Golf For Life
Tammi Bargman
Minority Golf Magazine
October 1998
The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation shows that golf is much more than just a game.
Students in Pinella County, Florida not only learn reading, writing, and arithmetic but also a little bit about golf. With assistance from Pinella County, the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation has helped many kids in it´s first 18 years. During the year, the foundation works with about 500 kids between the ages of 5 and 17. The program is designed to help these kids out with any difficulties they have at school or in their personal life.
To keep the program focused, the foundation has set both long- and short-term goals. It's short-term goal is to keep the students from dropping out of school. In the long term, the program hopes to develop well-adjusted, responsible citizens. To accomplish this, the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation focuses on nurturing positive personal attitudes, characteristics, and behavioral choices. The program was set up to help kids improve their self-discipline, to provide academic support, and to encourage life management skills. There are four ways in which the foundation accomplishes these goals.
The first is the Modesta Robbins Partnership School. The foundation takes 36 fifth and sixth graders considered "discouraged learners" by teachers and shows them how to improve their grades. These students are placed in two classrooms with a teacher and an assistant and given a school curriculum based on golf. At school the students "shadow" various staff members and help them with activities around the golf course. Some days the students learn about the ecosystem and human effects on the environment by observing the ponds on the course.
The final exam for these students is different from that at a regular school: the students set up and run a golf tournament for adults. They are responsible for securing sponsors, players, prizes, and awards. On the day of the tournament, they set up signs, register and greet the players, host breakfast and lunch, announce the playing teams, run the contests, do the scoring, and run the awards ceremony. The goal of the experience is to bolster the students´ self-confidence and self-esteem.
After the 1993/1994 school year, the Modesta Robbins Partnership School was evaluated by J. Howard Hinesly, Ed.P, superintendent of schools. Hinesly indicated the school showed a "strong positive growth trend." Grade-point average also played a big part in the evaluation. The grade-point average of the students before they went to Modesta was about 1.94. After attending Modesta, it increased 25 percent to between 2.52 and 2.62.
The afternoon school program is the oldest of the foundation's efforts to help the students of Pinella County. One hundred and seventy students are enrolled and attend afternoon classes five days a week from 2 to 6 pm. The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation designed these classes to provide academic assistance, field trips, and golf outings for the students. Because of all the interest in the afternoon school program, the foundation has increased it to Saturdays and into the summer.
In the afternoon school program, students are supervised by qualified staff and volunteers. During their time in the program the students are tutored and assisted with any problems they may have with their schoolwork. They also receive golf instruction from a professional. To help learn the game, each student is given clubs, clothing, and other essentials. Most important, the students are given a safe haven where they can discuss their problems and find solutions.
In 1986 the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation started a community service program. The program was first designed for youthful offenders to complete their court-ordered community service hours. As time went by, it was expanded to include students doing community service for school projects, social clubs, and churches. While they are in the program, the students receive everything they need to finish their community service from the foundation. All the children are evaluated by a teacher who observes their work skills, performance, and attitude.
The last of the programs initiated by the foundation is the Special Kids Golf Program. It is designed to teach kids from the Bay Area Social Program - including Special Olympics, Girls Inc., and YMCA - the game of golf. Each child receives golf clubs and 10 weeks of instruction on rules and etiquette by a teaching professional. After participating in the program, the kids are given 25 free rounds of golf they can use to play with their favorite adult. When the 10-week program ends, the kids, their families, and the counselors participate in the Golf Program for Special Kids Tournament.
The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation did a study of the children who attended the program and their parents. The study indicated that "at risk" children in the program improved by an overall 66 percent in the areas of self-esteem, socialization skills, and solving conflicts nonviolently. They were also more interested in going to college. The students were asked to analyze themselves: how they felt about themselves, their school behavior, and whether they liked the school. This improved by an average of 61 percent. Yes! was the response the youth foundation received when the students were asked if they wanted to go to college.
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