Lee University fly fishing coach Guy DeLoach has been landing some big ones.
Unlike most of Lee's sports, which are sanctioned by the NCAA, the new fly fishing team can include people who have received money for their expertise in the sport.
DeLoach, also an associate professor of business, has two enrollees this semester who have been guides and pro staff representatives for fishing product manufacturers.
Noland Glenn from Canton, Ga., joins Mason Sims from Chickamauga as former USA Youth Fly Fishing Team members on the Lee roster. Glenn is a fly fishing guide for Alpharetta Outfitters and helps manage Fellowship of Christian Athletes tournaments, and he is pro staff for Cortland Rod Company.
The other Lee newcomer is Cassie Spurling of Murphy, N.C., who has been fly fishing since she was 6 and recently was featured in a Blue Ridge Outdoors story as one of the six most influential women in the sport, according to a Lee release. Spurling is pro staff with Scott Fly Rods and Orvis, plus other companies, and she began working as a guide for Blue Ridge (Ga.) Fly Fishing in 2014. She met DeLoach in that role and renewed contact after learning that the Lee program was underway.
She's a freshman who transferred after a semester at Haywood Community College.
"I am super thankful to be here and for the people who got me here," Spurling said at a scholarship signing celebration Lee held for her and Glenn last week. "I'm excited for what is to come."
She's a fourth-generation fishing and hunting Spurling from the "headwaters of Persimmon Creek," as she says in her bio. "I grew up around fly fishing. My dad was my biggest mentor; he taught me everything."
"We are excited to have Cassie here at Lee with us," Lee assistant coach Chachi Averitt said in the release. "She is an excellent addition to the team, both on and off the water. Her ability to learn and adapt quickly has already helped us win. She is an excellent teacher with her teammates as well."
Glenn came later to the sport and credits Sims for fueling his interest and ability for international success. They met at an FCA tournament when Sims was already a Team USA member.
"Mason took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew about fly fishing," Glenn said. "He showed me what competition fishing was, and it just exploded after that. I spent two entire summers with him in the water fishing."
He joined Sims on Team USA in the summer of 2015.
"Noland is an incredible addition to our team at Lee," Averitt said. "His experience with Team USA has and will continue to help grow what we are building. His fly fishing knowledge is top-notch."
Said DeLoach: "We are excited about Noland and Cassie joining our team. They will enable us to lead nationally in collegiate competition fly fishing and continue our position as one of the top educational programs in the country."