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I am pleased
and honored to be speaking to you today.
I am Denese
Freeman, from Lawton, Oklahoma and a
co-angler with the Women's BassMaster Trail. I am humbled and
feel privileged to represent this great community on a national
level.
The WBT is owned and
operated by B.A.S.S., ESPN and
Disney.
Life as a bass
angler may seem like nothing but thrills and excitement, but a
lot of hard work and dedication goes into fishing a national
tournament circuit.
I would like to briefly give you my story of
how I got to where I am today.
The Beginning
- A huge part of my angling career started as a child with my
mother taking me fishing every chance she got. It continued
with
friends along the
way willing to share their knowledge and
finally with my sister, Linda who lives in North Carolina - she
bought me a
membership into a fishing club in 2002.
Without
those people, doing what I do would only be a mere dream.
The Awakening
- Fishing for fun and fishing for bass, while sometimes
intertwined, can also be two completely different beasts to face
head on. Throw the
competition of other anglers into that mix,
and you have something that is a completely different world
altogether.
I remember my first tournament. My sister
invited me
to fish with her at a tournament on Grand Lake here in Oklahoma.
It was the first
time I ever got into a boat. I got all choked
up hearing the national
anthem and seeing the fireworks, and I
was in awe of the whole setting.
There were 200 other women
anglers that enjoyed fishing just like me. Not very many
people
get the chance to have their office setting be
on the lake. It's
truly a blessing.
The Learning
- Bass angling is one sport where learning never stops. From
one tournament to the next, something will be learned that you
didn't know, something
will be taught that someone else didn't
know, and laughs and tears will be shared along the way. I’ve
fished with lots
of different anglers over the years and all of
them have their different styles of fishing. I try and take away
something with every experience.
The Thrill of
Competition
- Just as life is a daily competition, bass fishing is a daily
competition against a small, green fish, whose brain might
only
be the size of
a pea, but that contains enough information and
sense to make even the best bass angler scratch their head.
Road blocks
await each of us, each day, some bigger
than others, some easy and some tough. I took a road that was foreign to me
and I have triumphed
– by winning a tournament as a co-angler.
Being afraid is alright– I am
scared of the water - but I don’t
let that fear keep me from fishing or
keep me from what I want
to accomplish.
The Business
Side
– I am self employed and I work from home. I am Vice President
of Bass Anglers Network which is a marketing company
for
anglers. We design
marketing tools for anglers on all levels of
competition to help them promote themselves in the fishing
industry.
This allows me to have the freedom to take time off
to
travel to my tournaments. I don’t have to ask for time off – all
my clients are anglers too
and they totally understand.
For over 28
years I had always worked for someone else and tried to live up
to the expectations of others. I was a Mom, a wife, a daughter,
a sister,an employee -
trying to be all things to all people. I
am still all of those things, but now I work for myself and I
live up to my own
expectations. I 'm doing what I love, I'm being
myself and I'm moving forward and doing the things I believe in,
things that I have a passion for
which is not just fishing and
competing, but helping and teaching
others.
As you can see
by all the logos on my shirt, I have several sponsors that help
contribute to my entry fees and expenses, but I am also
affiliated
with several important
organizations.
RecycledFish.org
which is an organization of anglers as good stewards toward our
natural resources both on and off the water by living a
lifestyle of environmental
awareness.
Anglers’Legacy.org
– How many in this room remember their first fishing trip and
who took you? That’s what Anglers’ Legacy is all about.
Simply giving back what
you have been given. Take someone fishing –
make a promise to introduce someone new to the activity you love
and pass on
the legacy.
Thank you for
having me today as your speaker - does anyone have any questions
they would like to ask? |
