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 The Junior Handlers
Club was set up in approximately 1981 by Jacqui Hurley & Brian
Cummins. Diana Abbott ran a ringcraft
club for people who wanted to show their dogs & some of the adults did not
like the children getting involved so Jacqui & Brian offered to take the
children & so the Junior Handlers were born. For many years the club was a children’s club
& they enjoyed many successes in
Jersey,
on the Mainland & Abroad.
In 1984 the club was
registered as a business & used
Halkett
Place
School
for training. Training was 25p per week.
In this year the club toured the
UK
for two weeks, gave a demonstration in
Bath
& had tracksuits sponsored by Channel Hotels. Robert Kirsch agreed to be the Club’s Patron
for twelve months. In 1985 the Club became affiliated to the Youth Service and
the following year training moved to the old Milk Marketing Board site & to
Peacock Farm. In 1987 an adventure weekend was held at Crabbe and in 1988 the
club was on the move again this time to Six Rues Hall where they remained for
two years. In 1990 the club was on the
move once more and this time found a home at Seaton Youth Club.
In 1991 Princess
Antoinette of
Monaco
was approached to be the Club’s Patron.
In 1992 the club was able to buy a horse box for their agility equipment
with support from Telethon. In 1994 the
Club was moved again, this time we had the chance of the sole use of the old
Gorey Youth Club for show handling and obedience while the agility moved to Haie
Fleurie. In 1995 the agility training
moved to Les Marais Indoor horse school. In 1999 we introduced our own Grade
Scheme for show handling & the following year obedience and agility
followed. We also left Gorey to move to
Springfield. In 2001 Foot and Mouth caused major problems
for the Club, the Easter Team Match had to be cancelled and members dwindled as
we were not allowed to meet and train our dogs.
The Juniors in the
earlier years threw themselves into fundraising. In 1987 they held a Pro Dogs
Walk and raised the grand sum of £936.06, this was the second largest sum
raised and was only beaten by
London. They have also raised funds by holding barn
dances, scavenger hunts, jumble sales, coffee mornings, exemption shows and
carol singing. They also used to
organize and run their own demonstrations at functions, the most memorable
being at the Jersey Dog Club’s Millennium Show.
In the latter years
the Club has taken on more adults and introduced the Good Citizen Dog Scheme
which makes it into the Club it is today.
Interesting Milestones:
1983: First Easter
Team Match
1984:
Jersey Junior Handlers Association is officially
registered. Frances Hurley wins her age group in the design a Kennel Club
Junior Organization badge competition.
1985: Easter Team
Match sees competitors from the
UK,
Ireland, Jersey,
Guernsey and
Alderney.
1986: Frances Hurley
wins the Junior Handling Association Utility Group, 12-16years at
Richmond.
Obedience and grooming introduced to the Easter Team Match.
 1987: Frances Hurley
wins Junior Handling Association/Pedigree ‘Junior Handler of the Year’ and is third in the
International Final. Pop Star Chris Amoo is one of the Easter Team Match judges and agility is
added to the disciplines.
1988: Frances Hurley
judges one of the Junior Handling Association’s semi finals at
Richmond.
1989: Three Jersey
Juniors are in the JHA finals, Alexander Hurley, Jaxson Manser along with Debbie Ford who also qualified.
John Nettles presents the Easter Team Match prizes.
1990: Frances Hurley
and John Le Cornu win JHA classes at
Richmond.
Frances Hurley was part of the winning team in the
KCJO Quiz and the following Jersey Juniors came 2nd in the regional
final of the National Environmental Quiz: Jaxson Manser, Debbie Ford, Joanne Manser & Jonathan Bennett.
1993: Sees the 10th
Anniversary International Team Match.
Alexander Hurley is the Kennel Club Junior Organization ‘Junior
of the Year’. This year also saw the first dog handling trip to
Malta.
1994: The Club moves
to it’s own hall. John Le Cornu wins the 12-16 years Working Group at
Richmond. The Club holds an Open Day with
games and stalls.
1995: Three Channel
Island Juniors join a trip to
Brussels,
Anna Burbidge and Jaxson Manser from Jersey and Louise Morgan
from
Guernsey.
1996:
Jersey Junior Handlers Association members compete at the
World Dog Show in
Vienna.
The Club wins the Best Overall Team at the UK Dog Handlers Match, team members were Louise Morgan,
Sarah Pallot and Islana McLoughlin. The Best Overall Handler was
Jersey’s Melanie Huelin.
1997: Easter Team
Match is restructured. Louise Morgan, club member from
Guernsey wins her class at the
Richmond semi finals.
 1998: Adrian Marett is
the Kennel Club Junior Organization ‘Junior of the Year’. Our adults were the Winning Adult Team at
the UK Dog Handlers Match, team members were Christine Marett,
Melanie Huelin and Pauline Morgan. The Triathlon Competition is born.
1999: Jersey Junior’s
attend the Brabo dog show in
Antwerp.
2000:
Jersey
Junior’s attend a Malta Championship Show where club members gained 2nd and 4th places in
the junior and ladies handling. Russell
Marett handled the dog he borrowed a Cavalier King
Charles Spaniel to Best Puppy in Show much to the delight of it’s owners.
Lorraine Dickie wins a handling class in
Antwerp
on the first trip we could take our dogs
abroad under the Pet Passport scheme. The Club becomes affiliated to the Jersey
Dog Club.
2001: Foot and Mouth
cancels the Easter Team Match
2004: 21st
Anniversary Easter Team Match
2008: 25th
& last Easter Team Match | 
