The Ole Miss Fishing Team has caught success despite only having roughly 10 active members on the team. Raising awareness is key in gaining support, according to members of the organization.
The team competes in bass tournaments in which the winner is determined by the weight of the five largest fish the anglers decide to keep. The team may not have more than five fish in the boat at one time. Each team in the tournament is comprised of one bass boat with two fishermen per boat.
The number of active participants does not inhibit the team’s ability to compete, according to junior business management major and team member Christian Braswell.
“We fish around five to 10 tournaments each year,” he said. “Some tournaments only allow one team per school, and others don’t have a limit.”
Braswell has been a team member since coming to Ole Miss as a freshman, and he said the team tries to compete in the three major national championship tournaments every year.
Fishing is not currently an officially sanctioned NCAA sport, and as a result, members fund the entire tournament and traveling expenses by themselves.
The tournaments start at sunup and usually end in the afternoon, according to junior chemical engineering major Chase Goodman.
Goodman said the social engagement centered around the outdoor lifestyle is the best part of the team experience.
“I love being able to fish a variety of different bodies of water and also getting to talk with other people who share similar interests,” he said.
Dr. James Taylor, professor of nutrition and hospitality management, serves as the faculty sponsor for the team.
Taylor said he is concerned with the dwindling number of young people engaging in outdoor activities such as fishing; he cited the small number of students on the fishing team and the lack of campus consciousness about the group as reason for his concern.
“Because of my fondness of the outdoors, I have a great understanding of sustainability, and the natural ecosystem,” he said. “I fear that with less of the younger generation utilizing the outdoors as a recreational activity, our society might lose sight of how important and valuable these natural resources are.”
Taylor said that despite his limited involvement, he is proud to be the sponsor because the students on the team are involved in a unique club that enhances their mind, body and spirit.
“(These students) are doing activities that we don’t hear about,” he said. “These are the college students that we would want our children and grandchildren to be.”
— Jessi Ballard
