There were many conversations at last year's Labor Day parade in Whitwell, but one topic that kept coming up confounded a few spectators.
The topic? Whitwell High School's fishing team, which appeared in the parade.
"You could hear several people on the side of the road say, 'We didn't even know they had a fishing team,'" Whitwell coach Mikey Powell said.
Things are different now. Months later, strangers approach Powell, congratulating the coach on a great season and wishing him luck for the future.
The growing interest can be attributed to the fact that Powell will have three teams competing in the Costa Bassmaster High School National Tournament on June 22-24 at Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn. It's a remarkable feat for a team that started as a school club three years ago.
Whitwell will join an elite field of nearly 5,500 student-athletes representing schools all over the United States - as far away as Maine and Washington - and even from Canada. For Whitwell, the new national avenue isn't one team members would have predicted three years, said Baylor Lane, a rising senior who will compete at the tournament.
"It all started as a club, just a little get-together, and basically it started growing from then on," Lane said. "People started finding out that Whitwell had a fishing team, and then we started growing really fast."
And if you had asked Powell at the start of this season if he thought the team would be sending three squads of two anglers each to the national tournament, his answer would have been simple.
"Not really, no," Powell said. "You never know, you might fish this tournament and bomb it, and then you go to the next tournament and win it."
The coach said Whitwell's teams headed to the national tournament "have already showed me how they have really progressed this year. I pray to God that they get into the top 12, but if they don't, hey, they made history. We have three teams from Whitwell going to the national championship in fishing. I am proud of every single one of them."
Lane, who joined the team as a sophomore, said Whitwell's anglers feel prepared because they do not know life without the outdoors pursuit.
"I love to fish," Lane said. "Ever since we could walk, we would always be somewhere fishing or hunting. It was just something that we have always done."
And what started as a pastime for Powell as well turned into a position. In 2014, his son informed him the high school wanted to start a fishing team but needed parents to get involved.
"I told him, 'OK, we have a boat, I'll go talk to them,'" Powell said. "So, it's kind of funny, I just went and talked to the principal, and next thing I knew I was the coach."
That first season, Powell had six anglers and three captains. Those numbers have since doubled.
Going to the national tournament are the teams of Cameron Bankston and Spencer Minter, Chase Cantrell and Nathan Powell, and Dalton Powell and Lane.
"To me (having three teams going to the national tournament) is outstanding because they have come such a long way," Powell said. "When we are on the water, their fishing techniques are so much better, and you have gotten to see where they have grown."
Lane said having an alternative to more traditional scholastic sports has attracted some team members.
"I have been hooked," Lane said. "Some people at school don't want to play football or baseball or basketball, they want to do something else. Well, ever since we have started this fishing team, a lot of people have asked about it."
And while more and more people find interest in the team, the town of Whitwell now sees the high school fishing team is one to be proud of - and the team wants to return the favor.
"It means a lot to me (to compete at the national tournament) because we have put in all this time and effort and money and gas into going to these tournaments," Lane said. "I am glad that we are going to represent Whitwell."
And as the support grows, Powell couldn't be prouder.
"People have heard about (the team) through the grapevine," Powell said. "I guess the grapevine is great sometimes."
Contact Tori McElhaney at sports@timesfreepress.com.