Florence, Alabama Prepares For TBF’s Student Angler Federation and FLW’s All New Dual Events, the 2017 High School Fishing World Finals and the 2017 National Championship
Twice as many Scholarship opportunities, More anglers, Prizes and Fun; Tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes will be Awarded, All with no Entry Fees
Every year since its inception, SAF anglers and their families everywhere look forward to the pinnacle event in all of High School fishing. The largest, most prestigious high school fishing tournament there is, the High School Fishing World Finals. If you want to claim to be among the very best in High School Fishing the week long World Championship event with its unique format is the event you must do well in to make that claim. Last year, 206 teams traveled to Florence, Alabama to go head to head for the World Champions titles and over $60,000 in scholarships and prizes. Florence Lauderdale Tourism and Florence, Ala., welcome the anglers back this year for two times the excitement and two chances for some anglers at prizes and scholarship money, June 27 – July 1.
In the scope of the rapidly growing high school fishing program, the TBF\FLW High School National championship fits right into the pinnacle event category so this year the two events will be combined. In the past, SAF anglers competed in their respective state championships and open events to advance to a regional, then to a small 10 boat national championship in the spring. Depending on the state championship or open date, some anglers would qualify in January or February, advance in the fall and finally face the national championship over a year later. By then, some of these anglers were already freshman in college.
“Moving the national championship qualifying season to a school calendar year will help eliminate those issues while advancing the top 10% instead of only the top 3 from most qualifying events rewards the events that continue to grow. TBF & FLW decided to move the National Championship to run alongside the World Finals because of the added benefits of being held with a world class event with the best possible exposure for the anglers. It is held the summer so there’s less school missed and more families can attend among others positives,” TBF President and CEO, Robert Cartlidge, said. “But, in removing the regional events from the lineup TBF and FLW we knew we had to give the anglers some more opportunities to showcase their skills and to make it to nationals. That’s where the new TBF Challenge events and 24 new FLW High School Opens come into play and most significantly, the opportunity to fish for both the National Championship AND High School Fishing World Finals titles, prizes and scholarship money all in one place. It truly will be a test of the very best.”
What sets the High School Fishing World Finals apart and gave the event its top notch reputation as THE event in all of High School Fishing will remain the same. The High School Fishing World Finals (HSFWF) will continue its come one come all standalone championship event and its proven and fair format. All active SAF anglers anywhere in the world are eligible to register for free and attend the High School Fishing World Finals (HSFWF) to compete for titles, prizes and scholarships.
The High School National Championship is an event you must qualify for but will now run alongside and in conjunction with the HSFWF giving both events an elevation is status as THE premier events in all of high school fishing.
All anglers need to do for BOTH events is to simply register for the High School Fishing World Finals by going to https://www.highschoolfishing.org/high-school-fishing-world-finals/ Those anglers who are qualified to compete for the additional National Championship and that $10,000 scholarship and prizes will be pulled from that HSFWF registration list based on our records of who qualified, simple and easy.
Activities begin Tuesday, June 27 with registration, check-in/rules meeting and banquet. Competition begins Wednesday, June 28 for everyone, the National Championship winners will be crowned on Friday based on their standings and the 2017 High School Fishing World Champions will be crowned on Saturday, July 1. Only 31 teams will compete in Saturday’s finale which will award life-changing education scholarships and a long list of prizes to help them along their journeys such as, laptops, tablets, gift cards and large screen TVs -the envy of any dorm room- will be on the line for these young anglers.
The HSFWF is open to all active SAF high school anglers including graduating seniors. Non-SAF members can pay their memberships at the time of online registration.
The High School national Championship is only open to qualified teams for TBF/FLW state Championships, TBF Challenge events or FLW opens Qualified National Champion contenders MUST be registered online for the High School Fishing World Finals.
For full details on the format and structure of the event(s), for more information www.highschoolfishing.org or call us at 580.765.9031 To register go to the website or click the link below: https://www.highschoolfishing.org/high-school-fishing-world-finals/
