Flyballequip.com - Part of The Willoughby Workshop

Please click here to see more projects for the Willoughby Workshop	The Willoughby Workshop is a small fabrication shop located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Langley is 1/2 hr drive east of Vancouver, B.C. and 1-1/2 hr drive north of Seattle, Washington. Langley is actually only 15min away from the USA border. The Willoughby Workshop is owned and operated by Mike Freda. The workshop is fully equipped for wood and metal working. The current focus of the workshop is flyball boxes with aluminum ball Thrusters. In Mike's spare time other projects do get some attention such as furniture, cabinets, tools, toys and amplifiers. Michael (Mike) Freda Mike was born with designing and building things in his blood. Being a son of a European Tradesman gave Mike a considerable design and fabrication acumen. Mike spent his summers working with his fathers contracting company. Upon High school graduation he decided to pursue a slightly different career to become a draftsman. Mike attended The University College of the Fraser Valley to study Civil/Structural Design Drafting. After finishing the program he was hired on with the local utility company (BC Hydro) to work in their Customer Projects Drafting Department. Over the years Mike has moved up the ranks and is now in a position of Design Technician. Mike designs and estimates power lines and electrical services to large residential and commercial developments. In the late 90's Mike and his wife got what they believed to be a "smart" family pet, a petite Border Collie which they named Tessa. Little did they know that this little BC had very high drive parents and she needed an outlet. A friend of their's invited them to see this sport called flyball. After a few practices Tessa was advancing very rapidly. Soon after that Mike built his first flyball box for practicing at home using only basic tools "borrowed" from his father. Once the club realized the skill of their soon-to- be-member they asked him if he could build another one for the club. The first boxes started out to be very basic vertical front flyball boxes. They soon advanced very rapidly, almost weekly at times. Several local clubs got knowledge of Mike's box building and placed a few orders. Mike soon realized the need and the demand for safe and affordable flyball equipment in his own region and also throughout North America in the years to come. Building flyball equipment has allowed Mike to slowly assemble a very high quality woodworking and metal shop. Today Mike is a member of The Kings Flyball Club and currently runs, along with his wife, on the Div 1 team in which he captains. This allows him to have a first hand understanding on what is required for a high quality competition flyball box.
	Mike's Flyball Dogs
	Tessa Tessa is one of those BC's that does everything full throttle. She's that type of dog that makes you say, "Wow, look at that dog go". At flyball she needs her soother (Tug Toy) to keep her some what calm. She's a point-and-shoot dog that never makes a mistakes. Tessa is now retired from flyball. Born: Oct 9th, 1997 Height: 18.25" Weight: 30lbs Fastest time: 3.91seconds (over 10") Average times: 4:10Seconds (over 11") Nick Name: Little Girly, Bumbessa. Hobbies: Watching TV, hopping around the back yard, keeping her "Queen Status"
	Brodie Brodie & Tessa share the same high drive Sire (Chase) however Brodie is a bit more laid back and soft. He has a very strong working drive that can be more focused than Tessa. He's your typical all around BC, good at everything he does. You can count on one hand the amount of errors he has made in his flyball career. He's another point-and-shoot dog. Anyone can run him, anything can pass him, everyone can count on him.....just give him that ball. Brodie is the clubs "training dog" we use him to pass, chase, lead...etc...because at flyball there is not a mean bone in his body. Born: May 5th, 1999 Height: 22" Weight: 42lbs Fastest time: 3.95seconds (over 10") Average times: 4:10- 4:20Seconds (over 11") Nick Name: Brod Man Hobbies: Standing in the rain, licking the floor, find a ball, chew a ball, eat a ball, Fun Police and chasing Devo around the back yard.
	Devo Devo is a Border/Jack, which is a Border Collie crossed with a Jack Russel Terrier! Lot's of Terrier tenacity and BC working ethic. Built lean and has these crazy blue eyes. She was very easy and a joy to train up for flyball. Devo is a well known and watched dog in this flyball region. She currently runs as the Div.1 height dog. Born: Dec 1st, 2002 Height: 15" Weight: 20lbs Fastest time: 3:87seconds (over 10") Average times: 4:10- 4:20 Seconds (over 11") Nick Name: Diva, Daddy's girl Hobbies: Box turning off the back sliding glass door, sleeping, find a ball, chew a ball, destroy a ball, chasing bugs, killing rats, Bug Brodie until he chases me around the back yard, teasing the neighbors dogs.

The Willoughby Workshop is a small fabrication shop located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Langley is 1/2 hr drive east of Vancouver, B.C. and 1-1/2 hr drive north of Seattle, Washington. Langley is actually only 15min away from the USA border.

The Willoughby Workshop is owned and operated by Mike Freda. The workshop is fully equipped for wood and metal working. The current focus of the workshop is flyball boxes with aluminum ball Thrusters. In Mike's spare time other projects do get some attention such as furniture, cabinets, tools, toys and amplifiers.

Michael (Mike) Freda

Mike was born with designing and building things in his blood. Being a son of a European Tradesman gave Mike a considerable design and fabrication acumen.

Mike spent his summers working with his fathers contracting company. Upon High school graduation he decided to pursue a slightly different career to become a draftsman. Mike attended The University College of the Fraser Valley to study Civil/Structural Design Drafting.
After finishing the program he was hired on with the local utility company (BC Hydro) to work in their Customer Projects Drafting Department. Over the years Mike has moved up the ranks and is now in a position of Design Technician. Mike designs and estimates power lines and electrical services to large residential and commercial developments.

In the late 90's Mike and his wife got what they believed to be a "smart" family pet, a petite Border Collie which they named Tessa. Little did they know that this little BC had very high drive parents and she needed an outlet. A friend of their's invited them to see this sport called flyball.

After a few practices Tessa was advancing very rapidly. Soon after that Mike built his first flyball box for practicing at home using only basic tools "borrowed" from his father. Once the club realized the skill of their soon-to- be-member they asked him if he could build another one for the club.

The first boxes started out to be very basic vertical front flyball boxes. They soon advanced very rapidly, almost weekly at times. Several local clubs got knowledge of Mike's box building and placed a few orders. Mike soon realized the need and the demand for safe and affordable flyball equipment in his own region and also throughout North America in the years to come. Building flyball equipment has allowed Mike to slowly assemble a very high quality woodworking and metal shop.

Today Mike is a member of The Kings Flyball Club and currently runs, along with his wife, on the Div 1 team in which he captains. This allows him to have a first hand understanding on what is required for a high quality competition flyball box.