Wounded Warrior Bass Team....needs help

[cra97]

Rob, it would hekp if you could tell us more about what the "WOUNDED WARRIOR BASS TIEAM" is or what you want it to be. I have never heard of it but it sounds like a worth while effort. More information please, like where is it located, who/what is sponsoring it, what is the purpose, are there membership dues/fees, etc.

Grumpy

Grumpy,

The name is about the only thing "Solidified" at this point. I have been trying to think of a way to combine my love for fishing with my love of the military and this is the result. I was talking it over with my Army Wounded Warrior Advocate and he was so energized it made me decide to try and and see if I could get others on board to make this a reality.
My concept is to FIRST, come up with between 2 and 4 TEAMS of which I will do my best to select quality men. The rest of the people will be selected by the existing members by qualifications review and vote. I want this to be a true "team" effort all around. I am going to use the model set forth by the ArmyBassAnglers organization out of Texas as my starting point and go from there. I am currently working on the "sponsors" for the team, but I could really use some help with it. I have a few leads, and some things working, but my contacts are mostly outside the state and I do not have many here in KY.
To answer your direct questions above, the first teams will be here in KY until we are able to get things set-up and a solid foundation built that will allow expanding to other states/areas. I do NOT intend to have any dues/fees for members. The sponsors are something we will work on as a team, beyond what I am working on already. I would love any help/guidance anyone is willing to give as this is a VERY large undertaking for one person. It is truly my desire to make this a "team" all of us can be proud of, and I do not just mean in fishing terms. My hope is that we will be able to not only field a competitive group of fishermen, but that we will also be able to do things to help promote the Military Values, assist with the fishing for kids, and support the DVA and PVA.
Please feel free to call me, 502-689-5528, or email me ([email protected]) if you would like to help/join/share ideas at anytime. Thank you for the quesitons and interest, I hope to make this something all past, current and future Soldiers have access to and can be proud of when we are up and running. Take care and God Bless.

Rob Appleby

[Dave Stewart]

Is this organization going to be associated with the Wounded Warriors Project Inc....the name would lead one to believe it is.

[DJD]

I know when I lived in Central Florida the Paralized Veterans of Central Florida had bass tournaments. I believe they actually had a trail. Check into them...maybe some ideas?

[Grumpy]

Rob, I applaude your thoughts and efforts which from what you wrote are highly commendable; however, from what I know there are already several Bass Fishing organizations specifically for Veterans and/or active duty service personnel. Two of which come to mind that have Kentucky affiiliates, U.S.A. Bassin and American Bass Anglers,either of which could probably serve your purposes without having to "re-invent the wheel".

I suggest that you try to field some teams for either or both of these organizations and see how it works out for a couple of years. After a couple of years if you and your teams don't feel your needs are being met, then all of you will have gained some valuable experience in running such organizations and then could procede to form your own tournament trail.

Just my opinion,

Grumpy

[cra97]

Grumpy,

I have tried to "tie-in" with a few of the organizations you mentioned and did not really get anywhere. They already have their "Pro Staff" positions filled and....well that was that. I do not want to start a "tournament trail", that's not my concept here and I apologize if that's the way it sounded. I am looking for a few fellow vet's to start a "team" similar to the ArmyBassAnglers in TX. We would be getting sponsors to fish different "team trails" together and work as an entity rather than alone in looking for sponsorships and such. It has worked wonderfully for Cory and his guys in TX and I just do not see how, with the right people and attitudes, we could not emulate that here. Fishing is only one aspect of what they do, but it is the foundation of what the team is built around.

Dave, there are a TON of organizations with "Wounded Warrior" in the name, I did not realize just how many till I googled it though. The concept of the name came during my recovery classes and all the good the SERCO guys (who run the AW2 program) are doing for us. It was actually my Army Wounded Warrior Counsellors name idea and I thought it was fitting. We would NOT be affiliated with the afformentioned group you asked about though. I looked it up and there is not copywrite, at least that I could find, on the selected name for the group. I suspect this will take at least 2 years to get fully up and running here with sponsors, business plan, ect, but if I do not start some time it will NEVER happen.

Thanks all for the input and if there are any vet's with a desire to help me build this, from the ground up, please contact me using the information in my original post. I have had a pretty decent response thus far, but have not made any decisions yet as I am waiting to make sure I give anyone who would like a chance to get involved. Thanks again for the help, advice, input and kind words of support. Take care and God Bless!

Rob

[EtecRanger205]

Rob,

I was on the ABA pro-staff and also currently fishing the USA Bassin trail. I do have a few national sponsors. I am still confused about just what you are trying to do. Is it your intent to get a few teams together to represent Wounded Warrior's. Just what would the responsibility of these teams be????? I currently am running a Military wraped boat and truck. "Honoring those who serve". I teach kindergarten at Radcliff and had 9 Wounded Warriors with us today for Christmas diner. I truly belive that they need our support. I would be interested in the program, however I would need more information..Thanks

[Dave Stewart]

Rob
I was just wondering if you were working with the Wounded Warriors Project Inc is the reason I asked. And yes there are a lot of folks that have adopted the Wounded Warriors logo. Wounded Warriors Project Inc is a non profit organization that has done so much for the returning wounded vets and I thought maybe this was something they may be branching into with a Fishing Team. I see the Army guys down in Texas are involved in building a new recovery home for the troops and families there...I think that is great. I hope you have some plans like that in your ideas. Once you get this thing going and have a mission statement...which is what you seem to be lacking at this point...and a solid plan, let me know. I might be interested in coaching you guys on the fishing side...some folks say I make a pretty good "coach"..lol.

[cra97]

You are 100% correct Dave, on the mission statement and business plan (as well as I have "heard" you were a pretty decent "coach" too . I wanted to guage the interest on here before moving to far forward, and try and reach out to some people to help me with the "foundation" in building this into something special. I would very much like to emulate what they are doing, especially with reguards to taking the soldiers on fishing outings and running tourney's with them, but there is always the set-up (as you are already aware of) and that would be easier with more than one person going it. Plus, I have a "vision" and garnering ideas, which would come with others helping, for as many places as possible can only make this go "right" the first time instead of trying to make any major adjustments mid-stream, so to say. I appreciate the responses and intend to get down to UofL to try and work with some of their people in the business center to see what we can do with this as soon as time permits (most likely post-holiday). My e-mail is [email protected] if anyone is interested in lending ideas, help, or support. I have a TOTALLY open mind to input as I would like this to be something we could get broad based support for from the community AND military. Thanks again all and Merry Christmas.

Rob