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Shark Tournament director announces new format

3 min read

When protesters began sending cryptic and vaguely threatening emails to local business owners concerning a high profile shark fishing tournament, Tournament Director Jack Donlon was way ahead of them.

Donlon, the director of the annual Fort Myers Beach “Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge” announced today that the future of the tournament after four years has never been better. Even before the first hook was dropped in the 2009 tournament, organizers were meeting with international organizationsn to discuss the future of shark tournaments nationwide. “There was definitely an undercurrent we were seeing across Florida, we knew change was coming,” said Donlon, who is creating The New IGFA Model Tournament Series.

Donlon then met with representatives from The Shark Free Marinas Initiative. It was during these meetings and subsequent meetings with Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, whose green credentials and vision for Lee County as a “family friendly destination” were key in moving the 2009 “Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge 3” to a no-kill tournament.

While several groups quickly claimed credit for the change in format, Donlon confirms that he and his sponsors were unwilling to work with groups that threatened local business owners and arrived with hidden video cameras looking for a public fight.

“We had been discussing no take tournaments for a while” says Donlon. “We would only work with those who offered positive help for the event and our sponsors and local businesses, the benefit of that was felt by the entire local Fort Myers Beach economy. We refused to engage those who were looking to do harm and shut the whole thing down – putting good folks out of work”.

Donlon and his sponsors chose to work behind the scenes with The Shark Free Marina Initiative.

“They took a practical, non-threatening stance and introduced us to a host of exciting possibilities for this event going into 2010,” he said. “We were confident that a new model of the catch and release format could be developed which would be cutting edge, thrilling for participants and would leave no wake in its path. It was also quickly evident that a growing group of researchers, business owners, and celebrities were lining up along with Shark Free Marinas to support the tournaments future and success, we liked that aspect”.

The all new shark tournament model will be revealed in the coming months.

The “Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge” will be rebranded with its new name: “The Ultimate Shark Challenge”. The new tournament will be a series of invitational tournaments taking place in several locations in Florida and broadcast to millions of viewers worldwide both online and on television. Donlon promises to continue his work with The Shark Free Marina Initiative, the national sponsors the tournament has now attracted, as well as Sean and Brookes Paxton (a.k.a The Shark Brothers).

“The collaborative effort will culminate in a Green Shark Tournament Series of a magnitude no one has ever seen before,” he said. “We’ll be including public outreach and shark conservation themes, a children’s touch pool with sharks, and the use of tagging technology. Oh, and plenty of adrenaline fueled, shark filled excitement!”

New, bold, out-of-the-box thinking, cutting edge technology and the rewriting of the “how to run a tournament” rulebook is now the norm in the planning sessions being held which are casting the mold that will make The Ultimate Shark Challenge just that and the example of the future of shark tournaments everywhere.

Submitted by

Tournament Director Jack Donlon

Cape Coral