Veterans Compete for First Project Healing Waters Fly Casting Championship

Attendees at the Fly Fishers International Fair at Boise, ID, last month were in for a treat: the National Finals of the first ever Project Healing Waters Fly Casting Competition. Twelve Veterans from across the country participated in the event, each of them winners of their Regional Cast-Offs. Scoring was based on distance, accuracy and the ability to cast around obstacles.

Lawrence Diggins, of the Long Beach, CA, Program in the Southwest Region, won the competition with 2740 points. Second place went to Henry Stockman of the Tennessee Valley Region, with 2620 points. Val Roberts of the Rocky Mountain South Region placed third with 2280 points.

Steve Licata of our Greater Kansas City Program of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing finished close behind, with 2200 points. His 72-foot cast was just short of Stockman’s 75-foot effort in the longest-cast competition.

While he would like to have fared better, Licata was far from disappointed. “I tried. It just wasn’t enough,” he said. “I had a great time, though. I met a lot of nice people.”

The casting competition came shortly after Licata placed third in the National PHWFF Rod Building Competition, so it has been an eventful year for him.

He said the hospitality at the Fly Fishers International Fair was first rate, with a wide range of educational and tactical exhibitions and some great food. He also met Dr. Meg Harrell and Samuel Holmes of the Bob Woodward Foundation, a major sponsor of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing.

“Man they had some good food there,” he said. “They feed you really well. I got to meet some of the people who sponsor us – the Bob Woodward Foundation – they spent a lot of time with us, really nice people.”

As with time on the water, the time at the FFI Fair passed too quickly. Licata wished he had been able to spend a few days fishing the trout streams around Boise. Even the time spent with various exhibitors and guests seemed to fly by.

“I was talking with one of the fly tyers there, Gene, and he showed me a different way to tie with a bead head,” Licata said. “Next thing I know I’m looking at my watch and it’s time for supper. We’d been talking for two and a half hours!”

The Fair included a number of clinics and exhibitions, as well as events specifically for Project Healing Waters participants. Medal of Honor recipient Col. Don “Doc” Ballard, another Greater Kansas City participant, was selected to give a keynote address. While there, Ballard met Mike Escarcida, a participant in the Long Beach program in a heartwarming reunion – the two served together in Vietnam some 50 years ago.

Many of the participants made a pact to hone their casting skills and challenged each other to meet again in next year’s competition.

The Heartland Region was represented by Steve Licata of the Greater Kansas City Program. Licata won the Heartland Regional Cast-Off at Lake Quivira Country Club to advance to the national finals. 

The national finals of the PHWFF Fly Casting Competition were the scene of a warm reunion between Mike Escarcida (left), a participant in the Long Beach, CA, Program, and keynote speaker Donald “Doc” Ballard, of the Greater Kansas City Program. The two served in Vietnam “back in the day” some 50 years ago.