Standing on the water’s edge at the Needham Sportsman Club, Beck Cyr casts a line that slings a tiny, artificial fly through the air. It dances gently along the pond’s surface, the chirping birds and rustling trees its only background noise.
This calming environment is what brought Cyr to fly-fishing, and it will soon be shared by several children in Massachusetts’ foster care system.
Along with 20 other fly-fishing mentors, Cyr is launching the commonwealth’s first chapter of The Mayfly Project, a national nonprofit that pairs fly-fishing enthusiasts with kids in foster care.
“Giving these kids a chance to challenge themselves in learning something new — combined with being taught by positive, encouraging adults — is what really makes this group so special,” Cyr said.
Started in 2015, the group has grown to more than 50 chapters nationwide. Their goals are to help children engage with their local water ecosystems, experience mentorship and have fun.
Another mentor, Michelle DeLateur, finds fly-fishing to be the most complex type of fishing, but also tremendously rewarding.
“You have to take those [struggles] calmly, just like life. You kind of mitigate your own embarrassment. If you’re stuck in a tree, it happens. It happened to me last weekend,” DeLateur said.
She hopes to provide the children with what she calls a “fishy mentality.” It encourages them to move on quickly to the next attempt, even after a mistake. It also promotes perseverance and ingenuity, she said.
“We try new flies. We try different casts. We put it in new spots. We take things out of trees. And we try something new,” DeLateur said.
In its first year, the chapter aims to take on 10 kids, providing two mentors per child. In addition to learning fishing techniques, the kids will discover how to tie their own flies and conserve the natural areas they use.
The Mayfly Project receives donations from the public, and this chapter has also secured funding from Wonderfund of Massachusetts, a private nonprofit organization serving children and teens with cases from the Department of Children and Families.
That funding covers the equipment, including rods, waders and flies. Once the kids complete their five-month training, the project will gift them the equipment, allowing them to continue their new hobby.
“Giving them access to an adult, or an organization that says to them, ‘We’re not only going to teach you these skills, but we’re going to make sure that you have the tools to do it, to be like your peers,’ is just so incredibly crucial,” said Colleen Walsh, who leads development and communications for Wonderfund.
The kids are set to cast their first flies this weekend.
