By David A. Brown
Special to BassFan

“Settle down girls, it’s just a game. You’re goin’ swimmin’ in a minute!”

Anyone who has watched a FLW Rayovac Series weigh-in – either live or online – has undoubtedly heard that calming, tension-cutting witticism from tournament director Ron Lappin. He’ll fire off this and other clever quips when uncooperative bass delay the process.

It’s Lappin’s way of gracefully navigating minor frustrations such as flopping bass, while relaxing the anxious angler at his side. It’s also his strategy of engaging audiences in the moment.

One of his best is downright predicable, but funny every time. An angler’s struggling for a handle on a spunky fish he intends to lift. Seconds feel like hours, but then comes Lappin’s calming encouragement.

“They’re harder to catch the second time!”

Owning the Role

Rock steady, yet sincerely compassionate toward those who invest the expense and effort to bring a bag of fish across his stage, the man from Calvin City, Ky. has an endearing knack for making everyone feel like a winner.

No, a better way of saying that – an even more meaningful way – is that Ron Lappin does his best to make every angler feel like his or her presence matters.

Lappin summarizes his primary duties as tournament scheduling/site selection, event permit coordination, promotion and field balance (even number of pros and co-anglerss), onsite sponsor support and involvement and overall tournament format management.

Essential to that list, he said, is customer service.

“The thing I’ve come to understand about this business is that an angler can pay an entry fee and fish anywhere they want to,” Lappin said. “When they pay their entry fee and fish with us, I feel like I owe them the same respect that I owe every single person that comes across that stage.

“I shake every hand that comes across the stage and thank them for fishing with us. I feel like that’s very important because they don’t have to fish with us.”

He Knows How it Feels

Much of that sentiment comes from Lappin’s 30-plus years in the bass fishing industry. He ran his first FLW event – an Alabama BFL (formerly Redman Series) in 1996. Before that, he ran a Kentucky Lake guide service and worked as a sub-rep for a Midwest Ranger Boats group.

Industry insight, know-how and hands-on experience all contribute to Lappin’s overall competence, but one word encapsulates this tournament director’s mutually familial relationship with those who compete in his events – empathy.

“If you’re a good tournament director, you have to be endeared to your customer,” Lappin said. “My best trait as a tournament director is that I’m an avid tournament angler.

“I understand all those emotions – good, bad or indifferent – that an angler goes through. I know they feel the pressure and when things don’t come out the way they want them to, they’re disappointed. I think this helps me understand my customers better than anything.”

Leadership born of legitimacy needs no bull horn.

“Your personality should be such that you don’t have to tell the anglers who the tournament director is – they know who their tournament director is,” Lappin said. “You should conduct yourself in such a way that the anglers know they’re competing on a level playing field.

“They should know that you’ll help them when you can and when you can’t, they understand why.”

Highs and Lows

Over the years Lappin has seen tournaments punctuated by countless moments of humor and joy. He’s heard jokes that left him in stitches, he’s watched grown men tear up when speaking of family support and he loves asking kids if they catch more fish than the dad they’ve accompanied to the stage.

He’s wished many folks “happy birthday,” “happy anniversary’ and “welcome home” from military service.

He’s seen three anglers make marriage proposals on the weigh-in stage – two had sweethearts in the audience, another popped the question via the live Internet stream.

And he had to take that call he never wanted to get.

Weigh-in concludes and the check-in sheet is short one team.

“I went behind the trailer and told (my wife) Joan, ‘I don’t think I’m going to like how this turns out,’” Lappin recalls.

Then came that soul-searing report: Authorities had located the wrecked boat. Shortly thereafter, they found the bodies.

One of the lost was a personal friend.

Moments like that test one’s resolve and strengthen an already deep regard for every competitor.

Appreciation for All

When schedules run close, FLW Tour pros often enter regional events and Lappin said he’s happy to have them. He equally applauds divisional standouts common to the Top-10 finales.

But taking nothing away from those who’ve worked hard to establish their careers, Lappin admits a special feeling of satisfaction when a local angler of lesser recognition ends up fishing the last day.

“The good times to me are on Friday afternoons when you look at your Top-10 and you see a guy that has fished with you for a long time, but he’s not someone that everybody knows,” Lappin said. “Maybe he’s not a person who’s expected to excel, but he’s a person you’ve become endeared to because of the way he conducts himself and the fact that he honors you with his presence.

“When you see that guy’s name on the Top-10 list who’s not always there, that excites me. It’s that guy whose goal was to get to one Top 10 and he made it; that guy whose goal was to finish 40th at the end of the season so he could go to the championship and he made it. That’s the best part of my job – seeing people achieve their goals.”

Making it Happen

Lappin’s quick to praise his tournament staff, whose proficiency and professionalism give him the confidence of knowing that all will run as it should, even in his unforeseen absence. He also expressed his appreciation for FLW management’s unwavering support and confidence in his leadership.

“I’m very glad to work for a company that encourages its people to be who we are,” Lappin said. “Some people wear their emotions and their faith. I’m happy to work for a company that encourages Ron Lappin to be Ron Lappin.

“A tournament director has to be himself and a tournament should take the personality of the tournament director. If he’s calm and steady, the tournament reflects that.”

A key point, Lappin notes; and one that anchors his convictions.

“To me, the most important thing is the anglers,” Lappin said. “I love the sponsors and I have a good relationship with them, but I got into this business because I love the sport and the anglers and I want it to grow.

“As long as it’s about the anglers, I’m going to stay in this sport.”