I'll just speak for our club, we do have rules to be able to fish in our club. Problem is, if it's not in writing some parents will argue with you and say you can't enforce it because they "didn't know" since it wasn't in writing. I want also told since we weren't governed by the school I couldn't enforce the rules. I've only had a couple of parents play this game, one in particular. It's hard to imagine every single thing you need to put in the rules and by laws but there's always that one parent or kid that pushes the envelope and tries to justify their actions. I had a heated argument with one of the parents and made it clear that they either follow the rules or they don't fish and will not be a part of the fishing club. Same kid and parents do absolutely nothing but show up at some of the tournaments and do not help out in any other way.

Most of the kids are great and I've seen the requirement to be academically elegible really help some of the kids get motivated. We had a couple kids that couldn't fish due to their grades at the beginning of the school year. They got motivated and had passing grades the rest of the year and I really believe fishing was the motivation.

C130, contact one of the established clubs near you and see if you can get a copy of their bylaws. Take any/all of what you need and apply to your club.

I'll also add to what C130 posted about grades and such.
One of my anglers struggled with grades and other issues coming into HS. He pulled up to an A/B his freshman year and pulled all A's this year. He also (according to his parents) has fixed his other issues at home. (better attitude, etc) This has so much more to do with life lessons than simply catching a fish.......

Can you spell "no response"?

I didn't go through and read all of the other response but here are my suggestions. My cousin has run his sons' highschool team since they started it. One of them is now headed to SFA to be on the fishing team. He's seen it all as the organization has grown. I also helped my BIL start a new team for Celina High School 2 years ago. He fished several events with his son and developed a very bad opinion of a few things mentioned in all of the posts that have gone around on the other posts.

My thoughts are fairly simple...just 2 items

*Prior to the first event of the season there should be a mandatory Boat Captain meeting for each region

At this meeting you cover the following: ALL rules, Safety guidelines, On the Water Etiquette and potential punishment for various violations

If a boat Captain wasn't at this meeting because their team started at a tournament later in the year, then a one on one meeting must take place

*At each event, the winners and one random team in the top 20 are subject to a polygraph with the Captain and 1 team member polygraphed

This is done by every major tourney organization out there so why not do it here? Yes, it seems odd to have a 15 year old take a poly but its something they would have to do if they fished Bass Champs or something else.

To me if these 2 are done, it would help tremendously but the reality is you will never solve the entire issue. It's like anything else in life, there is and will always be a certain percentage of a population that simply doesn't care about rules or doing the right thing.

What response you want, you emailed me about a non profit that you started and said you may can help?

That's what we did, got by laws from another club and changed or added a few things. I just have a couple parents that question every single thing we try to do. They want to run the club but when it actually comes down to doing something to help when asked they do nothing. But, that's part of overseeing any club like this. We have some great new members that are really involved so really looking forward to this next year as we grow.

Ken,

I asked if you would like to speak about me possibly helping the association with a solution for boat captains...and gave you my phone number. I expected more than an 'ignore. Let's let it go.

Just remember, these people work full time jobs also. Between their jobs, family, and the THSBA I imagine they are swamped. I don't know anything about it but just a thought.