GRAND ISLAND, Neb.-The Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) and the Grand Island Livestock Complex Authority (GILCA) has announced that the ASCA National Finals for 2024 and 2025 will be hosted at Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska. This will be an eight-day event that will take place in October of both years.
This is a major event that hosts over 1,000 dogs and will utilize the entire Fonner Park campus. Dogs from the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia will compete in areas including Agility, Conformation, Junior Showmanship, Obedience, Rally, Scent Search, Stockdog, Tracking and Versatility.
As defined by the ASCA, “The Australian Shepherd is intelligent, primarily a working dog of strong herding and guardian instincts. They are an exceptional companion, versatile and easily trained, performing assigned tasks with great style and enthusiasm.”
According to the Board of Directors of the ASCA, “We are very excited to be able to host our Nationals in Grand Island at Fonner Park. We thank the people at Fonner Park and GI Tourism for providing this opportunity. We have found everyone so helpful and easy to work with. ASCA is the largest single breed registry in the world and this is the largest single breed dog show in the world. It will be a great event for spectators and Aussie fans from Nebraska to attend. Upon visiting Fonner Park, we were impressed with the cleanliness of their state-of-the-art facilities and the friendliness of their staff.”
The City of Grand Island, Grow Grand Island and Grand Island Tourism, along with GILCA, are providing financial support for this event. A preliminary economic impact study based on the number of teams shows a direct impact for Grand Island at more than $650,000 dollars for this eight-day show to be held in Grand Island for two consecutive years.
Grand Island Tourism Director Brad Mellema stated that this event stands out because of its sheer size. It will bring over 2,000 people to town. “Dog shows such as this prove the value of investing in animal events at Fonner Park. I think we’re going to see more large-scale dog shows such as this in the future, and we’re honored to welcome the Aussies to Grand Island,” Mellema said.
GILCA seeks to market and promote the effective and optimal utilization of their state-of-the-art facilities by holding and promoting events that are best suited for the agriculture and livestock industry of Nebraska and across the nation.
Event Dates:
October 11-19, 2024
October 9 – 18, 2025