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End of Year report 2009

End of Year Report 2009

As I sit and reflect over the last 12 months I do so, with considerable satisfaction. The Section played host to the 1^St European Police Fly Fishing Championship in May in Scotland and in November seen off attempts by some members of the Police Sport UK Counsel to discard the Home International Championships, a competition dear to our hearts.  As an organisation we have witnessed further steps being taken in England & Wales to create and develop new fly fishing associations, which will cater for the angling needs of officers and staff in these two countries. These associations will have an element of independence from the section, that as regions they never experienced. My hope is that it provides them the opportunity to seek additional funding from a variety of different sources to support competitions and events that as a nation they would seek to participate in. 

The lack of finance remained a constant shadow over the section in 2009 and attempts at securing a long-term sponsorship deal must be a goal for the future. I will continue to harass Police Sport UK to increase our funding, but we must look again at tightening our belts when it comes to funding for any of our major championships this coming year. 

Sadly, I said goodbye to two committee members this year, Phil Griffith and Chris Reeves who have worked tirelessly for their respective regions over the last 23 and 9 years respectively. Though I'm sure neither will disappear from the fishing scene and their fishing prowess will come to the fore in many more Regional and National events. As they departed I welcomed two new members onto our committee Tim Ashman (Region 8 Metropolitan) and Colin Jones (Region 9 Wales). I also welcomed Mick Harby to join the committee as the new secretary of the English Police Fly Fishing Association. 

I was also delighted to find three individuals prepared to look at the development of River Fly Fishing Competitions for us as a section: Paul Hopwood (England), Alan Hill (Scotland) and Colin Jones (Sec. Wales).

I look forward to working with all of you as we enter a new decade and the challenges that lie before us.

Finally, I would just like to send my thanks to each and everyone of you, who did their bit in 2009, to ensure the Police Sport UK Fly Fishing Section had another successful season.

 Thank you 

Calum Fraser
Secretary/Treasurer
Police Fly Fishing Section