What’s it mean to a be a Florida Sportswoman? Brittney Novalsky gives us the scoop. These women bond over more than just work, children and shopping—in fact, most of their time is spent aboard a ship and being anglers of the sea.
Florida is recognized as one of most desired fishing destinations for its beautiful ocean and fisheries. The one thing Florida was missing was a resource for women who wanted to learn how to become better anglers – this is where Florida Sportswoman came to life in 2011. Brittney Novalsky developed an online community for women with her website and social media outlets that offer tips, articles, forums and membership opportunities for other women around the state to network among each other. Offline,Florida Sportswoman offers free fishing seminars for women throughout the month at various tackle outfitters around the state. In Brevard, the meeting location is Strike-Zone off 1-92 in Melbourne. The one hour seminars are taught by female anglers and are completely hands-on. If you come for a bait seminar you will be throwing a cast net and holding real bait. There is a variety of women who attend the seminars from business professionals, stay at home moms and retired women who are interested in learning more about angling.
Brittney is a true Florida Native; being raised in Sebastian, Florida on a quiet dirt road where fishing was a way of life for many families in the community. Her father, John was a commercial clammer and fisherman who raised Brittney on the rivers, canals and inlets of Florida. Food was put on the table after selling fish at the markets or trading fish for meals at the local restaurants. Some of her favorite family adventures were to the Keys where gas money to get home came from the conch shells they sold to the tourist shops on their way back. It was only natural for her to develop a passion for the water.
Conservation is important to the company to inform anglers of best practices to keep our fisheries alive. Florida Sportswoman works with Florida Fish and Wildlife to host free fish tagging workshops and classes, “Hook Kids on Fishing – not Drugs”, a curriculum made of team building exercises that teach children alternative activities and create our future conservationists of tomorrow.
Florida Sportswoman also has a professional ladies offshore fishing team made up of Brittney, Jamie Hagen and Elyse Autrey, all from Brevard County. The captain during tournaments is Chris Cameron who runs their 30 foot boat out of Port Canaveral. The team fishes in tournaments along the coasts of Florida and often sponsors the ladies category in support of other female anglers who are fishing.
In development for the company as the New Year approaches is a 13 episode show, “Saltwater Sportswoman” which will air game fish adventures led by Brittney inFlorida, Panama, Costa Rica and the Bahamas. Florida Sportswoman is also hosting the Space Coast Women’s Outdoor Expo in fall 2013 that will include fishing, outdoor photography, kayaking and several other outdoor activities available in Brevard.
Stay up to date with Brittney and other Florida Sportswoman at http://www.floridasportswoman.com/ !
