The Centralia Toss and Fetch Club has been active for only two seasons and has already experienced substantial growth, with 20 people on the official roster compared to the handful the club had when its first season started in March.
“I just wanted to encourage more people to do competitions with their dogs,” said Katella Smith, 20, founder and captain of the Centralia club.
In the worldwide K9 Frisbee Toss and Fetch League, clubs from around the world compete with one another. Dogs compete as a team with their handlers, who throw frisbees into fields for their companions to catch. The dogs earn points by catching the frisbees before they hit the ground.
“It’s basically backyard frisbee with a scoring system,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the farther the frisbee is thrown, the more points a dog can earn by catching it. Dogs only earn points if they catch the frisbee within a coned-off area. When throwing, the handler stands at one end of the area, which resembles a rectangle with a wide midsection.
The field is divided into five sections based on distance from the throwing position. The first section is the closest to the thrower and extends 30 feet out. Dogs do not earn any points when catching a frisbee within that section. In the second section, dogs earn one point for catching the frisbee, with dogs earning two in the third section and three points in the fourth section. If a dog catches the frisbee within the fifth section, then it earns five points. Nowhere on the field can the dog earn four points.
There are also handicap points that are based on experience levels and dog sizes, which are awarded to allow for clubs to be ranked in a more fair way. For example, dogs 40 centimeters or less in length get an extra point for every catch they make. Adding to the scoring complexity, dogs can earn an additional half point if they catch the frisbee while in a forward motion, rather than stopping and catching the frisbee.
Teams of dogs and their handlers don’t compete directly with each other.
Rather, the total number of points earned by all the teams in a club are added together and the clubs are then ranked. A team’s points only contribute to the club’s total after the team has made it onto the roster. After a competition, all the scores from club members for that competition are added up with the total number of points being reported to a Facebook page where teams from around the world compare their scores.
“If you sign up for the team, you get on the roster to play and after three weeks, then you go on the official roster with your points contributing to the team,” Smith said.
The Centralia club is currently ranked 116th out of the approximately 175 clubs in the world, though in its division, which is based on club size, the club ranks sixth.
The Centralia Toss and Fetch Club is relatively small compared to other clubs around the world. Smith said the largest clubs are in the midwest, primarily because Toss and Fetch started in Ohio, where a man invented the game in 1977. The largest club in the world is in Missouri and has about 60 people and their dogs.
But Toss and Fetch isn’t just about competition. It’s also about fun.
There’s a lot of laughing going on during competitions and the dogs seem to enjoy themselves.
“The best is when they poop in mid-field. It’s happened more than once,” said Dawn Cypriano-McAferty, one of Smith’s co-captains.
The next season starts on July 28. The season will last five weeks and the club will meet once a week on Saturdays at 6 p.m. The requirements for both human and canine participants are loose. Children as young as 10 can take part, as can dogs of any breed. Even puppies can participate.
And people will want to get started soon, because if things go as planned, next September’s Washington state’s championship for Toss and Fetch will be held in Centralia with clubs coming from around the state to compete together.
Those interested in joining the Centralia Toss and Fetch Club should contact Katella Smith on Facebook or by phone at 360-827-0574.
