I become a First Tee Coach!

The number of National First Tee participants now exceeds the number of kids in Little League, which has been the training ground for Baseball, our American Pastime. What made this happen in the just over ten years the First Tee has been in operation? Was it the draw of a young Tiger Woods, or were there other influences that have grown the participation in this golf program, designed to teach golf to America’s youth. The First Tee, which has now grown to over 204 Chapter Facilities and has broadened its reach to 5 countries worldwide has cuaght the imagination of the Golf World.

This past weekend I enrolled myself in our local First Tee Coach Training Class. Day one was held at a place I am very familiar with, Moshulu in the Bronx, home to The First Tee of Metropolitan New York’s Headquarters. Day Two was held at the Harlem Golf Academy, a place that I am not too familiar with, but that may change after what I experienced there. The HGA was conceived and Founded by Thomas Palmgren and is an indoor facility, mostly used for Tennis but is also an ideal area for indoor golf learning. Since it is located in Harlem the class is made up of kids who are less likely to be exposed to the Game of Golf, if it were not for this program.

Our instructors were Todd Bordonaro, Director of Programs and Instruction at The First Tee Metropolitan New York and Mike Wade, Director of Programs and Instruction at The First Tee Nassau County. Together they represent the Finest in a growing number of Coaches who are needed to train other coaches in a Curriculum that, in my opinion is a growing reason for the Success of the First Tee. It did not hurt that both Mike and Todd coach at their own facilities and understand how to teach the curriculum to their own students and teach it well! Their grasp of how to teach the curriculum and their real life anecdotes of success stories made the class particularly interesting to me.

What also struck my as brilliant was the way the curriculum is written. Not to be the same every time, but ever-changing. Not to be closed to interpretation, but open. And not to be one Coaches plan, but the entire team of Coaches, who at the completion of each class go through a short but extensive evaluation of what was good and what could be done better. This not only improves the curriculum but also encourages subtle but sustained improvement in all The First Tee Coaches!

Many Golf Teachers tend to get caught up in their own way, verbally explaining every centimeter of movement in the Golf Swing to their students, including kids. Conversely, The First Tee curriculum encourages fun games and activities to demonstrate golf technique in a more subtle fashion. Called “Seamless integration”, Golf Technique has a concurrent role to the Grand scheme of coaching nine life skills that the First Tee has incorporated into their curriculum. Many kids tend not to be educated on these life skills until later in life, if ever. They are: Courtesy, Respect, Judgment, Responsibility, Sportsmanship, Confidence, Honesty, Integrity and Perseverance. Safety also is introduced seamlessly.

Throughout the training Coaches are encouraged to look for “Coachable Moments”, or instances where they see a student doing something like helping another student understand a golf or life skill concept. The coachable moment then can be re-enforced to the student or the entire class. In summation, the First Tee has grown for several reasons: the strength of its curriculum, the quality of the Coaches being two of the biggest. And let's not forget the game of Golf that lends itself so well to The First Tee’s nine core values and so much more!

See www.thefirstteemetny.org See: www.thefirsttee.org