Bass Club World Championship Cancelled

[bocraw]

I could type a War and Peace length volume venting my opinions about BASS right now---but I will spare you all. Suffice it to say that I am extremely disappointed that they have canceled these tournaments. Once again I think BASS had a great concept and missed the mark on execution.

I hope some other organization picks up the ball and creates a tournament series where clubs send their Top 6 anglers to compete in a team format. It should be kept simple where each state has a tournament and the winners of each state go to a national tournament.

Naturally, I would love to see this happen but do not want to do any of the work to make it happen...just being honest.

[Grey Wolf]

Why did they cancel these tournaments ?

[bocraw]

Because it "did not resonate as well as we would have liked"  Here is the press release:

BASS announced today the organization will discontinue the operation of the BASS Club World Championship, in order to increase focus on the BASS Federation Nation Divisionals, the BASS Federation Nation Championship and the Bassmaster Opens.

  As previously announced, Wagoner, Okla., and Fort Gibson Lake will host the 2008 BASS Club World Championship, set for Oct. 9-11. The event will feature 38 six-angler teams that qualified for the championship event through their performance at six regional events.

  "We introduced the team format to provide more competition outlets for our Federation Nation members," said Don Corkran, director of the BASS Federation Nation. "Ultimately, it didn't resonate as well as we would have liked. We feel that this move will allow us to put more focus on grassroots events with direct qualifying avenues into the Bassmaster Classic."

[Tin]

Because it "did not resonate as well as we would have liked" Here is the press release:

BASS announced today the organization will discontinue the operation of the BASS Club World Championship, in order to increase focus on the BASS Federation Nation Divisionals, the BASS Federation Nation Championship and the Bassmaster Opens.

As previously announced, Wagoner, Okla., and Fort Gibson Lake will host the 2008 BASS Club World Championship, set for Oct. 9-11. The event will feature 38 six-angler teams that qualified for the championship event through their performance at six regional events.

"We introduced the team format to provide more competition outlets for our Federation Nation members," said Don Corkran, director of the BASS Federation Nation. "Ultimately, it didn't resonate as well as we would have liked. We feel that this move will allow us to put more focus on grassroots events with direct qualifying avenues into the Bassmaster Classic."[/color]

Ok so they will be getting rid of Federation Nation spots at the Classic next?

[Glenn]

You can count on it.  BASS has made it very clear they want the Elite Series and Classic to be strictly professional anglers.  It should come as no surprise when they announce there no longer will be Federation anglers in the Classic.

[Sharkbite]

I don't get it guy's.  So they want to put non pros on the water with pros?  There is still going to be tourt. on ESPN rite?

[UPS VT]

Should any one be really suprised that they did away with the BCWC?  B.A.S.S. is a business and they were losing money on these events due to a lack of participants.  If more of us had signed up teams maybe they would have kept them going.  I don't see them doing away with the Federation angelrs in the classic, but maybe I am just blind.

[Bass Hole]

Should any one be really suprised that they did away with the BCWC? B.A.S.S. is a business and they were losing money on these events due to a lack of participants. If more of us had signed up teams maybe they would have kept them going. I don't see them doing away with the Federation angelrs in the classic, but maybe I am just blind.

I'm not surprised at all . The BCWC was doomed from the start. ESPN started it as a means of appeasing the federations guys when the split was going on.

No your not blind but like a lot of people maybe your just hoping for the best. I think the next thing to go will be the divisional's then the classic spots will not be far behind. Just my opinion.

[Garnet]

It was a tough sell 7 anglers fish 1 local 1 regional and 1 way south tournament as a team, with most of the cost right out of the family buget. And then theres a full year commitment from all 7 familys. From the guys interested we have 1 that split with wife and 1 with major health problems.

Thats why my club never had a team. Think maybe Don missed the grassroot part.

Garnet

[bocraw]

Garnet is dead on. First of all, the regional tournaments were unnecessary. Just the vacation time involved with that excluded many anglers. Second, the original idea BASS had was to exclude paper clubs by allowing one six man team per 12 club members. And your club had to fish at least six genuine events per year to submit a team. i.e. you had to be a real club with real members with a real schedule. Those rules were almost immediately thrown by the wayside opening the door for paper clubs.

So the end result was that your team got to pay $600 for the privilege of fishing against guides and pros who put together a paper club. If you win you get the privilege of paying even more money and burning vacation time to fish against even more pros at the regional level. Had they kept the entry fee reasonable, and limited entries to genuine clubs, the participation would have been greater from clubs like mine.

Also, the rules should have allowed you to fish with your teammates from the get-go. That rule change would have increased interest had they kept the BCWC around longer.

Also, communication surrounding the BCWC was not good and could have been much better from BASS and from the State Chapters. But in defense of State Chapters, those volunteers were charged with rebuilding the state chapters after the split. So those unpaid volunteers kind-of had their hands full after the split and adding a new project like this at that time was probably too ambitious.

But the bottom line, is that Don Corkran is right, that the BCWC did not resonate well with the chapters. He can push the blame on the members but the truth is had it been organized and promoted correctly, it would have been successful. So the fault is on BASS's shoulders--not that they give a rip about losing the BCWC.