When you think of high school sports, you might think of kids running up and down a court scoring points as fans fill the gym with screaming and cheering. But, there’s one sport so intense that the athletes barely move, and the court is actually a large body of water.
COUNTRY Financial sponsored the Illinois High School Association Bass Fishing Championship this month, and I was there volunteering. What a great event! Teams from nearly 60 high schools across the state came out. That meant more than 200 girls and boys competed for the top title. We’re lucky in Illinois, because this is the only high school bass fishing tournament in the country!
So what makes this such a great event for high schoolers? Well, when you’re a high school student spending hours at a time on a boat with other kids, you really get to form a bond. And no matter what your differences are, you realize you can find common ground with others and work to achieve a goal.
Isn’t that a great life lesson? If you give a kid a fish, he/she could eat for a day. If you teach a kid how to fish, he/she could grow up to become a great citizen. I think that’s how the saying goes. 
Want to see what it’s like to be there? Check out the clip we shot below. And congrats to Illini West for being the top team!
(Phil Hasz is a COUNTRY agency manager from Rochelle, Ill.)
