2018 Rule Book Now Available

The BOD has reviewed the ballots cast by the clubs for the Fall 2017 rule proposals. Of the 30 eligible clubs, 12 clubs voted on the NOTRA Officers and the 6 rule proposals. All 6 of the proposals passed by a 2/3rds majority.

Rule Proposal 1 PASSED 11-1
Summary of Proposal: To ensure that Other Breed race meets are offered for all eligible breeds and Clubs are not allowed to pick and choose the breed entries.
See 1.4 THE OFFICIAL RACE MEET and Chapter 7 OTHER BREEDS for changes

Rule Proposal 2 PASSED 9-3
Summary of Proposal: Bring to the attention of the NOTRA BOD when clubs change the starting method.
See 7.2 STARTING BOXES     for changes

Rule Proposal 3 PASSED 9-3
Summary of Proposal: Hounds who have not been able to complete a race (DNF), who run Off Course (OC), or who have been disqualified (DQ), in 3 race meets, should be barred from entering and competing alongside well trained hounds, and require a qualifying race witnessed by a race secretary before being allowed to enter officially.
See 1.11 QUALIFYING TO RACE and 6.2 DISMISSAL FOR "OFF COURSE" for changes

Rule Proposal 4 PASSED 11-1
Summary of Proposal: Add details to NOTRA Other Breed Nationals bid requirements.
See 2.1.5 NATIONAL NOTRA MEET and 2.1.6 SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR THE NOTRA OB NATIONALS for changes

Rule Proposal 5 PASSED 12-0
Summary of Proposal:  Revise the rule book wording to allow for consistency between the By-Laws and the Rule Book.
See REQUESTING AN OFFICIAL RACE MEET 2.1 REQUEST FOR LICENSE for changes

Rule Proposal 6 PASSED 12-0
Summary of Proposal: Change the date for rule proposals and Nationals submissions from October 1st to October 15th
See 1.1 PROGRAM DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES for changes

 

As a note to clubs who may need to make revisions to the schedules they submitted, clubs who host Other Breed or All Breed race meets must include all eligible other breeds according to the new rules:

At an Official Race Meet, races may be offered to whippets or Other Breeds, or both, but all eligible breeds must be allowed to race if an Other Breed Meet is scheduled as part of the Official Race Meet. 

7.1 REQUESTING OTHER BREED MEETS

Requesting a meet should be done in accordance with Chapter 2. Any NOTRA club that offers Other Breed meets must include all eligible OTHER BREEDS recognized by NOTRA. If only one breed is offered, the request should specify regional or annual national specialty. Specialties must be held by the parent breed club, which must be a NOTRA approved club. The parent breed club’s annual specialty NOTRA will not interfere with any regularly scheduled local meets. If a local club already has a meet scheduled in the same place on the same day that the parent breed club annual specialty NOTRA meet will be held, then the meet must be scheduled
either before or after the regularly scheduled local NOTRA meet. 

 

Another new rule that will affect race secretaries is the need for official qualifying races when a dog hasn't raced successfully in recent meets or has never raced in an official meet. (Off-course, Did Not Finish, and DQ's) This is to ensure that dogs are trained before they are entered and have been reviewed by the race secretary. A dog must complete a successful qualifying run and the need for a qualifying run will be noted in the Other Breed Grading Guide to help race secretaries out in accepting entries.
 
If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me and best wishes for the new year and for the sport of NOTRA oval racing in 2018!!