Wow, what a crazy day! To start, the staff and I have a new marina to set up for registration and weigh-in. The morning registration went smoothly. Here is where the blunders start.
I started the morning without putting the plug in the boat for the first time in my life. Wayne even asked me if the plug was in, and I said, Yes Sir.
By the time we noticed it and realized what had happened, we had no choice and skipped the national anthem and started calling Boats. We have never gone through the launch so fast, lol. We put the boat back on the trailer and everyone had a good laugh. Breakfast time.
We get back from breakfast and load all the equipment on the boat (see pictures). Rob backs Wayne and I down into the water, I start the motor put it in reverse and it just stays there, it won’t go nowhere. Shit, I forgot to unbuckle the rear straps. Rob pulls us out and I jump out and unstrap. We start idling over to where we will be setting up for the weigh-in.
The day is just getting started and I have another big blunder coming during the weigh-in.
But first a little backstory first. When I first volunteered to be the TD for the BAF club and soon after the ABA Nevada Region, the first thing I looked into was software to track everything we needed. After doing some research I didn’t like what I found. There were not a lot of choices to choose from. The software that was given to me by ABA I didn’t like. The one constant I found there wasn’t any software to calculate payouts with option and other variables. It seemed like everybody was using the same thing. I wanted something different, a program to calculate the payouts including options automatically. A program in which I could show the anglers in real time the standings and be able to print results immediately after the last boat weighed in, also a program to print checks to each angler. All of these added features would allow the awards and payout to happen sooner and let everyone go home earlier.
I have been using the program I built for 2 years and for the most part I haven’t had any real issues with it. Until yesterday, my software locked up in the middle of the second and third flight of teams and with teams standing around I didn’t have time to troubleshoot, So I grab the paper slips and continued. I’ll have to troubleshoot later.
I apologize to everyone at the weigh-in and watching live if this mishap slowed down the weigh-in. I think we recovered nicely as I started handing the hand printed to Alexis for her to give to the anglers instead of the anglers grabbing the printed receipt from the printer.
I was able to correct the issue soon after the last team weighed in and was able to print checks and results for the awards.
This was the 3rd event of the season drawing 55 teams, while the 1st event had 60 teams, and the 2nd one had 53 teams. Awesome turnout this year.
We also added to the Cody Steckel fund by another $530 today bringing the total to over $1500. Cody is in the hunt currently sitting in 23rd place out of the EQ anglers.
I appreciate everybody contributing and chipping in to help Cody chase the Elite Dream. It’s cool to see one of our locals trying to make it to the Elites.
We also were selling hats to help Markus Avalos and Jordon Werner on their upcoming trip to the high school finals back east. We sold over 50 hats and generating another $500 to donate to their trip. Thank you to all the anglers who purchased a hat. These hats are a great bargain for $20. The quality of these hats is awesome.
This region wouldn’t have the turnout it’s getting without the support of all our sponsors. Every one of these sponsors has had a direct effect on attracting more anglers and bigger fields for better payouts. We all thank you.
Clear Solutions Grp, 24/7 Heating & AC, Champion Recycling, Polar Shades, Aloha Specialties, Beckers Custom Baits, JC Custom Bates, Morley Grading, Boulder City Tackle Store, Eternal Lithium Batteries, Snap Towing, Mtn Pine Construction, P & L Sales Group, The Iglinski Family. Thank you all.
Lastly, I want to say thank you to the staff of the ABA Nevada Region.
Judy, Tim and Alexis you three are Gold! I am blessed to have such great help. Markus as well, as he always helps tear down at the end of the day. Thank you for all you do!
Rob and Wayne, thank you for jumping into this without hesitation. After the three of us worked on a couple of Desert Dash events, I knew that I needed both of you to help run these ABA events. I realized that Wayne is great at being an emcee while I shy away from that a little. Wayne and I both agreed that we make a great team, and we look forward to running many more events in the future.
Rob (Rescue Rob), you are appreciated more than you know. You are always willing to do anything at any time, I look forward to our continued friendship and to many more events to follow.
Without a doubt this team we have put together can handle anything that comes our way.