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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton Christian Academy utilized Chilton County’s beautiful Lake Mitchell as the backdrop for its inaugural Chilton Christian Academy Athletic Association Fishing Tournament on April 18. The tournament was hosted by CCA’s new athletic association which is geared towards growing the school’s athletic presence in the county.

Last August, Kendall Roper started the CCAAA to help add and build athletic programs at the school, such as a junior varsity baseball team that is finishing their second season this April after returning to the school last year.

“Historically, we have lost students when they get to around sixth grade because they are moving to other schools specifically for sports,” Roper said. “We want to build our athletic programs up to retain and attract students to our school.”

Part of the efforts to help build that included the fishing tournament that got started bright and early at 5:45 a.m. with first cast at the Higgins Ferry Boat Launch. Forty-nine boats participated across two divisions, student and open, and each category was awarded cash prizes for first ($1,000), second ($500) and third place ($250). A big fish prize of $150 was handed out in each category as well.

Overall, around $6,000 was raised at the tournament and all funds will go towards supporting the CCAAA. CCA received a large amount of community support for the tournament, including the YMCA of Chilton County providing lunch, Coca-Cola providing drinks and several local businesses donating raffle prizes to be given away.

“We hope to continue to put this on, and we had a lot of people provide support — local businesses and volunteers to help put this on,” Roper said.

There was a mixed of both students and adults who participated in the tournament, and it was encouraging for Roper to see the large number of high school students participate. Especially CCA students with their hopes of forming a fishing team at the school in the near future. The Patriots fielded four teams in the tournament, and one of their teams took home the top spot in the student division.

Overall, Roper believes the first year of the tournament was a huge success. She was thankful to be able to utilize a vital and vibrant part of Chilton County on the Coosa River to help her endeavors of growing CCA’s athletic presence in the county.

“Higgins Ferry was a beautiful park and they had everything we could have asked for — the pavilion, restrooms, support staff, super clean,” Roper said. “It was so cool to be able to do something like this so close to home, and in a beautiful backdrop like Lake Mitchell.”

The CCAAA and Roper plan to establish the fishing tournament as a yearly event moving forward.