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JohnM17.
Good read and even better to the future of our sporthttp://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschoo … 06709.htmlGet em hooked on fishing and they wont get hooked on anything else.John
Awesome….wish they had this when I was in school.
This is great! We started a student archery club about 4 years ago and the school would not back it. Well after 2 years and more wins than our all mighty football team the school “allowed” the team to use the school name. Now we are the largest archery team in the country and have won just about everything they go to. Got 3 scholarships this year. I have a 4th grade daughter starting archery this year and would love to see a bass fishing club get going by the time my son gets old enough.
There was a piece on this locally on ESPN radio the other day…Kentucky and Illinois are the only two states that have it so far but theyre trying hard to make Arkansas the third. Theres also an organization that is providing insurance to schools that covers basically anybody and everything associated with any subscribed high schools event, even an unassocialted third party person who may just be graciously allowing a high school competitor to join him in his boat that day. Pretty cool I thought if its not too good to be true. If this grows as it looks like it could then it truly opens some doors and avenues in this sport that have heretofore not been there. Remedy the barrier of the ownership of a competitive boat and associated liability then fishing as a competitive sport inherently has far fewer physical barriers than just about any other sport on the planet. Race, gender, stature, age, physique, athleticism, economic class, etc. matter less in fishing than just about any other competitive sport except maybe chess. Deke
I wonder how much this one cost to implement? Is it self supporting? Our state is supposedly on the verge of being broke. They raised our gas tax two cents a gallon last year, our energy taxes are through theroof. My boat taxes on a 2008 Cougar with a 225 were 490.00 and my 2008 truck to pull it will be another 400.00 this year. My house taxes are about three grand. I DONT HAVE ANY CHILDREN IN SCHOOL! We ARE paying for college since my wife is still a FT student. Our Attourney General is busy suing for profit colleges for over charging on text books. Of course he is looking the other way on the state schools who have them priced within 2%. Bottom line obviously KY cannot afford this program nor any other program. The implementation cost alone are likely staggering. I paid to take my son fishing, I still pay for his habit and he lives in another state. Our church helps out, I helped a church in AL over Christmas with tornado victims. We restocked 50 youth fishing supplies. Keep taxing our butts to death and sooner rather than later the government not us will decide who participates in the sport. If a private school like Bethel wants to fund a fishing team more power to them! Another perspective.
Each club is self supporting. Here is some info from them on how to start up a club.”High school teams are made up of any two high school anglers who have graduated the 8th grade but have notyet started college and who have a 2.0 GPA. All anglers must be Student Angler Federation members or join atthe time of registration for only $25 a year. SAF membership comes with a full list of benefits, including noentry fees to any SAF event all year. Any high school team meeting these requirements may register andattend, even if they are home schooled. Teams bring their own boats and their own coaches/boat captains.Teams are required to have an adult coach/boat captain in their boat with them at all times. The coach whoprovides the boat must be a resident of the team’s home state/province or country, an immediate familymember, or in very limited situations, a volunteer boat captain/coach may be provided by TBF*. (when/whereavailable and only with advance arraignment)tournament waters are off-limits, when designated, to all anglers and coaches so everyone starts fishing at thesame time no matter where they live.Anglers are not allowed to “hire” or “choose” a local coach.”The $25 SAF membership is for all those affiliated with SAF or in a student fishing club. SAFmembership allows those who?ve graduated 8th grade and not started college (grades 9-12) to enterANY and ALL State and National SAF events for the year FREE! It also includes FULL yearlymembership, with full member benefits in The Bass Federation (TBF) and FLW Outdoors. Thisincludes eight big issues of FLW Outdoor?s electronic magazine, SAF workbook, Faculty ofFishing online training, discounts on many items, and TBF member, club and event insurance!Every active SAF member, boat captain, and club is covered by TBF?s industry leading insurancecoverage, including 1 million of general liability, excess medical, AD&D coverage?s for allofficial SAF school club events and members.We encourage working with and through your high school, however for now it’s not required; anSAF club can be as formal as a faculty-led official high school sanctioned club or as informal as aparent/volunteer-led after school club, boy-scout group, or home schooled group. Check out andshow interested students and parents the SAF introduction video online,www.highschoolfishing.org/videos/.SAF is not just about fishing; it’s about education – math, science and language arts and howthey relate to fishing. SAF events are “no tournament entry fee” events and all prizes are in theform of scholarships, prizes, and trophies, not cash. Also, all SAF events have a „Certified StudentAngler? program, which includes a free SAF Online Quiz about angler ethics, boater safety &conservation/ invasive species. Taking the tests will award bonus ouncesto your tournament weight at state and national events!ALL SAF members nationwide, with a minimum 2.0 GPA are eligible toenter and fish the SAF High School Fishing World Finals, high schoolfishing?s premier event!
Personally i think its up to the parents to get their kids “hooked on fishing”, like i did. Focus should be on academics, not fishing, with a full education in mind, and a college degree. THEN they can make a great living and fish all they want !Last edited by dbasketman on May 31st, 2012, 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Not everyone comes from a family that is conducive to them getting hooked on fishing such as families of single mothers or grandparents as primary caregivers, parents with no interest in fishing (or worthless parents), inner-city families, families with parents working 2nd or 3rd shifts, and on and on (and this pathetic reality is shockingly more common today than most care to recognize). Plus theres more to generating a well rounded person than pure academics; athletics, sports and other extra-curricular activities are also important to avoid them becoming “book smart but street dumb”. This is coming from someone with 2 masters degrees and a spouse whos a teacher and not an education nay-sayer.I like any ideas that expand the opportunities for inclusion of students that dont fit the athletic mold. This is especially true now that there are parents who are basically indoctrinating their kids from the very earliest ages to excel in a sport and then lobbying and politicking their way through youth sports to maximize the athletic opportunities for their child. For those kids who dont grow up having these “advantages”, these non-traditional extracurricular activities enable them to be exposed to things and find opportunities that they probably otherwise would miss; and just like with street gangs, inclusion is the key. I think rodeo teams, competitive engineering challenges like robotics and such, debates, chess, FFA/4-H, shooting/archery, skiing, fishing, etc. as high-school sanctioned activities is a fantastic thingIts true that far too much money already goes into education. Roughly 40% of all taxes paid through all avenues (state and federal income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, etc.) ends up channeled back through grants, allocations and direct funding to education; but the cost of this fishing program pales in comparison to the multi-million dollar athletic facilities that are becoming “necessities” to many secondary and post-secondary schools nowadays. But whats the cost of disenchanted youth with no job (and Im recognizing its not nearly as easy for youth to find employment now as it was when I was a kid even for those eager to find work) roaming the streets with nothing else to occupy their attention?
We have great urban fisheries programs here, and ive taught many a child how to bait a hook and cast a reel in kids derbies, etc,,,, My intent was that i dont think the schools have the resources to do this properly when we have high school graduates that cant read. Teaching them to fish for sustinence is one thing, but i want them to be able to afford fishing licenses when they grow of age.High school fishing teams are the bomb when administered properly, and a leading gpa is required. Ive always enjoyed sharing the boat with these young folks.
High School Fishing World Event? Seems there are TWO states that sanction this at the state level, KY and IL? My question is how much did it cost to have KY Higher Ed write those by-laws get everyone to agree and then distribute them to the school all over the state? I have yet to see that number. Think of the work that goes onto ONE tournament and then think of the regulations that go into education and the Department of Education much less the KHEAA Regulations. Supposedly this gives students the opportunity to attend college. We already have at least two fully paid ACADEMIC avenues for students to attend college in KY. You do not have to be rich nor come from a rich family to be smart. Ill support fishing and youth as long as the good Lord will allow, however I will not surrender another dime of tax money without a fight. BTW: I came from a single mom inner city background. My first fishing trips were at an inner city pond with the Boys Club not a public school.
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