Charles Jardine Joins Welsh Youth Fly Fishing Coaching Team

The Welsh Salmon & Trout Angling Association (WSTAA) are very excited to announce that we have a New Youth Coaching Team, which includes celebrated angler Charles Jardine!

Carl Williams is an accomplished International senior angler with many Welsh Caps and also is a successful Commonwealth International Angler, Carl has coached the Welsh youth for quite a few Years and has introduced the Sport of Fly-fishing into the School where he works as a Teacher.

As well as our outstanding coach Carl Williams, WSTAA have recently appointed well know angler Charles Jardine as the Welsh Youth Manager, Charles as many of you may know has been involved in England with the Youth and Disabled Teams but now living in Wales has decided to apply his many skills to our own Welsh youth team.

Carl Williams is the coach for the Welsh Youth Fly Fishing Team. He is an experienced competition angler
who has represented his country on several occasions in two different disciplines including the home National Loch Style competitions 5 times and the Commonwealth championships on two.

Within this role, Carl hopes to combine two of his passions, teaching and angling in order to pass on the
skills taught to him to the next generation of anglers. Within his current school, Carl has been able to establish a very popular angling club which has introduced over 40 new anglers to the sport alongside hosting various coaching days on Llyn Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd.

He hopes that this continues to give youngsters the chance to gain the knowledge and skills and confidence required to allow more youth members to come into the system here in Wales. Having been the Welsh coach for a number of years, Carl is very much looking forward to work alongside Charles as Manager of the Welsh team.

“I am ecstatic by the appointment of such a world class person in Charles and for the chance for the both of us to take the youth team forward is great. This feels like the beginning of some very exciting times for the Welsh Youth team!” Cheers, Carl

Charles Jardine has dedicated himself to teaching and inspiring future generations to continue a sport that he has loved for over sixty years. Jardine started formally educating in the 1980’s within the disabled sector, majoring on English and Outdoor education and PE. From there he drifted into Art and journalism but in the process drawing on his Casting instructor credentials, taking fly fishing to all peoples in all age groups – and has stayed true to that principal both in the UK and overseas, ever since.

In order to meet the demands increasingly made upon young people in urban and less rural educational settings, Charles set up Fishing for Schools 18 years ago, under the Countryside Alliance Foundation banner and has grown that project throughout England, Wales, and now into Northern Ireland bring angling into the classroom and using the rivers, lakes and our beautiful countryside as a classroom.

Currently operating in over thirty schools nationally and last year alone worked with hundreds of young people in in post codes deemed “areas of deprivation”: employing twenty coaches to drive this vital project.

In the process, Jardine has managed the English Youth Team, been part of the English Commonwealth team, is a Licensed coach and Fly casting instructor. His passion for the sport and coaching young people remains undiminished.

Being appointed the Welsh Youth Team Manager is a pinnacle to a wonderful life in fly fishing and angling. On the announcement of his appointment Jardine was moved to say:

”My associations with Wales, Welsh fly fishing and the majestic landscape runs through my entire life; and to be able to continue the rich legacy of one of my true heroes, Moc Morgan in managing the Welsh Youth Team – and the future of Welsh fly fishing. I am so excited for the future and can’t wait to get cracking! Diolch”.

Report and article by Bob Mayers WSTAA