THE FIRST TEE OF CONNECTICUT
H
ARD TO BELIEVE that in 15
short years, the number of young
people from our state impacted
by the youth development programs of
The First Tee of Connecticut (TFTCT)
has grown from under 100 to more than
67,000!! The staff, instructors and Board
of Directors are so proud of the difference
we have made in the lives of so many
young people and are grateful to the many
individuals and corporate donors who
through their generosity and belief in our
mission allow us to continue providing
Connecticut’s youth with the tools they
need to achieve success and make wise
choices both on and off the course.
It is awe-inspiring to look at the
photo above and realize that the futures of
many of these young people pictured there
have been influenced by so many special
families and foundations in providing
scholarships for First Tee of Connecticut
participants. We were thrilled to award a
78
total of $29,000 in college scholarships
to 25 deserving young people this year,
bringing our total awarded since 2006 to
$133,000.
Along with the chance to receive
money towards school from TFTCT,
our high school participants have
multiple national leadership and playing
opportunities provided by partners of The
First Tee. These experiences include The
Life Skills & Leadership Academy, Nature
Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach,
Auntie Anne’s Leadership & Entrepreneur
Forum, Northeast Regional Challenge,
IJGT (Hank Haney) Academy, Player
Advanced Academy, Nine Healthy Habits
Summit, Junior Course Reporting at the
Travelers Championship and Coca Cola
America’s Future Forum.
We are proud to say that we
had 10 children selected to attend 6
of these amazing programs this year,
among thousands of applicants from all
Connecticut State Golf Association 2014
over the country. The criteria for most
of the opportunities is community and
chapter involvement, and essay based
responses showing an understanding and
exemplification of TFT curriculum based
on Nine Core Values and Nine Healthy
Habits. Two of the experiences also
required a minimum handicap to apply.
We are looking forward to adding
more school programs and/or program
locations in 2015 and continuing to
increase our exposure throughout the
state. 67,000 is just the tip of the iceberg!
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