Twin Territory REVISITED

KID POWER IN FULL ACTION

story by Aileen Lane photos courtesy Twin Territory

I can’t remember exactly how I was introduced to Twin Territory —perhaps while scrolling on Facebook. But, I do remember feeling admiration for these boys and what an impact they have had so far with the youth in their community. I was honored when they agreed to be interviewed and to share with us their mission. It was a pleasure to correspond with one of Twin Territory’s members, AJ and his mom, CaLyn.

KYPE Hello AJ ! Please share with us what Twin Territory is all about!

AJ My twin, Jace and I started Twin Territory a couple of years ago so that we could share our passion

6 KYPE Vol. 9 Issue 1

spending more time outdoors and sharing with them what our favorite things to do are. At these shows, we raffle off outdoor gear that have been donated by some awesome outdoors companies that also share the same passion as us. The kids love winning the prizes and we hope this will give them the opportunity enjoy a new outdoor hobby!

KYPEWhat is the 222 Event?

for the outdoors with other kids and teenagers. Video games have become such a big thing for kids and they spend hours in their homes playing on them instead of going outside and enjoying things like fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. We know there are a lot of adult programs across the country telling kids to get outdoors but we thought it would be better if we, as kids ourselves, were sharing how much fun we are having. They may listen a little more coming from someone their own age. We started a website and a facebook page where we could share our pictures and outdoor

AJ Because Jace and I are twins, we decided a 222 Event would be an easy name to remember. 222 stands for: every 2nd month, on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm, we will be somewhere holding a free outdoors event for kids! If a kid starts coming to these events at let’s say age 11, and comes to all 6 every year for 5 years, he will have had at least 30 outdoor adventures before he even starts to drive. Our passion is fly-fishing, but we want kids to try all sorts of outdoors activities like skeet shooting, paddle boarding, hunting, ice fishing and more. The Utah DWR has started helping us with these events so they are just getting better and better!

KYPE I see that you ask kids to turn in their used video games. That’s a big sacrifice for a lot of these kids. Tell me more about it!

news for kids.

Jace, Cameron (our little brother who does just as much work as us) and I have been lucky enough to be invited to a lot of outdoor expo events here in Utah where we have a booth just for the kids. We have the opportunity to talk to other kids about

AJ Another cool thing about our events is that at each one, kids are asked to turn in their used video games and promise to spend less time playing them. And if they do, they get entered into a raffle to win outdoor gear instead. Thanks to Cabelas, Orvis, William Joseph, Kast Gear and so many more great companies, we have been able to motivate kids with some really awesome prizes and support. The best part is that we take all of the video games that have been donated and give them to Primary Childrens Hospital in Utah. They have told us that they can use all they can get because

Vol. 9 Issue 1

KYPE

7

be involved by helping him with the events. We have had some people telling us that they need a Twin Territory group in other places like Southern Utah, Denver, Texas to name a few.

they have so many children there that cannot get outdoors. Last year, the kids in Utah donated over 300 video games and we are on target to beat that for this year.

We are working on seeing how to do that as well. In those places, they would also need to hold 222 Events, teach lessons and represent kids that want to spend their time outdoors. We have also gotten requests to purchase tshirts and hats with our logo on it. We think it would be awesome

KYPE Where do you see Twin Territory in five years from now?

AJ In five years, we will be out of high school but want to see Twin Territory continuing and getting bigger. Our little brother, Cameron (who is almost a better flyfisheman than us!), and one of his buddies will be the “kids” that will continue to get other kids outdoors and we will continue to

to have a Twin Territory product line just for kids. We are trying to get a TT fly rod package that is affordable and sturdy for kids that want to take up our favorite sport!

KYPE What do you love the most about what you do?

8 KYPE Vol. 9 Issue 1

AJ Besides getting to see kids doing things like catching a fish for the very first time or learning to cast a fly rod, we have been able to have a lot of stories shared with us. Just this past October, at our 222 Event that was a Zombie Fishing Day, a mom told us that her 6 year old son was so excited to come to our event that he woke her up at 7am ready to go. Our event didn’t start until noon! This means a lot to us that kids are that excited to come out with us.

KYPE Any final words you would like to share with us?

AJ One last thing we would like to say that is important to us is Stream Access in Utah and in other states. We have already, at our age, learned that we have to fight to keep our rights to have public access to rivers and streams in Utah. If we lose this right, we will lose everything we love and so will future kids, which means they will just keep playing video games. We want to tell kids and adults to be involved in helping the leaders that make the laws to remember our future in the outdoors. USAC in Utah is leading our fight here in our state. Everyone needs to find out who to contact in their own state to help keep our waters free.

Lastly, we really want to thank Grant Bench for being an amazing artist / fly-tying expert and inspiration to us; Tyler Lyon, a crazy and awesome fly fisherman for helping us with our math homework and so much more in keeping us grounded, and to Kype Magazine for doing so much for our most favorite sport, fly-fishing and for thinking of us for this interview! KYPE

KYPE

SUPPORTS

The Mayfly Project and encourages our readers to investiagate the organization with the desire to make an allout effort to get involved, with a Project in your own local area. If there isn’t a Project in your area, then START ONE!

Find out more information at

TheMayFlyProject.com

You’ll thank youself many times over; so will the kids and the future you support.

Vol. 9 Issue 1

KYPE

9