FAQ
Q: I volunteer to take disabled kids fly fishing once a month through my local fly fishing club. Do I need to be certified?
A: AFFI certification isn't intended to be a requirement for everyone who wants to volunteer to work through their local fishing club with disabled people, although it would be great training for them to have. Instead, it is designed specifically for those who contract for service or work in grant-funded programs where a higher standard of care and service are required.
Q: How long is the apprenticeship training program for the Certified Adaptive Fly Fishing Practitioner program and how do I get started?
A: There is no specific minimum or maximum time limit for the apprenticeship training. Keep in mind that this is an advanced professional certification. This is a highly personal and customizable relationship between the mentoring AFFP and the apprentice. The mentor AFFP will decide when a candidate is ready to take the examinations. There is a list of AFFP's on this website that includes brief bio's. To begin the training process, simply contact one or more AFFP from the list and begin the process of finding the right fit for you.
Q: How much does AFFI training and certification cost?
A: The Adaptive Fly Fishing Institute doesn't charge candidates anything to apprentice under an AFFP. The examination fee is currently $275. We also don't charge our AFFP's prohibitive membership dues. Certified instructors are free to charge whatever they choose for their services to train someone for this certification. But there is a $75 fee per course for the ACI, FTI, and TAG certifications and the current annual dues are $25. Among professional certification organizations, this is incredibly reasonable!
Q: Why isn't a fishing guide license or some other existing certification good enough?
A: Someone who has been certified by AFFI, Inc. has been through specialized training and tested to insure they meet minimum qualifications to be effective teachers and guides for people with special needs. That doesn't mean that someone whom we have not trained or tested isn't capable. It means that if they are certified you can be reasonably confident that they are competent to handle the wide variety of unique concerns associated with adaptive recreation. If you're looking at healthcare, social services, or educational service providers and one is certified by AFFI, Inc. and the others are not, you can reasonably assume that the certified professional is quite competent in the fundamentals of teaching fly fishing and/or fly tying...perhaps more. It depends of which certifications they hold.
Q: I run a therapy program at a rehab hospital and I would like to add a fly fishing program for our patients. How can AFFI help?
A: Our certified instructors are qualified to train your staff to implement a therpeutic fly fishing program quickly and inexpensively. The institute can also manage, coordinate, train, and sub-contract outside part-time professional help in support of outpatient and community-based Outdoor Experiential Therapy programs beyond your staff's capacity to deliver. Some of our certified instructors already have a great deal of experience doing this for healthcare facilities all over the country, with particularly strong concentrations of expertise in VA and military hospitals. One or more of our certified instructors can come to your facility, or we can plan and host an off-site, spend a couple of days of intensive training with 1-6 of your staff members who will lead your program, provide consultative leadership regarding program development/curriculum/and equipment, and even use our own resources to plug you in to the local/regional fly fishing community near your facility to help you network and develop volunteer and professional service resources and support. Follow-on support, training, and other services can be arranged as desired. And we offer a full catalog of assistive devices, fishing gear, and related equipment hand-selected based on collective experience, knowledge, and industry relationships.