Silver,
Believe me that I once shared your concern and feelings toward this event. As I became more involved with it, I knew just how wrong I was about this particular event. While I may not feel as strongly about an adult level event, this one was different because it was all about the kids. I’d just like to share with you some bits and pieces of what I saw.
After the opening ceremony (think Olympics, and you get the idea of what this event was modeled after), I saw the team from the Czech Republic outside the stadium off to the side, and by themselves. They looked a little overwhelmed by the vastness of the Penn State facilities as they looked around. I approached them and spoke with one of the coaches in English. I told him that my father was born in his country, and gave him the name of the small town where he was born. His face lit up, as he lives not far from there! He called the rest of the team around him, and they were all excited to learn that they had met someone with roots in their homeland. We became instant friends, and it seemed to put them at ease with their surroundings.
Most of these kids don’t have the vast quantity of public waters available to them in their homelands that we often take for granted here. In the Czech Rebublic, for example, many of the public rivers and streams are polluted with sewage, as they don’t have the sewage treatment facilities and regulations that we have in this country. It is not uncommon to see a “brown trout” (think Baby Ruth) float by while you net a fish. When the flooding on the Little Juniata river occured back in 2004, many used tires were washed in to the river from an upstream junkyard - they are a common sight in the woods bordering the river. A Czech kid asked me “Why are these here in the middle of such a paradise?” I explained that we are still cleaning up after the flood, but it made me think how these people treasure what we take for granted.
Only a few yards downstream from where we fished on the Little Juniata River is the section of river that has become infamous as the home of the Spring Ridge Club. Many of you have heard of Donny Beaver’s attempt to close off the river on what has been legally declared public water. A young man from England and I were having a conversation about this. In his country, most all the rivers are private water, and are pay to fish. Kids can’t just grab their rods and head down to the water to fish anytime they want like they do here. He marvelled at the beauty and quality of our public waters, and said he hoped we would fight to keep them open and available for everyone to enjoy. Public access is the biggest threat to our waters here in the US, and these kids are very aware of the battle we are fighting, and they will fight in the future. He understood it all to well.
I saw a young man from Canada lose a fly in an overhead branch and have his leader turn into a hopeless tangle. He had to cut it off and retie the whole thing. Rather than just dump the tangled mess in to the river, he waded across the river and asked his controller to hold on to the bird’s nest for him rather than risk dropping it in to the river by accident. This occured in the middle of his timed fishing session. His concern for the environment took precedence over his desire to compete. This concern for the environment is typical of what these kids were taught at this event.
Early in session one, I saw two women and a man searching for a way to get through the “jungle” that borders the Little Juniata. The locals call this area “Vietnam”, as the vegetation is so thick, you almost need a machete to get through to the river. I approached them and soon discovered they were from Spain, and spoke next to no English. After a rather frustrating attempt at communication, I was finally able to understand that they wanted to get to the river to watch one of the Spanish kids fish. I tried to lead them down to the beat where he was fishing, but they simply weren’t willing to wade/brushbust to get there. Later that day during the next session, I saw one of the women again searching frantically along the edge of the road bordering the woods. She was able to somehow communicate that she wanted to see “her baby” fishing there. I was bound and determined to get her to where she could watch her son fish. I held back weeds, thorny vines, branches and brush, and even carried her through mud and down steep embankments, but I got her to where her son was.I took some pictures of her son fishing, gave her my business card, and told her through crude sign language that I’d email her the photos if she gave me her email address. I later helped her husband join her. They were so grateful for the effort and time I took away from my duties as Sector Judge! Early the next morning, that man approached me and handed me a small envelope. Inside was the official pin of the Spanish Youth Team, and a pin from the Spanish national fly fishing organization. He was the president of that organization.
In this day and age, it is comforting to know that there are a group of people from across the globe that don’t hate Americans. They got to experience our hospitality and good will, and perhaps they’ll spread the word when they return home. You mentioned that in any competition, there are “winners” and “losers”. There were no “losers” in this event. Everyone was a winner from what they experienced, and from their enjoyment of public waters that they could only dream about where they come from. I know you haven’t “seen my point”, but maybe this will help you understand it. I witnessed something truly special, and many people here wouldn’t understand without experiencing it firsthand. I will probably never have the chance to be involved with this type of event again, and I consider it a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!..Ed
Link to my Photobucket album of the 2007 FIPS Mouche Youth Fly Fishing World Championships:
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/ … pionships/
