First Tee helping at-risk youth through golf
Golf can be equal parts maddening and rewarding. It's quite possibly the most difficult sport to master, though that doesn't stop millions of us hackers from trying.
Golfers are groomed to be proper and polite. But we travel in a vicious circle of tease and torment. Just about the time you're ready to turn those golf clubs into tomato stakes (after 171/2 holes of awful shots), your approach shot on the 18th hole sails long and high and checks up within three feet of the flagstick to the applause of your playing partners.
You love this game all over again and can't wait to play again.
Golf and parenting are much alike, too. Your kids can drive you crazy night and day, but you love them just the same.
Helping children overcome challenges and reaping rewards is what The First Tee of Aurora and the Fox River Valley is all about.
Using golf as the vehicle to impart its message, The First Tee provides opportunities for underprivileged youth -- opportunities they might otherwise not enjoy -- that teach valuable life lessons.
Since the mid-1990s, the Fox Valley Park Foundation has partnered with The First Tee to help build a better tomorrow for the next generation. Despite the shaky economy, those efforts continue in earnest. On Monday, June 29, the 15th annual Golf for Kids benefit golf outing will be held at Orchard Valley Golf Course.
Not only does this festive event make for a great day on the golf course, but it helps an even better cause.
Considering what each golfer receives, the $175 entry fee is a downright bargain. For starters, there's the continental breakfast, buffet lunch and dinner at Orchard Valley restaurant, drink coupons included. Your 18 holes of golf include a GPS-outfitted cart. Each golfer also will receive a pair of FootJoy golf shoes -- Super Lites for men and eComfort for women -- along with a carry bag.
The day also will include team awards, special hole competitions, putting contest, door prizes and raffle drawings -- with the Golden Ticket winner receiving free golf and cart for two for an entire year!
But mostly, Golf for Kids is exactly that -- for the kids. The First Tee makes the game accessible to kids of all backgrounds and demographics, teaching them important values such as self-management, goal-setting and decision-making. Like golf, these skills last a lifetime.
The nine core values imparted onto First Tee participants are the pillars to character development, not just for the children, but for those whose live they will ultimately impact: respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, judgment, honesty, integrity and sportsmanship.
"The First Tee is so much more than learning to hit a golf ball," said Dan Abella, general manager of The First Tee of Aurora/Fox River Valley. "Golf provides the backdrop to teach life skills and values that provide kids a strong foundation for the future."
Over the years, community response to Golf for Kids from individual golfers and corporate sponsors alike has been extraordinary - so noteworthy, in fact, that local contributors have helped elevate the Aurora/Fox Valley to top 10 status among the 208 chapters internationally.
More than 1,200 children are enrolled in the program this summer. In the fall and winter, The First Tee makes outreach efforts through 43 schools in Aurora, Montgomery, North Aurora and Oswego, involving upward of 10,000 youth.
As with a great golf shot, helping kids leaves a lingering glow. But it's so much more than a memory. It's a magical feeling, for helping young children achieve a better life is the accomplishment of a lifetime.
Jeff Long is the public relations manager for the Fox Valley Park District. Contact him at jlong@fvpd.net. For more information on how to become involved in the Golf for Kids Benefit Golf Outing, call (630) 966-4516 or visit www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org