Press Release
Canada Safeway announced that once again it would sponsor the Safeway Kid-Pro tournament, which will kick off the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship on Sunday, July 18 from the Sorting Gap Marina.
This marks the fourth year Canada Safeway has been the event sponsor.
Public affairs manager John Graham noted Safeway is pleased to support this part of the tournament, as well as have Safeway associated with this community festival.
“It is a great opportunity for the youth of the region to fish with a pro,” he remarked. “We hope that some of the youth will eventually find their way into the big tournament.”
“Fort Frances is a great community, and I’m proud that Safeway is again putting our support behind such a special community event as the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship,” echoed local store manager Kevin Langford.
The Safeway “Kid-Pro” tournament provides a day of fishing on Rainy Lake under tournament conditions for youths aged 10-14 with a professional tournament angler.
In addition, Rick Socholotuk, “The Outdoor Educator,” provides an afternoon of classroom instruction beforehand to all the kids who register for the tournament.
The session includes rules of fishing safely, fish handling, photographing fish, and handling lures, rods, and reels.
“It’s a great program for these young people,” said Socholotuk, who started the Kid-Pro tournament back in 1996.
“It gives them a one-on-one learning day with some of the best anglers in North America.
“The ‘pros’ enjoy teaching the kids and often this often leads to lifetime friendships,” he added.
“It may even lead them to tournament angling.”
Andrew Rogozinski, one of the original participants in the Kid-Pro, remembers riding fast across the water in a big bass boat. It is one of his first entries into his log that chronicles every day out on the water.
Today, Rogozinski participates as a “pro.”
“It gives me a chance to give back to the community, and maybe put a fishing spark in a young person’s mind like the pro did for me as a kid,” he remarked.
John Craig and his partner, Larry Hullett, who fish as a team at the FFCBC, annually contribute hats and rods to the Kid-Pro tournament.
“I know some of the kids are not as well off as I am,” noted Craig. “I know often that their parents don’t have as much time as I do to take their kids fishing, and I remember how much fun it was for me to have my dad take me fishing.
“I hope that it may help get them away from the TV or video game into the outdoors and an enjoyment of fishing,” he added.
“It sure gives me a good feeling to see those kids out fishing with the pros,” he enthused.
All fish that are caught are photographed, measured for length and girth, and immediately released. The winning weight then is calculated later in the day.
Each youth receives a copy of all the pictures that they take with the pro for a lifetime of memories.
Joe Thrun, who has won the FFCBC five times with his fishing partner, Jim Moynagh, said the Safeway Kid-Pro is “a real opportunity for young people to learn.”
“I can’t imagine how excited I would have been at that age to fish with anglers, and have the excitement of travelling so fast across the water in a bass boat,” he remarked.
“I hope we create an excitement with these young people for fishing that will last the rest of their lives,” Thrun said.
This will mark the 15th year that the Kid-Pro tournament is part of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. Almost 500 youth have had the chance to fish with the tournament anglers over the years.
Canada Safeway has been a sponsor and supporter of the FFCBC since its inception in 1995.
It operates 215 stores across Western Canada, and has operated a store here in Fort Frances since 1929.
