Arkansas' Jonny Schultz Wins Second
CastingKids National Crown
Junction City, Kansas -
Flip, pitch, and cast. Three components critical to the success of any
fisherman. On Saturday, November 8, 2008, Jonny Schultz used these skills to
win the CastingKids National Champions
hip
and earn
a $5000 scholarship. This is his second national title, previously winning the
7-10 age group in 2003 at
the Superdome in New
Orleans.
Schultz, age 13 from
Arkansas, capped off his CastingKids career by withstanding a three round
sudden-death castoff to earn the championship in the 11-14 age group. “It all
came down to controlling my nerves,” he said. “I’m thankful I have a lot of
experience doing this so I was able
to focus on the job at hand and not get real nervous.”
Only four young casters have won two national titles, an accomplishment not lost
on Jonny. “It’s pretty cool to bookend my CastingKids career by winning twice.
The competition is always tough, and it’s nice to meet kids from all over the
country. This is a really great program that has helped me become a much better
fisherman. It’s a natural
progression into the Junior Bassmaster program, and anglers will have the skills
needed to do well at that level.”
Since 1991, BASS, the nation’s leading authority on bass fishing, has run the
CastingKids program, which is “Punt, Pass, and Kick” with a fishing rod.
Competitors earn points by taking the best score of two casts from 10, 20 and 30
feet. They cast a jig from each of the distances onto a bull's-eye with the
center worth 50 points and the outer ring scoring 20 points. The CastingKids
championship included 12 youth competitors who qualified from each of the six
Federation Nation divisions. The 12 divisional qualifiers competed within their
respective age groups: 7-10 and 11-14. CastingKids competitors vied for
scholarship awards, with the winner in each age group receiving a $5,000
scholarship.
You can see more on the CastingKids program by visiting Bassmaster.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/
Learn all about the Zebco 33 used in the CastingKids program at Zebco.com
http://www.zebco.com/products/
jonnyschultz.com