Team Coach – Rachel Sanders

Rachel Sanders is Team USA’s coach for the third consecutive year. She is also a full-time agility instructor in Atascadero, Callifornia.

An experienced competitor, Rachel has been competing for more than 20 years with a variety of dogs and has been on the podium in both national and international events numerous times. This experience gives her the right skills to help each member of Team USA be as successful as possible throughout the competition.

Since the team members live throughout the U.S., ensuring everyone’s skills are refined and honed before the competition can be challenging. Rachel realizes that each team member is experienced enough at participating in top level competitions to know their own strengths and weaknesses.

In the two months leading up to the event, Rachel contacts each team member to discuss which areas require their full attention and which areas just need a little maintenance. She discusses any concerns they have with their training preparations for the event. She also encourages them to set up courses from previous years to help prepare everyone for the same types of challenges awaiting them this year.

Coordinating 20 people is always very challenging and Rachel’s goals for the team are to create a supportive environment where each member can achieve their best performance. One of her main focuses during the World Agility Championships is to always having something positive and constructive to say when someone finishes a course, even if things didn’t go as planned.