Grab your rod and reel – bass fishing coming to the GHSA
THOMASTON, Ga. (BVM) — The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has been cultivating an incredible sports culture over the last year. Fresh off the heels of sanctioning girls flag football as a statewide sport, they have done the even more unconventional. Bass fishing has been announced as a new varsity sport in Georgia beginning in the 2020-2021 school year.
“With the growth of youth bass fishing, we are proud to offer this activity for student anglers enrolled in our member schools and to provide them with the opportunity to win a Georgia High School Association State Championship,” Kevin Giddens, associate director for the GHSA, said in a press release.
The Georgia High School Association is partnering with Fishing League Worldwide and The Bass Federation to make bass fishing the newest varsity sport offered to high school students in the Peach State.
This decision will make Georgia the fifth state to do so, joining the likes of Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. The sport will not have a specified season, allowing these anglers to compete in official high school events as well as non-high school events. GHSA competition will include four state qualifying tournaments in different cities across the Peach State, starting next January. The state championship will take place in March or April.
The league will allow both boys and girls to participate, and they will even face off headto-head at the state championship. For each regional tournament, a school is allowed to enter six boats. The top 15 boats from each regional will earn their bid to the state championship. For now, only two anglers are allowed on a boat at once.
The fishing league will be partnering with Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament fishing organization, as well as The Bass Federation (TBF). As part of one of these high school teams, fishers will get FLW and TBF memberships, a digital subscription to FLW’s Bass Fishing magazine, and access to training courses via TBF online.
With this new activity set to get underway next school year, decision-makers on the new league are excited for what the sport will have to offer. It’ll give students who don’t play traditional sports the opportunity to fit in and find their own niche within schools. On top of that, Dave Washburn, FLW vice president of operations, says it will give students a reason to get good grades. Like any other sport, the student-athletes will have to remain in good standing academically to participate.
“High school fishing is an incredible way for schools to connect with students,” Washburn said in FLW’s press release. “It instills a sense of pride and belonging that so many students are missing today.”
With the inaugural season set to begin in the new school year, the goal will be to touch as many students’ lives as possible. The organizations involved believe that if they can turn even one student’s grades around and get them outdoors, the program will be a success.
