High school seniors planning to major in the biology, fisheries, wildlife or natural resource fields can apply for one of five $3,000 scholarships that will be awarded by Shimano beginning this fall. The scholarships are part of the Shimano Varsity program designed to aid high school and college anglers in achieving success in higher education.
“Our scholarship program is one of the keystones to our entire Varsity program,” said Shimano youth fishing director Frank Hyla. “With Shimano staff at all levels, we want to form a mentor relationship and help these anglers pursue a college degree leading to a career creating better fisheries policy and management practices.”
Over the past 20 years, there has been a critical decline in professional natural resource managers who fish and hunt.
“The future of the fishing industry is based on sustainable use and proper management of our public lands and waters,” said Phil Morlock, vice president for government affairs/advocacy at Shimano. “We hope our scholarship program helps recruits these students who already enjoy fishing and understand the importance of conservation efforts through their involvement with B.A.S.S. to pursue a college degree in natural resource professions.”
A panel, consisting of Morlock, B.A.S.S. conservation director Gene Gilliland and Chris Horton with the Congressional Sportsman’s Foundation will determine the scholarship winners. Application forms – with a May 15 deadline - are available to high school seniors in both the U.S. and Canada, and can be found on the ‘Shimano Varsity’ program web site at http://Varsity.Shimano.com.
Winners will be notified by early June, with a special announcement planned at the B.A.S.S. 2017 High School Championship in Paris Landing, Tenn.
