The Naperville North Bass Fishing Team is this month’s Off the Field team, presented by Molly Maids of the Aurora Naperville Area.
What Tools Are Required?
Usually armed with poles, bait, and tackle boxes… the Naperville North bass fishing team approaches Heritage Farm Park with plastic bags instead.
Sophomore fisherman Brett Skelly explains how the idea took place, “I kind of brought it up to him like we should probably clean up the community around here, it might be good and benefit us. And then we started this year.”
Three members of the team are trolling around the lake picking up garbage as a part of “Conservation Tuesdays.” Every Tuesday, the high scholars pick a place and simply clean it up. Sophomore Anthony Gallegos-Martinez has already hit quite a few places this season, “I’ve cleaned up 3 or 4 parks. I could go back and there could still be garbage there and I’d clean it up again and I could find new garbage.”
Where Did The Idea Come From?
The idea of the environment never being fully clean is what lures them to bring their bags out every Tuesday.
“It feels like the best in everything, like the ecosystem will last longer because we have all these like gas cars and everything and it’s polluting the earth and it really makes me feel like we are helping out the environment,” Skelly explains.
Gallegos-Martinez adds, “Honestly it makes me feel a lot happier to come outside and at least do my part, it’s better than being inside and sitting around while I let this trash build up around here and wild animals eat plastic and suffer from all this stuff. “
What Are the Benefits?
Along with helping the environment, the activity helps the team become closer as well. “Personally, I do think it brings us closer because we could go out and clean the community with other people than we fish with,” Skelly says.
Gellegos-Martinez agrees with Skelly, “It’s just being out here makes you think a lot more makes calm, takes the stress of the school day for me away and like the stress of it just goes away once I catch that fish.”
Whether the team is armed with fishing poles or plastic bags, they are never really sure what they will hook that day at the pond. NTCV17’s Allie Kaleta reports.
Check out other examples of teams and athletes who qualify for the Off the Field!
