Logan Parks (Chi/Auburn 2021) had a goal. As a lifelong fisherman and angler, he journeyed to Auburn University to pursue a spot on the Auburn University Bass Fishing Team. During his time at Auburn, he served as the President of the Auburn Bass Fishing Team and helped guide them to several tournament victories.
“The team has been around since 2007, that was really my whole motivation for going to Auburn. We had 2 or 3 people from Auburn who fished professionally,” Parks said. He continued, “When I became president of the Fishing Team during COVID, we had some pretty good success at Auburn. We won Team of the Year in 2021 as well as the Bass Pro Shops U.S Open in 2021.”
Parks joined Theta Chi during fall 2017. Initially, Parks was interested in joining Kappa Alpha Order since many of his cousins were members, but didn’t feel as strong of a connection as his cousins did.
When asked what attracted him to Theta Chi, Parks said, “I grew up in Auburn, so I started visiting different events over the summer during rush. Although my cousins are KA’s, I just didn’t connect with their fraternity as well as I thought I would. My buddy from back home signed a bid with Theta Chi over the summer and told me to go check the guys out. Everything was genuine, felt natural, and I just felt at home. I signed my bid the minute they extended it to me, and it was really unexpected.”
Parks is an only child with no siblings, and he’d always grown up wanting one. Theta Chi and the brotherhood of Chi Chapter is what he recalls as the highlight of his collegiate experience. Parks also stated that his time as a collegiate brother showed him how to treat people, have a conversation, and properly network, which transitioned into skills he would later use as the President of the Bass Fishing Team. During his time in the chapter, he served as the Assistant Marshal.
“Being the Assistant Marshal for my chapter was the first time I’d had a responsibility like that before. I learned the value in perseverance, meeting deadlines, and making sure to rise to the expectations of those who had faith in me,” Parks said.
His big personal dream, however, was to graduate and compete in the upper-level tournaments through Bassmaster to become a professional Bassmaster Elite angler.
Parks teamed up with a longtime high school friend and fishing buddy for the first few years and then became tournament partners two other professional anglers later. Parks and his partners qualified for the Bassmaster College National Championship every year.
One of Parks’ biggest accomplishments was winning the Bass Pro Shops Amateur Team Championship in 2021. He and his partner were each awarded fully rigged Nitro boats, Toyota Tundra trucks and $500,000, which helped him lay the framework for his future non-profit ventures. You can read more about Parks’ Bassmaster’s journey here.
Following graduation, Parks pursued his dream of becoming a professional bass angler. He saw his dream come true at age 25, making the Bassmaster’s Elites in his second year after college. In this competitive arena, most amateur anglers try a lifetime to make the Elites and never make it.
Parks wanted to give back and help young bass anglers reach their dream just like he was able to do. In 2021, he was the youngest alumnus in Auburn history to establish an endowed scholarship, donating $26,000 to make this a reality. The new scholarship was created with the intention of attracting bass anglers fishing in high school tournament circuits to come to Auburn and fish for the Auburn University Bass Fishing Team.
“Usually fishing tournaments are either high school or college anglers working with each other exclusively. It’s good to bring these two age groups together and it creates a networking and mentorship opportunity.”
In 2023 Parks founded the Logan Parks Fishing Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to keep young anglers engaged in pursuing their dream of professional bass fishing, experience the feeling of winning big tournaments, provide opportunities for personal development through mentorship, promote getting their college degrees, foster good sportsmanship, and help them in handling adversity.
The foundation’s inaugural tournament was held in November 2023. Bass Pro Shops sent in a camera crew and created a documentary on the event. Parks’ current plan is to make this an annual event with the second tournament occurring in October 2024.
“I was super proud of how the tournament turned out. Through the money we raised from our tournament, we were ere able to give away one of the largest scholarship payouts in high school/college fishing history,” Parks said.
Way to set a new bar, Logan! Theta Chi is proud to have you as our brother and we hope to see you continue to extend the Assisting Hand to the young bass anglers who will come after you.
For more information on the Logan Parks Fishing Foundation, including ways to get involved, email loganparksfishingfoundation@gmail.com.