Chance for Youngsters to Fish for England

News release from the Angling Trust

The Angling Trust’s 2012 Talent Pathway programme will be open for applications from the 2nd  to the 20th of July, providing a chance for talented young anglers to trial for the national junior angling teams in all three disciplines: coarse, sea and game.

The Talent Pathway provides young anglers between the ages of 13 and 18 years with the chance to improve their skills and be selected to take part in competitive and training events. The programme culminates with the most talented anglers being offered a chance to trial for the England youth teams and be selected to fish for England. The scheme helps the Angling Trust to develop stronger teams to represent England in all international competitions.

The Talent Pathway is supported by Sport England and was successfully piloted during 2011 in the North East, North West and West Midlands regions. A total of 162 anglers entered the programme of which 62 anglers were chosen to represent their respective region in a series of coaching sessions and matches. In June 2012 one coarse angler and 6 game anglers were invited into the national selection qualifiers, from which one game angler Thomas Adamson was selected to fish for England in the 2013 Home Internationals.

The success of the new programme is evident and the 2012 Talent Pathway has been expanded to run in eight regions throughout England, in coarse, game and sea angling. The Talent Pathway events start in August 2012 and a team of 28 talented coaches has been recruited to select and develop youngsters with talent.

Jackie Sheldon, Head of Participation and Performance said, "The 2011 pilot programme highlighted the high standard of talented young anglers involved in the sport. We are delighted with the success of the pilot programmes and commend all those involved in the Talent Pathway."

Ben Thompson Angling Trust Lead Officer for Talent commented, "The 2012 Talent Pathway provides exciting opportunities for more young anglers to develop their skills further and to have a chance to be selected into the England Youth teams. The pilot programme demonstrated that with the right support and guidance, anglers with the desire and commitment can achieve their goals, and now the programme has been expanded to all regions, lots more youngsters can get involved and benefit from expert coaching."

The Angling Trust is inviting applications from anglers from the 2nd July and the closing date for the receipt of completed application forms is 20 July 2012.

There is a small entry fee of £10 for each event and all participants must be individual members of Angling Trust at the time of taking part in the events. Angling Trust membership is FREE for anyone under 18 years of age. Angling Trust membership is available online at www.anglingtrust.net.

Further details of these programmes and entry forms can be found at www.anglingtrust.net and visit the Development page.