In May of 2022, a friend of mine was approached as the president of the local bass club with a
request to participate in a local event with the simple goal of getting kids outdoors. He brought this
request up to the club and was met with negativity and a definite lack of desire to get involved. In an
effort to accommodate the request, he reached out to me, knowing my wife and I have been involved in
many events for special needs kids. My response was quick and simple: get involved with an
organization to inspire kids? YES!
I was included on an email to Ryan Brock, Education Coordinator for the Wild Sheep Foundation
and let him know I would love to get involved. He explained there was an outdoor event in Carson City
in June and wanted to get more fishing education out to the kids who would be attending. I took the
ball and ran with it. With the help of my friend, we came up with a couple ideas for a booth that kids
might be interested in. With the donation of a very nice flat top grill that was solicited from Cabela’s
and products donated by sponsors and other local businesses, we were on our way.
We enlisted help from another local angler, shined our boats and headed south to Carson City.
We were set up right inside the entrance so the kids and their parents would see us first. The grill was
put up for raffle which we figured would bring parents our way, ensuring the kids would follow.
Cornhole boards were used, along with some donated spincast combos and a casting contest
was born. Every kid that participated was given a bag of baits, a lure or whatever they wanted from the
big box filled with fishing products. T-Shirts and hats were handed out and the grand prize grill was
raffled off at the end of the day. We also made sure the rod and reel combos went in the hands of a kid
along with the rest of the products we had. We had reached about 250 kids on our first event. Not bad
for a first attempt.
Having been successful with the outdoor event, we were invited to participate in the Wild Sheep
Foundation-Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience. Having been to the sheep show in the past, I knew
this was going to be pretty big deal. And an opportunity to reach more kids with the goal of inspiring
them to get outside.
After some advance planning, it was time to shine. I incorporated the help of several other
anglers, arranged to have 3 boats there and plenty of lures, hooks and soft plastics to give away. We
were honored with over 1800 kids in the course of 3 days! What an amazing experience talking with
them, teaching knots and educating them about the many waters and ways to catch bass in our area.
At the end of the show, I was approached by Ryan and asked if I would be willing to give a
presentation to the school kids that attend the show on Thursday and Friday and talk about what we
love to do. It was a great compliment and I feel very honored to have been chosen. I agreed
immediately and assured him we would be back, better than ever!
In October, I selected my team of amazing humans and started the process of planning and
prepping for this years show. With everyone involved, I felt a lot less pressure and focused on my
presentation for the groups I would be in front of.
The night before the show, boats were moved inside the convention center and our area was
set up. We placed cornhole boards and artificial bedding habitat as casting, pitching and flipping
targets. A donation of multiple spincast combos from Cabela’s was set and ready. I placed a TV,
connected to a laptop, on the front of my Phoenix. A power point presentation was built to
automatically run nonstop with pictures and videos of fish and fish catches. Again, we were ready.
On the first day, I went in to my presentation feeling very optimistic. I spent a considerable
amount of time editing videos and putting my power point together. I knew my material and that I
would be comfortable speaking to a room full of kids. But, would I be able to reach any of them? To
inspire them? To convince them to come see our boats and try some casting? Go outside instead of
sitting in front of a screen watching hours of Tik Tok videos? It felt like it was mine to lose. And I don’t
like to lose. Especially when anyone is counting on me. And I felt like those kids were counting on me. I
also knew that if I got a lot of questions at the end of my presentation, I was successful in getting them
thinking. And with a lot of encouragement, I was able to get the majority of those kids to come
immediately to our area. Success!
After 3 full days, about 2000 kids, an absolute pile of fishing gear given away, thousands of casts,
snagged lines, a lot of laughs, I feel like our group had given our best efforts and hopefully we would see
if any of this was received how we hope it will be.
Today I received a call from a teacher who brought her students down to our area on Friday and
watched them get involved with us. She told me all of her kids participated in our activities and
expressed their desire to actually get out and fish. When we finished our discussion, I reached out to
Cabela’s and started the conversation to see if they would be able to help with this. The school
administrators gave their blessing and several teachers have expressed the desire to get involved. Can’t
help but like I’ve been a part of something very good for those kids. And yeah, I’ll be involved in any
way I can to get this underway and make it successful.
My challenge to anyone who reads this: Aspire to Inspire. Ya never know when you can change
a life, improve some part of the world around you, help a kid that you didn’t even know needed your
help. You can make a difference!
RB Bass Outdoors Angler John Hampel
https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/?from=rbbass