What a Year It Was!

We began our coursing club more than a year ago now (the fall of 2023). We started a FB page, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), etc. And we applied for ASFA Membership as well. We were accepted into their Fast Track Affiliate program.

Next steps included starting the bank account, gaining supporters (Club members), and procuring equipment. Can’t hold a lure coursing trial without equipment! Oh, and that equipment was purchased from an online auction we held which was coordinated by Hope Wright who did a fabulous job!

Everything fell into place in a short amount of time. Which bought us to our next endeavor – a Fun Trial (no ASFA points awarded) which we held in April of 2024. Our first was on a private farm in Dallas, Georgia. The land was a bit hilly but we made it work. Our land host did everything within his power to ensure we had a successful trial.

We ran 16 hounds in Open, FCh, and Veteran stakes and another 9 in the Singles stake for a total of 25 hounds. It was such fun, however, our paperwork was not acceptable so ASFA requested we hold another Fun Trial. We scheduled this one in June at the same location. We ran 15 hounds in Open and Veteran stakes and 2 in Singles stake. Seventeen hounds total. That paperwork was acceptable!

ASFA then released us to hold official trials with the first one being held September. Numbers from that trial included 19 Open, 5 FCh, 3 Veteran stakes and 4 Singles for a total of 31 hounds on September 7th. On the 8th, we ran 21 Open, 5 FCh, 1 Veteran and 5 Singles for a total of 32 hounds.

Little by little, we get better with each trial.

Our November trials were a bit reduced in numbers with 18 Open, 1 FCh, 1 Veteran and 4 Singles for a total of 24 hounds running on the 16th. On the 17th we had 20 Open, 1 FCh, 1 Veteran, and 5 Singles for a total of 27 hounds running.

With the holiday season approaching, I was happy with those numbers. And, well, it isn’t always about the numbers. It’s more about getting folk out and on board running their hounds in ASFA since it has been such a long time (15+ years maybe) since ASFA was offered in the Atlanta area.

We are proud of our humble beginnings and look forward to many more trials in the future. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll host the Region 7 Invitational!