For most high school students, just the thought of waking up at the crack of dawn isn't something they take lightly, let alone look forward to.
But for the Belgreen High School fishing team, waking up at 3 A.M. means they get to participate in something they’re passionate about and more importantly, something they enjoy doing.
And recently, the Bulldogs were able to participate in the state fishing tournament where they performed well.
Mimi Wood, who teaches Family and Consumer Sciences at Belgreen, also serves as the sponsor for the Belgreen fishing team. Wood has only been the sponsor for the team for only one year, but she has been around the team for the past few years. And while she will be the first to admit that fishing might not be her strong point, she still makes sure that the team has everything they need to be successful.
“I’ve had two sons that have been a part of the fishing team so I’ve been affiliated with the team for quite a while,” Wood said. “I can’t tell anyone how to fish but I handle all the paperwork and making arrangements and things like that while the boat captains handle things in the water.”
While the Bulldogs have participated in the state tournament before, and interest in the program is certainly at an all-time high within the school itself, there is a need for boat captains to accompany the anglers on the fishing team.
And according to Wood, if the program had more boat captains, the fishing team could see its numbers grow exponentially.
“Two of our boat captains were non-parents that volunteer to take the kids out on the boat and the other three boat captains have kids on the team so we do have a decent amount of support from that area,” Wood said. “Most of the kids that come out and try out for the fishing team end up loving it. The issue is finding enough boat captains because you have to find someone who has a boat and is willing to go on weekends to these tournaments fishing. I tend to have more kids interested than captains that can take the kids out on the boats.”
Of course, making a push in the state tournament is likely to drum up even more interest amongst students and potential boat captains alike.
And that is something that Wood is hopeful for in the future of the program.
“I hope that we will have some step up and decide to be boat captains because it’s a really big commitment to say that they’ll participate and go on all of these tournaments and spend their weekends away from home,” Wood said. “We’ve been to the state tournament the past three years including this year and we have some really good interest so hopefully we can get some more interest from the community.”
One of the members of the Belgreen fishing team is Samuel Darracott who has been an avid angler since he was nine-years old and the soon-to-be junior says that being able to compete in the state tournament for something he has been passionate about for years is a dream come true.
“It’s the first time in two years that I’ve been able to go and compete and it was just awesome. It was just a mix of adrenaline and excitement being able to compete with people that fish for the same reasons that you do,” Darracott said. “I was able to learn a lot from watching other people and so it was an incredible experience.”
Darracott says that getting in practice before a big tournament can vary from time to time with some practices being on their own and others being alongside teammates. But regardless of how the practices go down, one thing is for sure: they’ll get those practices in.
“We do a lot on our own time and we’ll find anywhere we can go. If we know we’ve got a tournament around here, we will get up earlier than normal and get everything ready to head out and fish that entire day,” Darracott said. “Since a lot of us have our own boats, we’ll go out and fish separately but sometimes we’ll all get together and fish whether it’s once a week or the whole week.”
As mentioned, Darracott has been fishing for a majority of his life. And according to him, he got his inspiration for fishing from a close member of his family and still remembers the thrill he got from catching his first bass; a feeling that ultimately has led him to being a key member of the fishing team.
“The first time I ever went fishing, I was five or six. But the first time that it really stuck with me, I was nine years old. My grandpa (Homer) went to do some work somewhere and there was a little creek nearby and I’m not sure why, but I wanted to bring a fishing pole and sure enough I caught my first bass and the second that I caught it, I remember the feeling and I was hooked,” Darracott said. “But my grandpa Homer is my biggest influence and he’s been my biggest supporter for sure because without him I wouldn’t be doing any of this so I owe all of my thanks to him for sure.”
Team members include: Will Donahoe, Brady Hovater, DJ Heyward, Miguel Willingham, Brodie Vandiver, Caige Smith, Samuel Darracott and Brason James.
