Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 7-23-21

Feature
First Tee Program At Rogers Park Golf Course Aims To Even The Playing Field
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
FIRST TEE offers scholarships as well as golf lessons
Although it’s 2021, Black and brown people still have low participation and pres- ence at golf clubs around the country, despite the advan- tages the sport can bring.
According to Forbes mag- azine, 90% of Fortune 500 Company CEOs play golf, and 80% of all executives believe that “Golf has the power to establish new relationships.”
With that in mind, Rogers Park Golf Course has been steadily trying to change the script for Tampa Bay youth.
Rogers, named for entre- preneur and community leader, Garfield Devoe Rogers, is an historically sig- nificant site in Tampa with its origins being one of the few public parks that Blacks could gather during the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The golf course was carved out by Black caddies that were employed at white courses, namely Willie Black and others into a 9 hole course. Now there are no picnics, but Rogers is one of 3 public 18-hole golf courses.
It is also one of home based locations for the local chapter of First Tee, a pro- gram that teaches young peo- ple about the game of golf.
The initial idea for a pro- gram like First Tee, started at Rogers Park Golf Course in 1991. It was called Urban Junior Golf and was devel- oped by former golf pro, Dr. Michael Cooper.
The goal was to offer af- fordable, accessible golf op- portunities to children from modest socio- economic backgrounds.
The program aimed to make it possible for children to take advantage of the social and recreational values asso- ciated with golf. Urban Junior Golf became an official pro-
gram of the Tampa Metropol- itan Area YMCA in January 1998.
The First Tee national program was launched soon afterward with the same goals in mind.
In 1999, Rogers Park Golf Course became the site for a chapter of First Tee.
Today, First Tee Tampa Bay provides more than 70,000 children each year with hands-on, interactive golf experiences along with introducing them to The First Tee’s Nine Core Values.
In 2019, First Tee Tampa
Bay was the top chapter in First Tee network in the num- ber of certifying participants with 13,113 children and in the top 10 percent in the number of outreach partici- pants with 90,000 children through introductory pro- grams in 140+ Hillsborough County elementary schools and 40 of the 50 middle schools.
First Tee Tampa Bay part- ners with community mem- bers such as the Tampa Sports Authority, and the City of Tampa in addition to being a program branch of the Tampa YMCA.
The First Tee program uses the game of golf to pro- vide young people with the chance to develop life-en- hancing values like confi- dence, perseverance, and judgment.
According to Ian Baxter, Executive Director of First Tee Tampa, “We are reaching 80% of the sixth graders in Hillsborough County public schools. We try to reach all children in Hillsborough County with an emphasis on children and communities with little access to golf. There is a specific course plan for kids to learn.”
The program is for ages 5 to 18 and families pay on a sliding scale depending on in- come.
The program operates on seven-week classes. The first
seven-week class is free. Bax- ter states, “we will never turn away a child due to payment.”
During golf lessons, chil- dren work on objectives such as perseverance or responsi- bility.
As they progress, they move into team play where they play on the actual course. Once their skills have advanced, the teams move to tournament play, then to in- dividual play.
There are several local First Tee tournaments and in- dividual students can be sponsored for larger tourna- ments.
Nationally, 81 First Tee participants will be playing in the 2021 Pure Insurance Championship in Pebble Beach, California.
For more information, visit the national site at https://firsttee.org or the local chapter at https://www.firstteetam- pabay.org.
Although Rogers Park is the home base for First Tee Tampa, there are 10 other First Tee locations in Tampa.
Baxter concludes “We do not want any barriers for parents or children that have a desire to learn golf. Through our pay scales and different loca- tions, parents and chil- dren can find a location close to them that is af- fordable for them.”
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