With the third Lockdown playing havoc with just about any plan conceived a year or so ago; a time where the future looked settled, rosy and actually, pretty straightforward. We now have this.
Now, you might be forgiven for thinking, that we have curled up in a little ball, hibernated and waiting for a Vaccine optimistic spring.
Hibernation is not the Fishing for Schools way. Not our way now, in the past; nor in the future. With many schools still operational, we have dedicated ourselves to adjusting and working on areas which we can deliver safely.
We are learning new IT and communication skills, developing strategies which can be beamed into the classroom, remotely and honing areas of previous courses to a point where we can inspire through a computer as opposed the riverbank. No: its not the same. Not the same immediacy: not the same level of communication and nurture …but we can, with care and a sense of educational fun, bring the world of angling and education into young peoples lives.
We will, as we have in the past, overcome those proverbial stones and rocks in the road that have been placed to trip us. That path is looking pretty good and interesting.
We have firmly set our collective sight on returning to full activity come June or July - traditionally our busy periods.
All of us at F4S realise, that when we do finally emerge from this dark and often dismal metaphoric tunnel, our coaching landscape will have changed. Also the students. The alarming details that are starting to creep out of, social issues, mental health problems and an entire litany of other socially scarring factors that cause such unseen damage to young people, will have to be addressed; somehow.
I am not going to pretend for one moment that Fishing for Schools is a panacea. But we do and WILL have a role to play.
Fishing has been one of the largest growth sports/recreations during this current period. That is not accidental. The restorative and recuperative components of angling are there for all to see. Water is a calming influence, the natural world a place where we can immerse ourselves and connect with beauty - and reality. Not bad for just one sport.
There is also the lovely fact that you don't actually have to excel. Just being there is enough.
As I have said so many times: Everyone Learns Differently.
We, at Fishing for Schools, both embrace this mantra and continually strive to bring this concept to an ever growing audience of young people.
Charles