It’s A Celebration!
Bermuda Report: Day 4, Oct 23, 2022, The Final Day
“It’s time to come together, It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure, everyone around the world come on!”
I can’t put it any other way. This place is poppin’, hoppin’ and they are not short-stopping. After three days of golf, meetings, and networking, the Bermuda Black Golfer’s Week comes to an end — but it was a grand finale!
The executives of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, The Brothers Lyles and their foundation, along with their mom and dad who run the Lyles Brothers Sports Foundation Inc., were front and center. You should know this 3-year-old foundation has already reached over 5,000 youth in the United States, sharing the message about mental health, physical fitness, college preparation, and nutrition, and have donated over $100,000.00 in sports apparel from Adidas.
Each of us should find motivation in these accomplishments to make an impact in our respective communities using golf as the means to do so.
The evening was punctuated by the heart-stopping Bermuda dance troupe with dancers ranging in age from 5-year-olds to grandfathers who performed at a frenetic pace for an hour. It was indeed a celebration to behold. Dancing, selfies, group photos, short speeches, networking, people making plans to meet again, folks scheduling zoom calls, visits, collaborations, and having fun all in the name of golf.
This clearly demonstrates the power of golf. Golf is good for everyone, everywhere. Let’s continue to harness the power of the world’s greatest sorority and fraternity which everyone is welcome to join.
Make Golf Your Thing, which is an industry initiative started in 2020 by the golf industry to bring greater diversity to the sport and the industry and to ensure that the future of golf is indeed open to everyone. Just go to https://makegolfyourthing.org/ and figure out how to connect at your local level. It is not hard.
As I write this, I am recovering from my two minutes of cutting a rug which is what more mature and older people refer to as dancing. I know my limits like I know the distances of my clubs.
This has been so much fun. So much learning. So much living. I am thankful again to Rick Summers and Earnie Ellison for their guidance and planning in bringing everyone together.
Hazel Clark and the entire Bermuda Tourism Authority team also cannot be thanked enough for staging such a first-class event. Kudos and thanks do not convey the appreciation that all of us have for their efforts.
Good things will happen as a result of this. Look for Western States Golf Association, Desert Mashie, Pro Duffers and Divas on Course and Greenwood Golf to take positive actions as a follow-up to these 4 days.
Hazel Clark, Director of Sports Business Development, Bermuda Tourism Authority, Rick Summers, GA Magazine, Earnie Ellison, Ellison Consulting and Keisha Caine Bishop, President of the Lyles Brother Sports Foundation
As for me, I will just have to figure out how to return to a life in Omaha without the fabulous ocean views on the golf courses I play.
Thank you, Bermuda, I will return.
