We were all deeply saddened this week to learn of the passing of Jim Mathew; a stalwart of Scottish Angling’s Coaching and Coach Education Team and long standing member of the Angling Development Board of Scotland.
Jim devoted a huge amount of time and effort to volunteering in angling and providing opportunity for young people to get involved in the sport. He engaged with and supported the delivery of angling programs for children across the country, from the borders to Inverness, and organised and ran numerous angling programs in High Schools across Lanarkshire over many years. He was a fierce advocate for the provision of more funding and resources to support this work and never missed an opportunity to get the subject onto the agenda and put the focus on the next generation.
Jim knew that to be able to affect decision making, he needed to be involved at the highest level. He was a long standing Board Member of the Scottish Anglers’ National Association (SANA) and took on a Directorship in September 2021. In addition to his role in the Governing Body, over the past 15 years Jim played an active role as SANA’s representative on the committee of the Angling Development Board of Scotland. He was also an integral part of Angling Scotland’s coach educator team; tutoring and assessing on almost every coaching course run in Scotland over the past 15 years, supporting the training of the next generation of coaches to continue his work.
Jim will be remembered as a good friend to all, with a big heart, a warm smile and ready wit, who always put others before himself. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him and worked with him, and particularly by the hundreds of youngsters who have benefitted from his enthusiasm and as coach and mentor over the years. Our thoughts are with his wife and family at this difficult time.
