CADET NATIONAL SET TO RETURN IN 2023

The Angling Trust is set to bring back the Cadet National Championship in 2023 in a bid to encourage more young anglers to fish in competitions.

Open for anglers from 10 to 12 years old, the event will run in conjunction with the Junior and Youth events, both backed by tackle giants Guru, and will be staged at the prolific Tunnel Barn Farm complex on Saturday July 1, 2023.

This three-tier set up is a return to a system which operated for many years in the Nationals line-up and not only gives a clear progression path for youngsters getting into match fishing but will allow them to do so in a safe environment for development.

Angling Trust Head of Competitions, Steve Fitzpatrick, explained: “We’ve seen from the success of regional junior coaching schemes that there are a lot of young anglers around 10, 11, and 12 who are keen to fish in National competitions but can be put off by having to compete with older anglers in this wider age range group.

“In many cases there’s huge difference between a 10 and a 15-year-old in terms of their mental development and the re-establishment of the Cadet category in our Nationals structure will encourage those at the younger end of that scale to fish, grow in confidence, and hopefully progress to become the international match anglers of the future.”

The move comes at a time where we’re seeing a growth in numbers of youngsters taking part in the Nationals and has been made in consultation with some of the country’s most forward-thinking junior coaches.

David Marshall, head coach at Ramsbottom AA, was one of the coaches who proposed a return to the three-tier set up.

He said: “As a club and coach we welcome this with open arms and I’m sure there are lots of other coaches and parents around the country who will agree that this is a smart move.

“We want all our young anglers to be inspired and compete on level terms with anglers of their own age without feeling scared. The introduction of the Cadet National will be beneficial now and the way forward for future success.”

* Clubs can register their interest in fishing the Cadet (10 to 12 years on the day of the match), Junior (13 to 15), and Youth (16 to 20) Nationals by filling out the form on this link https://anglingtrust.net/our-competitions/coarse-competitions/juniors-youth-national/