firsttee
by Maria Goddard
to get kids into golf
and out of trouble
Trips to Disney World, California and other
places around the country might sound foreign to
children who come from households with limited
income. However, First Tee of East Baton Rouge
is making these very opportunities possible for the
youth.
First Tee is a national non-profit golf
organization whose mission is to teach young
people life lessons through this sport. The branch
in Baton Rouge has seen substantial growth in both
its program and children in recent years.
“I’m passionate about it,” said Executive
Director and former PGA Pro Henry Pointer. “My
goal before I started [at First Tee] was to become a
professional golfer on the senior tour. I was working
and striving toward that and I made a left turn to
help some kids.”
Pointer said that what started as volunteering
changed his whole career path, but he does not
regret any of it.
“The program is designed to make them
better citizens and golfers,” said Pointer. “Golf
is an expensive sport. It’s one of the sports you
can draw parallel to life teaching. Inner city
kids don’t have the money to pay for these, so
hopefully they gravitate to it and embrace the
opportunity.”
For an entire year, these opportunities are offered
to children seven to 18 years old for $75. Pointer
says this is a substantial discount considering most
golf instructors charge from $80 to $100 for an
hour lesson. This fee allows them to enjoy countless
programs for free, and there is even financial
assistance if $75 is out of reach.
The support from First Tee does not end there.
Kids can earn golf clubs by showing interest and
dedication. The non-profit supplies these clubs or
gets them from donations.
In fact, research shows that most young people
do not play golf because of cost. This need was
met by the dawn of First Tee in 1997. Since then,
the group has helped over 10 million young people.
One young man who can attest to this is
16-year-old Sheldon Johnson of Baton Rouge who
has affectionately made a name for himself at First
Tee as DJ.
“DJ comes from a single parent home and
has been with me since he was 9 years old,” said
Pointer. “He told his dad that he didn’t want to play
anything but golf. He plays on his high school’s golf
team, and his goal is to play golf at Stanford.”
In his 2015 trips provided by First Tee, he went
to the Inaugural Par Three Championship at
Kanawha Club in Richmond, Virginia, met worldrenowned sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella,
connected with Golf Channel personality Win
McMurry and more.
“I had the opportunity to meet several different
CEOs, and they shared truly inspiring stories
with me that made me want to strive to be better
every day,” said Johnson. “The magical week at
Pebble Beach was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime
experience, and I can never thank The First Tee
enough for all of the wonderful opportunities that
it has provided me with throughout the years.”
In the same year, Johnson attended Auntie
Anne’s Leaders and Entrepreneurship Forum at
Disney World, where he was introduced to the
world of business. Lastly, he went to the Nature
Summe