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Bethel University Scholarship Award

Monday, June 26, 2017

Each year USA BASSIN and Bethel University award a scholarship worth $20,000 and the right to fish on Bethel’s fishing team. The award is given out to a youth member of USA Bassin and it is based on their achievements over their whole career. Bethel University was the first college in America to offer scholarships for collegiate bass fishing and the school recognizes bass fishing as a sport. They are one of the top-ranked college fishing programs in the country and consistently do well at national events.

This year's winner is Kyle Burks and he has been a member of USA BASSIN since 2013. Since then, he has competed in 108 tournaments and his team has brought in 381 bass over that time period for a total of 635lbs, including their largest bass at 7.29lbs. Since 2013 his teams have recorded an amazing 8264 points fishing USA BASSIN tournaments.

Kyle was honored to win the award. "It was a big surprise to me and I know it is quite an achievement to be selected," he said. "I never thought it was possible, college fishing seems like so much fun. It all started with me fishing tournaments with my dad, it's what we have done just about every weekend."

Bethel's close proximity to Kentucky Lake is another benefit for this award and Kyle counts the lake as one of his favorites. "We were just there for the Next Generation Classic and I love fishing there. It is beautiful and the fishing is much better than the lakes around here," said Burks.

Congratulations to Kyle! This is a great award and it is going to someone who truly earned it over the past few years. 

To learn more about Bethel University and their Bass Fishing Team, click here.