History

One Sunday morning In April 2000, Chris and her partner Roger found a two year old Collie/Belgian Shepherd cross bitch abandoned on a dual carriageway, the A23 in Croydon, at the flyover by the trading estate.

No trace of her former owners could be found (what a surprise) and Chris took the little dog, now called Pip, to training classes.

As Pip was a very shy and timid little thing, she suggested to Chris that something like flyball might help Pip climb out of her shell.

From this acorn an oak began to grow in Earlsfield, South West London…

From contacting Terry Condra, the British Flyball Association’s Area Representative for London and the South East in 2001, flyball became a reality in Earlsfield in 2003.

 

The Teams

Our primary team is Four In The Fast Lane, named for where Pip was found.

As most of the dogs on the team when it started were rescues, Pip felt they had all been in the Fast Lane in one form or another.

There have been changes - only one member of the original team is still running - owing to people moving and (sadly) some illness, but the Toppers are growing and improving all the time.

This has resulted in the Toppers coming second in their Division at the European Flyball Championships 2007, held at Guildford, and their very first outright win at Brinkworth, when they came top of their Division.

All this is thanks to Claire, the Team Manager.  She has ensured that they get to tournaments, that different techniques are learned, that training days with other teams come about.  She’s done a brilliant job.

Since their inception, Four In The Fast Lane have generated two more teams - the Fast Lane 4x4s, who have just started running in Division, and the Fast Lane Juggernauts, our new Starter team.

Both names represent our highway heritage!

 

I’m The Logo - Topper!

We needed a logo, and Pip knew about me so she thought hard and made another suggestion to Chris.

Motorbike enthusiasts go rocketing over that particular flyover on a Sunday morning as they go to meets at Box Hill.  Also, as we were just starting out, Pip felt we could use all the help we could get!

After producing a drawing of me, the dog on a motorbike, Chris realised the film “Hot Shots!” was playing on the TV.  The lead character, Topper Harley (played by Charlie Sheen), was performing stunts on a motorbike to impress a lady on a horse.

That was it.  I got my name - Topper.  The flyball team got a nickname, too, The Toppers.

Well, if football teams can do it, why not flyball teams?