From 1st September 2026 the Karen James Celebration Award is changing and will now become Regional Championships and a Cahpion of Champions final. 

Karen James Award – Junior, Senior and Major Championship

Every dog competing can qualify for regional Championships. These Championships will be held in September, and regional hosts will be identified as early as possible, and dates advertised for the regional championships as early as possible.

There will currently be Junior regional championships for teams at level 1 to 3. There will also be Senior Regional Championships for teams competing at level 4 to 6. Major will be dogs competing in level 7 & Level 8.

Major will be introduced once sufficient dogs are nearing the 40 points in these levels.

Regional championships will be based on games at the highest level for that category so Junior will compete in level 3 games and senior will compete in level 6 games.

A regional champion and a regional reserve champion will be awarded at each regional championship.

A team can qualify for a regional championship by gaining 40 points in a level.

For each level they gain 40 points in they will get an entry to a regional qualifier. 

Teams can choose which regional championship they attend subject to spaces being available.

A handler or a dog can only enter a regional qualifier once. If the handler has two dogs qualified or if a dog has qualified with another handler, they will have to attend a different regional qualifier.

If a team qualifies at levels 1, 2 and 3 for example they can attend up to 3 Junior regional qualifiers until they get a Champion or Reserve award. At this point they will not be eligible for any further Junior Regional qualifiers but could continue in Senior if they had not had a regional reserve or champion place and had qualified for senior.

Any team that is awarded a regional Championship or reserve regional championship can attend the Champion of Champions final. A team that has qualified in both Junior and Senior Championships can compete for both the Junior and Senior Championships. A handler or dog can only compete once in each level. If a handler or dog have qualified as separate teams they will have to pick which one they wish to enter and who handles the dog. Some dogs have 2 handlers and in the champion of champions the dog will only be allowed to run once in each category. This is the same for a handler who may get to the Champion of Champions final, they can only compete once in each level and will have to pick which dog they compete with.  They can compete a different dog in junior and senior if they wish but can only compete once In junior and senior.

The Champion of Champions will be held in October.

There will be an entry fee for all championships.

Teams working Level 2 or above must be members of NWGs on the date of the championships and qualification.