JWC 'Fix'?
BASS Rolls Out New Youth Program
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Amidst the controversy surrounding the rescheduling of its Junior World Championship (JWC), BASS today announced what it says are enhancements to its youth program.
Also, BASS has rescheduled the JWC a second time, and it now coincides with the final Bassmaster Elite Series event of the season at Lake Oneida in Syracuse, N.Y. (instead of the Federation Nation Championship in November).
A press release issued by the organization stated the changes put "its youth competition circuits on a track similar to the BASS Federation Nation tournament structure. As part of the announcement, BASS will move the 2008 Junior Bassmaster World Championship to coincide with the final 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series event, scheduled for Aug. 7-10 in Syracuse, N.Y., in what will serve as a transition year."
The JWC Fix
At the 2008 JWC in Syracuse, the junior anglers will fish with Elite Series pros, and will weigh in on the Elite Series stage.
"All previously invited contenders will compete in the age division in which they qualified as ages will be frozen," the release stated. "The competition waters are yet to be determined. In subsequent years, BASS will hold the premier youth championship at the Federation Nation Championship, as previously announced."
Elite pros, according to BASS, will also conduct seminars for all JWC competitors, and "BASS will work with sponsors to provide JWC qualifiers with fishing equipment."
"We understand the difficulties for those involved in a time of transition and we appreciate their patience," Federation Nation director Don Corkran said in the release. "We recognize that our youth membership is vital to growing the sport of bass fishing."
Rest of the Program
Other relevant segments of the press release read:
"Central to the enhancements is the exposure of youth anglers to all levels of Federation Nation competition. Youth competitors will be mentored by Federation Nation anglers and will learn the elements that are central to the passionate Federation Nation membership."
"The qualifying ladders for the JWC and the Bassmaster CastingKids program, which will mirror the Federation Nation structure, will provide youth with a firsthand look at competition venues they can pursue when they reach competition age. The junior competitor who emerges as the top-performing angler in his or her state will advance to one of six Federation Nation Divisionals, based on geographic criteria."
"The integration will begin with the first BASS Federation Nation divisional in 2008 set for April on South Carolina's Santee Cooper Reservoir. Junior competitors will remain paired into two age groups, 11-14 and 15-18."
"The top-performing anglers from each of six Divisionals will then qualify for the JWC Championship, to be held in conjunction with the BASS Federation Nation Championship. The championship contenders will continue to fish for $23,000 in scholarship money, with the winners earning the distinction as the top youth anglers in the sport in their respective division."
"The CastingKids competitions will be staged in a similar fashion to the JWC path. The top CastingKids competitors in their state will qualify from the Federation Nation Divisionals and the anglers who emerge as the top performers in their Divisionals will move on to their season-ending event, also staged at the FNC Championship."
"We received feedback from all of our constituencies and feel that these enhancements are in the best interest of all concerned," Corkran said. "We're excited about the direction of all of our youth programs and the chance for our youth competitors to grow into successful Federation Nation anglers."
Notable
> Several pros began to organize an effort to fish with the JWC qualifiers at this year's Bassmaster Classic. Whether this new development will affect that effort is unknown at this time.
> Also an unknown is whether families who lost money booking their original JWC trips will still be able to make the trip to Syracuse. The release included no information about financial assistance to qualifiers – something that has been offered at times in the past.
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