Dogs in hunt for victory DOGSmart hosts Rally- O Fun Match so owners can demonstrate their dogs’ progress By DANICA WALKER P utting a dog through its pac- es in competion is one way to test its obedience — espe- cially with added distractions. That is one benefit of the DOGSmart Training and Day- care Rally-O Fun Match, accord- ing to Jennifer West, the mom of a 14-year-old dog handler. She said that her son Callum Rose, and his dog, a four year old doodle, Rufus, do well during their agility class- es at DOGSmart, but once you put them on a course with other dogs, that’s when his skills really shine. Ruf “These fun COUR YETROL p matches are a way DOODLE to put those skills to the test to com- pete against other dogs,” West said. “The agility classes prepare you for these events, but until you're actu- ally in the ring with other dogs and the other circumstances, it's diffi- cult to tell whether you're actually good at it.” Alice Fisher, owner and trainer at DOGSmart, said in order to run the course well, the team has to work together. “I think they become aware how much their footwork influences the dog,” Fisher said. “One of the cues from the advanced or excellent is where they had to take a jump, and then come back into heel position.” Six-year-old Australian shep- herd, Kane, finished first in the excellent category, and his handler Mary Federici, who is also a trainer at DOGSmart, said that Kane loves to participate in dog obedience events. “He loves it, you can see he is all crazy,” Federici said. “When he gets in there he is all excited to do it.” DOGSmart holds Rally-O Fun events once a year and agility fun events twice a year. Kane and his owner, Mary Federici, complete the obedience course. DANICA WALKER PHOTO Hilary Potter, a member of the only women's deaf curling team in B.C., sets up her stone at Hillcrest Centre on Oct. 13. iyvra DIONNE PHOTO Deaf curling team debuts Only all-female team playing first game in South Van Oct. 21 By MYRA DIONNE even women will soon be sweeping the ice as the only registered all-female deaf curling team in British Co- lumbia. Cecilia Tung, a bronze medal winner at the 2017 World Deaf Curling Championships in So- chi, Russia, is hard of hearing. She has curled for the last 13 years on deaf and hearing teams. When she spoke with The Voice, she said the main difference between the two is in hearing curling, commands are yelled to one another, but in deaf curling they sign the commands. The last time B.C. had an official women’s deaf curling team was in 2012, according to Tung. “T got the ball rolling and reached out to a couple of females that I know who curl but have not curled for a long time,” Tung said. “The point of us getting together is just to have fun. I don’t want to make it a serious thing but if they really want to go to the Canada Deaf Games, OK, I'll go too." Eric Nielson, the team’s manager, is also deaf. In a written interview, he said the group only started a few weeks ago, but he is encouraging the team to represent B.C. at the Canada Deaf Games in 2019. “I have a good feeling that we have a good mixed team in terms of ages and experiences,” Nielson said. “The number one important thing is to have fun but be willing to work hard.” Leonor Johnson, office admin- istrator at BC Deaf Sports Fed- eration, said in an email that deaf curling in Canada is declining. The Canadian Deaf Curling Champi- onship, which takes place in Feb- ruary 2018, has been hard to host due to costs and the time it takes to arrange. “It was required to have at least three provinces or more at CDCC and lately, there have not been enough women teams or mixed teams,” Johnson said. Tung’s team will have their first game at the BC Deaf Curling Play- down this weekend at the Marpole iW W-D-L 1-0-9 Ranked fifth out of five teams W-D-L 3-5-3 Ranked third out of five teams First two games Douglas Nov. 10 Capilano Nov. 11 Curling Club. First two games Douglas Nov. 10 Capilano Nov. 11 Ultimate step toward inclusivity One Vancouver league is working to be a more open space for trans players By BECCA CLARKSON ome are concerned the new S trans inclusivity policy at an ultimate league in Vancouver is not fully adressing the problems. Vancouver Ultimate League teamed up with QMUNITY, an LGBTQs+ resource centre to pro- vide a more inclusive sporting ex- perience. Despite multiple policy and language changes some people don’t think this will affect things as much as they hoped. Some of the changes include gender neutral language on the VUL website, not including gender on player profiles, more gender op- tions during registration, and the ability to choose which gender they match with on the field. Joel Harnest, the education and training coordinator at QMU- NITY, was VUL's main consultant on the policy changes. He believes there will always be tension sur- rounding gender diversity in athlet- ics. “I think a big learning point for the VUL was on how to support a non-binary or transgender person if they don’t want to be out as non- binary on a sports team,” Harnest said. Yayuk Joffres, a genderqueer person who recently retired from the game, is skeptical these policy changes would have affected their VUL experience, as they feel it isn’t clear how the new policy will be implemented, tracked and evalu- ated. “It’s the attitudes, not the poli- cies that have to change,” Joffres said. “They changed the language in their documents, but it's still a bi- nary sport in gender because they're saying ‘would you rather match up with a man or a woman?” VUL's marketing manager, Craig Kulyk, isn’t aware of another recre- ational sports league that has made similar policy changes. “We're proud to be a leader in this area and hope others will fol- low our lead,” Kulyk said. “We rec- ognize that despite the hundreds of hours we've put into this effort, there is still work to do in order to truly be inclusive.” Xx je Yayuk Joffres represents Canada in the women's division against Japan at the World Ultimate and Guts Championship 2016. NoAH MARKUS PHOTOGRAPHY