Category: In The Community

Building Tomorrow’s Leaders

The First Tee of Greater Richmond’s youth grow up to become leaders and positive influences on their community through positive youth development. Developing leaders requires recognizing then enhancing young people’s strengths – and our organization understands how. The First Tee uses golf a way to create supportive and positive environments needed to build on personal strengths. Through opportunities and positive mentoring relationships, youth today become leaders of tomorrow.

The First Tee of Greater Richmond Junior Leadership Board

The Junior Leadership Board provides young leaders with a chance to build onto their resume and put many of the skills learned from The First Tee classes in action. With monthly meetings to enhance leadership skills and share personal successes, participants are guaranteed to enjoy an interactive opportunity with their peers. In addition to leadership development activities, youth will collaborate to plan, organize, and lead special events – including a golf tournaments and fundraising events. APPLY TODAY
* Eligibility: Applicants must be Birdie Level (11) and higher.
* Application deadline: May 25th

BECOME A junior leadership board MENTOR

Your strengths are valuable to our youth – join the Junior Leadership Board as an adult mentor! Sit in on meetings, guide youth through Q&A sessions, and be a resource to their future. If you are interested in serving as a mentor to the Junior Leadership Board, please contact Emily Weinstein, Senior VP of Impact – [email protected].

   

Local participation leads to national opportunity

The First Tee of Greater Richmond doesn’t just get kids on the course, it offers them exciting opportunities for growth. With the help of our corporate partners, The First Tee hosts a series of events to more advanced participants, allowing them to meet new people, play golf, achieve greatness, and show off core values in action.

taking the next steps

Select your event: The First Tee is hosting 10 exciting junior golf and leadership events this year for teen participants. Submit your application: Ed Gill, Director of Instruction, will review before final submission. Most of the events have a selection process that includes an application reviewed by a committee. Download the 2018 National Participant Opportunities Info Sheet 2018 National Participant Opportunities are underway – to apply for events with deadlines already passed, stay connected with us for next year’s event application releases.

BRINGing IT LOCAL: support a national opportunity in rva

Sponsor foursomes play with event participants.
The First Tee of Greater Richmond hosts and benefits from The First Tee National Par-3 Championship every June. The event gathers 32 high-schoolers, nominated by their local chapters, who put The First Tee Nine Core Values into practice in their lives and through their golf skills. Support from this event will directly benefit The First Tee of Greater Richmond’s annual operations and programs. For all questions about supporting The First Tee National Par-3 Championship, please contact Madison Medlin, Senior Director of Marketing and Events: [email protected]    

Connecting the RVA Community

The First Tee of Greater Richmond is proud to connect with and engage other local youth-serving organizations through dynamic partnerships. For over ten years, The Children’s Hospital Foundation and The First Tee have collaborated to build a platform for youth to network, lead, and exemplify positive character education.

mission Alignment

Like The First Tee of Greater Richmond, The Children’s Hospital Foundation is dedicated to tomorrow’s leaders. Through character education to increase life skill development and pediatric initiatives to advance the status of youth health care, the two organizations strive to positively impact the lives of youth in our region.

Children Fore Children Golf Tournament

Youth ages 5-18 participate in the event.
The First Tee instills core values like honesty, integrity, and respect on and off the green. The Children’s Hospital Foundation gives junior golfers a way to reinforce these values through the Children Fore Children Golf Tournament. The participants have a chance to put these principles into action on the course during play and off the course through individual fundraising efforts. “We love the Children Fore Children Golf Tournament because it provides a wonderful opportunity to children in the community to participate in a great game of golf but more importantly to help other kids! It is wonderful to see how passionate the junior golfers are about supporting other kids right here in our community.” – Stephanie Allan, Vice President for Community Development

Become a partner today

The First Tee of Greater Richmond seeks to engage partners whose mission and objectives align and where opportunities to exist to maximize the impact on the community. For partnership opportunities, please contact: Emily Weinstein, Senior VP of Impact: [email protected].

Why Should You Become A Mentor?

Relationships matter. Especially mentoring relationships. In fact, they’re life-changing. Mentoring relationships are a shared opportunity for learning and growth – and The First Tee of Greater Richmond is helping.

the power of relationships

Without caring mentors, positive youth development doesn’t just happen. Research has shown that young people in The First Tee refer to their coaches as mentors. Our youth participants believe coaches care about them, help them set goals, and inspire them to use the skills they’ve learned far beyond golf. The First Tee coaches build supportive relationships based on empathy, high positive expectations, and advocacy.1  See what coaches around The First Tee Network have to say about the relationships they formed:

make a difference today

If you are considering mentoring a young person, we are the right fit. No prior golf skills are necessary to teach life skills or core values – the sport is a perfect platform for helping young people develop character because just like in life, players experience the highs and lows of the game. Contact Berkley Jackson, Program Coordinator, to get involved: [email protected].
1“A Lasting Impact: The First Tee’s Role in Fostering Positive Youth Development,” 2015, Springfield College Center for Youth Development and Research

Beyond Elementary Schools

Coach Chase helps a student new to golf tee off during Golf Baseball.
The First Tee of Greater Richmond has partnered with several Chesterfield County middle schools this Fall to deliver the Life Skills Experience program through P.E. class. Coach Ed Gill, Coach Chase Northcott and other coaching staff from The First Tee have worked with over 1,500 students this semester. In the past few weeks, our coaches have spent time at Robious Middle School delivering The First Tee curriculum. Students have rotated through putting and chipping stations and played games such as Golf Baseball, all while learning The First Tee Nine Core Values. The First Tee of Greater Richmond is proud to be a partner with Chesterfield County Schools – The First Tee National School Program is in every elementary school and we continue to find ways to bring our program to the middle and high schools, too. Thank you, Chesterfield County Schools!
If you have questions about outreach opportunties, please contact Emily Weinstein, VP of Programming: [email protected].