Ways to Support Juniors!

By Madison Edmunds and Claire MacDonald

As the number of juniors grow in the sport of agility, one of Boundless’s primary goals is to encourage clubs to support their junior agility handlers.

Here are four ways your club can show their support for junior handlers

1. Offer junior discounts for trials, classes, seminars, etc

• Many kids rely on their parents for financial support in the sport of agility, and many can not easily afford to attend agility classes or trials. By offering a junior handler discount, as a community we can hopefully reduce the number of kids unable to participate in agility due to financial barriers. Junior discounts also allow kids to feel supported by their local clubs.
• ​If your club currently offers a junior handler discount or adds a junior handler discount, contact us to be added to our list of clubs with junior discounts. To view the list of clubs with junior handler discounts, click here. 

2. Junior-specific training classes or workshops.

• If there is a handful of juniors in your area, offering junior specific learning opportunities allows for juniors to connect with other juniors. Many kids at BJAC love camp because they are able to talk with other kids their age. Being a junior in an adult-dominated sport can be isolating, by having junior specific events, juniors are able to feel a sense of community.
• Clubs such as Columbia Agility Team have a discounted course specifically only for junior handlers, as well as free junior handler only workshops. Parents say they love having a kid-friendly atmosphere, where juniors are able to work with each other. 

3. Hosting fun-runs or fundraisers to support junior-specific events such as BJAC or EOJ or creating a junior scholarship fund for your club. 

• By hosting events to support junior events, your club is able to show it’s support to juniors and junior events. Programs such as the EOJ team rely heavily on the support and donations of the agility community to run their programs and make their program affordable to all juniors. 
• Portland Agility Club and numerous other clubs host fun runs that donate proceeds to the EOJ team or allow for juniors to host fun runs for their EOJ fundraisers. These fun runs are a valuable way for juniors to gain support as they fundraise for EOJ and other junior events. 

4. Sharing information about junior-specific programs such as EOJ or BJAC.

• Many junior handlers and their families are unaware of the junior-specific programs in the United States. Many juniors say they learn about BJAC through local club members telling them about our program. If you would like flyers regarding BJAC information, we are more than happy to send you resources. 

Please feel free to contact us if you need any support at all, we would love to help you set up a system to support the future of agility.

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