- Every major circuit (TBF, FLW, BASS) has high school and college divisions now putting tournaments on all over the country and each circuit has a suite of companies that offer discounts or contingency programs just for putting a logo on your shirt.

- Each of those circuits have volunteers and paid employees overseeing logistics, contracts with venues and vendors, moving and setting up equipment all over the place, filming for nationally-televised shows in many cases specifically for high school and college anglers.

- College national champions are getting births into the Classic and the Cup each year.

- Many of the successful college anglers are now moving into the professional circuits and doing well, or earning employment in the industry. I'm 29 and two guys I fished with in college are now major representatives with Shimano and Costa partly due to their college fishing careers. My college fishing experience helped me get my current job (which includes coaching a college fishing team).

Honestly, I think the big circuits are doing a pretty good job at promoting and nurturing youth fishing, considering that their bread and butter are the professional anglers way up at the top. Attend a TBF high school national championship or world finals and I think you'll be impressed with how much they do and teach their anglers along the way.

And frankly, do we really want to keep growing the sport just for the sake of growing? I know that sounds outrageous because we're all programmed to believe that nothing is good unless it's endlessly expanding. I question that idea because I run a college circuit, and it is literally becoming IMPOSSIBLE to schedule 4 tournaments, even in the fall, without double-booking a ramp, much less being on the same lake as another tournament. Natural resources aren't like the US economy; we can't just print up more water to fish (sarcasm).

So, while I do agree that companies who make a great deal of money from anglers should return the favor to ensure the sport continues into the next generation, I also think we need to be careful about how far we want it to grow in the future on top of a finite resource.

I'm not seeing any significant contributions here.

Then you and I have very different definitions of "significant."

If what these organizations are currently doing is so unimpressive, what exactly would they have to do to satisfy you in this regard?

BMCD has made some very good points that I agree with; we're not dealing with Google, Amazon or Wal-Mart-type companies here.

Show me the $$$$$$$$$$ contributions. You won't find it.

You think that setting up venues, hosting these tournaments, providing coverage on B.A.S.S., print, etc is free? BASS runs a business. Where is the return on THEIR investment?