The Presidential Challenge Charitable Foundation is working with local Playa Flamingo residents and businesses to plan the Flamingo Fishing Rodeo. The event will be held in Flamingo Beach, which is located on the northern coast of Costa Rica in the nation’s Guanacaste province, and is scheduled for July 30-31, 2016.
We are proud to announce that we will have prizes for junior girl and boy anglers. Thanks to the hard work done by the Costa Rica Sport Fishing Commission, the Government overturned a long standing law prohibiting youths under the age of sixteen to fish. The Presidential Flamingo Fishing Rodeo encourages families, moms, dads and kids, to fish the event. “We’re going back to the basics with this tournament,” says PCCA founder Joan Vernon. “It’s time we put the fun and family back into sportfishing, as well as a more focused appeal to the charter boat angler.” In fact, she says the tournament’s mission statement is to publicize Flamingo as the fishing destination that it used to be by helping charter captains book clients to fish this event. It will also create an increased awareness of Flamingo and the northern Pacific region of Costa Rica as a world class fishing destination. “It’s been very exciting to work with the charter captains as well as the business owners in Flamingo, many of whom have been friends of mine for many many years,” Vernon says. “This event will offer a minimal entry fee, just $600 for a team of up to four anglers, and will have minimal rules—just go fishing and have a great time.”
One important aspect of all Presidential Challenge events is the local support that we offer in the regions where we hold our events. The Flamingo Fishing Rodeo will assist a number of important groups, the first of which is Abriendo Mentes. Spanish for ‘Opening Minds’, Abriendo Mentes was established in 2009 inPlaya Potrero, a rural village in Guanacaste. The founders determined that the current elementary education only operated on average for just three hours a day for only 85 days a year. As a result of inadequate educational opportunities, only 13 percent of Guanacastecos had completed high school. Graduates did not possess the requisite English, computer or business skills to secure jobs in the service sector. What started as a series of tutoring sessions has since grown into a thriving non-profit organization, providing area youth and adults with thousands of hours of English, technology and vocational classes each year, as well as diverse and engaging community enrichment and social programs. The Presidential Flamingo Fishing Rodeo will provide funding to Abriendo Mentes that will allow them to continue their important work in the local community. For more information visitwww.abriendomentes.org.
Contact joan@preschallenge.com for more information. Visit www.preschallenge.com for updates