The inaugural NFA England Veterans team who will compete in the first F.I.P.S.ed organised Veterans World Championships being held on the River Tamega in northern Portugal on the weekend of 12th and 13th July 2008 has now been named.
The team manager Joe Roberts and NFA International Events Director Dick Clegg have selected the team from the array of talent that we have in this country. The team was selected based on the team selector’s knowledge of anglers across the country that have fished at international level before and are still actively fishing in the top class events that take place in the UK.
The team which will compete in Portugal will consist of Denis White, who has been a member of the Nations (senior) team 11 times and won four team golds as well as an individual gold won in Portugal. Ken Giles has also been selected, who has fished for England on three separate occasions in France, Bulgaria and Belgium.
Current joint Drennan Team Manager, Mark Addy has also been selected and will add his wealth of international experience both in a managerial capacity and having fished twice himself in Finland and Hungary to the team. Dicky Carr is the final member of the team having fished twice at international level in Luxembourg and Holland.
The England team will be confident of bringing home a medal as there is a wealth of experience within the team and also in the NFA’s England set up as well. Subfish England Team Ladies Manager, Tommy Pickering has fished the same stretch of river on two occasions with the ladies in 2004 and 2006 and will be able to pass all of his knowledge onto the anglers taking part.
The team will be expecting to continue our success in the international angling arena with the Veterans team and are looking to host the championships in 2009. The NFA management team will be looking to involve a number of anglers who will be eligible by being over 60 years of age and using a trials selection process to identify the top anglers in this category later this year.
NFA International Events Director Dick Clegg commented, “I am glad to say that all the main teams will be there at the championships so there will be some tough competition for us. However, the team selected is well qualified and has enough experience to get a medal.”
