Arkansas TBF State Youth Director
Derek Sandlin – 870-828-0248 – Email
Youth Tournaments
Jr. Anglers
One of the oldest and most productive programs that The Bass Federation has ever had is the TBF Junior Angler Program.
In this program is open to young anglers 8th grade and under (who have not started 9th grade) and are members of an active junior fishing club. See the current youth clubs in Arkansas here. If you are interested in starting your own club, you only need 6 members to do so.
These junior anglers fish in club and state tournaments and participate in fundraising and conservation projects just like the adults do.
The competitive branch of this program allows the anglers to qualify for their states Junior State Championship and 10% of that field qualifies for the TBF Junior World Championship.
Reel Kids
The Bass Federation and its member states have a casting skills accuracy challenge for young anglers across the country!
“The Reel Kids Program” is in many cases the first opportunity that many kids have to be introduced to the great sport of fishing. At events like sport and outdoor shows across the country and in many schools these programs are giving kids the chance to experience what it is really like to handle a fishing rod and reel. They test their skills in the art of Casting, Flipping, and Pitching a plastic jig to a very colorful target.
This program is organized and operated at the state level only. By a vote of the Federation Presidents each state decides at what level they wish to advance the program. Many states advance kids from individual events to a State Championship while others choose only to run the event at the local level and put more emphasis on just getting as many kids as possible involved!
Regardless of what level each state chooses, this program consistently achieves its goal of exposing kids 15 and under to the great sport of fishing!!
If you’re interested in bringing one of these events to your area please contact your state’s Bass Federation President or Youth Director.
Student Angler Federation (SAF) – In School Fishing Program
This program utilizes a high action DVD with some outstanding underwater footage to get students excited about fishing. Educators like this program because it highlights how the basic elements of education, math, science and language arts, are used by anglers out on the water every day. We also show some of the ever increasing career opportunities being created through the sport of fishing.
The great thing about this portion of the program is that it is absolutely free to any school or youth group that wants to participate.
Our end result is that we want to encourage students to form a school fishing club so they can experience this sport first hand.
For more information, visit HighSchoolFishing.org
