A summer again full of Agility: Luleå Open – Courageous plan in the far north

Many international events have not taken place in the last two years due to the corona pandemic. One cancellation followed the next. Or the tournaments were not planned at all. It was also unclear for a long time whether every tournament would really find its way back into the calendar after the pandemic. Two years later, at the supposed end of the pandemic, the concern seems to have been unjustified. Quite the opposite. The 2022 event calendar includes some new, promising tournaments. In a small series, “A summer again full of Agility”, we present two new ones and one of the classics which will be held this summer. The Luleå Open in Sweden will kick things off.

To do this, we head north to the coastal town of Luleå in Sweden’s Lapland. Actually not exactly a place where you would expect an international Agility tournament. The organizational team around Kerstin Isaksson and Enya Habel want to prove that it is also possible to hold an event in such a place. Specifically, the largest Agility tournament in northern Sweden. It is scheduled to take place from August 26th to 28th. To be honest, the geographic location is both a disadvantage and an advantage. The Luleå Open offers a great location (but more on that later), four exciting international judges, a professional presentation, numerous sponsors. Indeed good conditions for a successful tournament. Also the tournament mode with the individual competition and a separate individual final for all five size categories in Sweden – the so called heart of the event and the team mode sound promising.

The team mode is based on that of the Norwegian Open. A team consisting of three dogs of the same size completes a course together in one piece. Each runner completes 12 obstacles. The first team triggers the time while the third team stops the time. Refusals must be repeated while each fault counts as 2 extra seconds. 10 seconds are given for a disqualification which also needs to be corrected. We think that it sounds like a lot of fun, besides the actual tournament. The judges will be Jan Egil Eide from Norway, Vittorio Papavero from Italy, Sari Mikkilä from Finland and Vendula Hausnerová from Slovakia. These four also promise a lot of fun.

As great as it all sounds, Luleå is not just around the corner for most people. For this reason, the organizers organized seminars after the tournament with Vittorio Papavero and Jan Egil Eide. These will take place on August 30th and 31st. On the other hand, North Sweden is always worth a trip, apart from Agility. The land of the midnight sun and the northern lights is home to mountains, forests, swamps, wild rivers and islands. So why not combine both and treat yourself with a break in Sweden’s countryside with good friends and then a great Agility adventure at the Luleå Open. Luleå has a well-developed airport that is served by SAS and Norwegian, which both allow dog transport. Lulea is also easily accessible by train or over the road and offers some beautiful campsites right by the sea. The registration for the tournament is possible until July 26th.

Source: https://www.luleaopen.com/