tallinn 2021 project before even the first competitor enters the hall and roughly how many will it be during the tournament?

AWC 2021 Counting the days it takes to organize the competition is almost impossible. Since we are working as volunteers when and where ever it is possible. Our helpers on the course and in the secretary have already had exercises to work better together and figure out problems that may occur. For the last two years we have had regular meetings to discuss all the upcoming decisions.

During the competition days we will have over 100 people working on the field, besides it and behind it. We intend to have the helpers working in shifts so that every one of the helpers can also see the competition.

«Usually competitors think that judges just draw something on a map and that’s it. We tend to forget that without good judges this sport would not be that what we love so much.»

agilitynow.eu With Jan Egil Eide from Norway, the FCI Agility Delegation has assigned one of the most famous and popular judges at the moment. He also confirmed his participation for 2021. Not so Svetlana Zolotnikova from Estonia, who withdrawed on her own initiative and will be not available as main judge in 2021. Instead, Inga Järv will stand in the ring. How much do the judges contribute to a successful event? And did you understand Svetlana’s human decision?

AWC 2021 Our judges team is as Nordic as it can be. We are happy to have Jan Egil with us. He is excellent as judge and as a person as well. Svetlana has been travelling the world and judging abroad for a few years. Being also the EO 2018 judge she has probably been more away from home than most of us would like. It is hard to imagine that anyone would like to be away from home so much for their hobby. We would like to thank Svetlana for her contribution to Agility. Also, we are happy that she accepted our invitation to be the assistant judge. It would not be the same Estonian AWC without her. With Inga we will have another nordic lady judging. She is a nice person with a good sense of humor that a judge must have. We hope she will be able to judge abroad a lot in this current Covid-19 situation.

The judge’s contribution to the competition is bigger than you may think. Usually competitors think that they just draw something on a map and that’s it. The judges are the ones who decide what moves we will learn in the next years. During an important competition every decision from the judge’s is investigated immediately by the crowd. The judges are under immense pressure and get almost no credit for it. We tend to forget that without good judges this sport would not be that what we love so much.

agilitynow.eu The last two World Championships in Sweden and Finland set new standards in many areas. Will we also see some new improvements and innovations, without naming them now or are you relying on proved things?

AWC 2021 With Covid-19 living now among us, we will definitely have some innovations.

agilitynow.eu The greatest innovation in the last two years has been made in the event broadcasting over the Internet. Sweden relied on a professional service provider from the sports sector and included for the first time live commentators from within the scene. There was a similar picture in Finland the following year. So far you have kept silent about this topic. Is there any information about the live stream that you can tell us here already?

AWC 2021 We will have an Estonian company with lots of experience producing video feed for live broadcasting. Live broadcast will be done by a professional company.

agilitynow.eu To stick to the standards of the two neighboring countries. The Finnish as well as the Swedish association are among the largest in Europe. What are the hurdles for such a large event for a rather small association as the Estonian Kennel Club is?

AWC 2021 The hurdles in general are the same for small and large associations. Organizing such an event is always difficult because of the work that has to be done. Larger associations have more people available but at the end only a group of 20-30 people will do the preparations before the competition.

«The first good international results have inspired younger enthusiasts and the medals won in the last 4 years will inspire more people.»

agilitynow.eu Estonia has impressively demonstrated in recent years that size is not a prerequisite for success. The gold medal in the Small team competition at the 2018 World Championship in Sweden and the silver medal by Marta Miil and Jay in the individual competition a year later in Finland will never be forgotten. But apart from the medal positions there were also successful results last year with the fourth place by Kaisa Tsäro and Lizzi, as well as the sixth place overall by Keida Raamat and My. What is the recipe for success or the building block for this and many other international successes?

AWC 2021 As always in sports- a good result is a sign of hard work and dedication with a bit of talent. Agility is a relatively young sport. It is even younger in Estonia. The first time Estonia was represented in AWC was 2004 in Italy. Since then Agility gained more and more popularity in Estonia. The first good international results have inspired younger sportsmen like Kaisa and Marta and their results will inspire a new generation.

agilitynow.eu So from a sporting point of view, there couldn’t be a better time for a World Championship in your own country at the moment?

AWC 2021 World Championship in the own country is always boosting the interest for the sport. It is always good to have at least some international level sportsmen to inspire the public. We have in Estonia at the moment good international level sportsmen in Small, Medium and Large.

agilitynow.eu Let’s stay with the national Agility sport in Estonia. So far, Agility has been a shadowy existence in the Baltic state. Yet. The upcoming World Championship and the silver medal from Marta Miil and Jay in Finland were worth a 7 minute report on Estonian morning television. Do you think the World Championship will bring changes in the long-term? Both from a sporting and social point of view?

AWC 2021 We hope to achieve more attention for Agility and dog sports generally in Estonia. The large amount of well behaving dogs should show to the public that a well-trained dog is not causing problems. Let’s hope that after this AWC dogs will be allowed in restaurants and Agility will be recognized as sport in Estonia.

agilitynow.eu And finally, of course, we don’t want to forget our obligatory short question and answer session.