Bassin’ for athletic money

    The Athletic Department of GCSU had its second fall Classic Bobcat Bass Tournament at Little River Park last Wednesday.
    The Bobcat Bass tournament, which began this past spring, started as another fundraiser to capitalize on Milledeville’s love of bass fishing and provide scholarships for student-athletes in addition to its fall golf tournament and spring auction.
    “Several people at our physical plant had said that ‘we would like to be involved but we don’t know how to play golf’,” Dr. Stan Aldridge, GCSU’s athletic director, said.
    He also said their participation in the tournament was a way to thank Plant Operations for all the work they do.
    “Our physical plant does a lot for us, for all of us,” Aldridge said. “We wanted to do something fun for them. That’s as important to us as the money itself.”
    When the Athletic Department had the first Bobcat Bass Tournament in the spring, they awarded most of the money back to participants as prize money.
    “We gave back most of the prize money just to try to get people interested and (so they) know what they’re doing,” Aldridge said.
    This year they gave a smaller percentage back to the winners to begin raising money for the Athletic Department.
    The tournament had 17 boats and 34 people participate this year. About $1,000 was raised from the event.
    Aldridge and his staff look to put together a better tournament next year.
    “We got some good advice,” Aldridge said. “None of us knew what the heck we were doing.”
    Aldridge also said that some professional bass fisherman who participated in the tournament gave advice on how to attract more pro fishermen in the future.
    “They said that (we) could easily get 30 or 40 boats (participating) if you work at it,” Aldridge said.
    He also said a professional bass fisherman participated in the tournament to practice for future tournaments.
    No students participated in the tournament this year but Aldridge said that is something he wants to fix.
    “I would assume the most difficult thing from a student’s standpoint is a boat to fish out of,” Aldridge said. “(Students are) probably not going to bring a bass boat with (them) and keep it at school year-round.”
    Aldridge does think a few students would be interested in participating in the tournament.
    “I would think there would be some people who would be interested in fishing in it,” Aldridge said. “If there are we would love to have them.”
    Matt Henry, a sophomore environmental science major, spends a lot of time competing in fishing tournaments, but said he did not find out about the tournament until the day before it was scheduled.
    “When I heard about it, I really wanted to fish it, but I have an 8 a.m. class on Wednesdays, and the tournament was on Wednesday,” Henry said. “That is why I didn’t participate, but I know that the tournament was not very well publicized.  I think they should schedule it around classes, though. A weekday is a terrible time for a fishing tournament.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 12 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry