A RISE ‘Critical Conversation’ featuring Golf Channel’s Damon Hack and leaders from the sports industry kicked off the weeklong dialogue around issues of race and equality
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. (July 18, 2022) − First Tee, a youth development organization that teaches life skills and helps kids and teens build their strength of character through golf, hosted the First Tee Game Changers Academy Honoring Joe Louis Barrow, Jr. in Philadelphia, July 19-23, 2022. Seventy-two teens from First Tee chapters across the country were selected for the five-day learning and empowerment academy to explore issues of identity, racism, equity and empathy.
The 72 teens who attended the Academy can be viewed here.
The week kicked off with a RISE ‘Critical Conversation’ on Tuesday, July 19 featuring Golf Channel’s Damon Hack, PGA TOUR’s Vice-President of Community & Inclusion Marsha Oliver, Villanova University’s Assistant Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion/Director of UNITAS Leashia Lewis and First Tee – Greater Philadelphia’s Assistant Executive Director Rebecca Caimano. Corey Posey, Senior Director of Programs & Curriculum at RISE moderated the conversation on the topic of identity and how we talk about race.
RISE, a national nonprofit and leader in the sports community championing social justice and working to improve race relations, will also facilitate engaging and interactive workshops throughout the week. The workshops will explore a multitude of topics that encourage personal growth and understanding of diversity concepts that foster positive change in the community. The workshops will be paired with reflections led by our nationally trained First Tee coaches; team building activities including a scavenger hunt of meaningful landmarks in Philadelphia; and golf outings at Walnut Lane Golf Club and Merion Golf Club, where they will continue to build upon their connections with other participants from around the country and hear different perspectives from their peers.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion have been part of the fabric of First Tee since the beginning, and we are proud to provide an event that allows teens from across the country to go deeper on the subject,” said Greg McLaughlin, First Tee CEO. “First Tee is about empowering these young people to be game changers in their community. Congratulations to the 72 teens for being selected from a national pool of candidates to represent their chapter at this event.”
This Academy is an evolution of First Tee’s longest-standing participant event, the Life Skills Academy Honoring Joe Louis Barrow, Jr. The event was refocused in 2021 to zero in on the challenges teens are facing in their daily lives and to better equip them to strengthen their values and character. The Academy honors First Tee’s former CEO, Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., who led the organization from 2000 until his retirement in 2017. It’s one of several national opportunities provided by First Tee headquarters designed to inspire and encourage high school students on a deeper level as they progress through the program and toward higher education opportunities.
For more information on First Tee, visit www.firsttee.org.
