Under New Management

The Korda Carp Team England has a new management team to lead it into the 2012 World Championships and beyond. Experienced carp match anglers Ian Huntington and Pete Holehouse are the new men at the helm, with Ian taking the position of team manager and Pete becoming team coach.

Dick Clegg, International Events Director for the Angling Trust, told us why the duo had been chosen, "Ian and Pete are acknowledged as England's number-one pairing in carp team competitions and I have no doubt that their vast experience will benefit Korda Carp Team England. The previous manager, Mitch Smith, took England to number two in the World, second only to South Africa during his tenure. I know that if anyone can elevate us to the top, then Ian and Pete are the ones most likely to achieve it."

Speaking about his appointment, Ian Huntington said, “We are both delighted and honoured to accept our positions as the new management of the England carp team and look forward to tackling the many challenges and expectations that lie ahead.”

Rather than simply forming a purely tactical pairing, the duo hope to change the perception of the team as Ian explained, “We are looking forward to establishing new relationships throughout the carp fishing world in our new roles, in the hope that the national carp team can finally gain the support of everybody involved in our great sport, both from within the industry and on the bank. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dick Clegg and the Angling Trust for giving us this opportunity and we look forward to increasing awareness within carp fishing circles of the vital role the trust plays and the great work they do.”

The duo also thanked Danny Fairbrass and Korda Developments, who have taken up the reins as sole sponsors of Carp Team England. Ali Hamidi, Korda’s head of media and marketing, said “We’ve been aware of Ian and Pete for a number of years and their performances on the UK carp match-fishing scene speak for themselves. They transferred this level of performance to the international scene and have the respect of anglers, young and old. Not only are they tactically astute, they also know the mentality that is required to perform and win in pressure-cooker situations. Both guys have been in senior management most of their working lives, making them the perfect team to lead England to success in 2012.
I hope that this further displays that Korda’s sponsorship of Team England is all about providing a solid base to produce a winning team. It’s important to note that Ian will be selecting anglers irrespective of their sponsorships or commercial tie-ups. In fact, we’d rather that the pairs use the kit that they have confidence in, rather than forcing them to use certain tackle. In the short term, the British Carp Angling Championships and British Young Carpers Angling Championship events will be watched closely by Pete and Ian as they search for the best team to represent England.”

The first duty for the new management team will be to organize three trials, in which a pool of pairs will be whittled down to the final squad that will compete for gold at the World Championships in Romania this September.