Any golf professional, golf course, company, or youth organization is encouraged to complete and submit the following application. Through the Sticks for Kids program, the GCBAA Foundation can provide grant recipients with:
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Junior Golf Clubs – Up to ten (10) sets of USKids junior golf clubs and bags
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Materials – Sticks for Kids teaching and marketing materials
The future of golf in the United States is dependent upon the next generation. Young boys and girls can become lifelong golfers if given the opportunity to learn the game as well as the values that are generated from the sport. The Golf Course Builders Association of America(GCBAA) established the GCBAA Foundation to provide the tools and opportunities necessary to cultivate the next generation of junior golfers and promote the growth and integrity of the game.
Since its establishment, the GCBAA Foundation has taken a special interest in supporting underprivileged children by launching the Sticks for Kids Program, a junior golf outreach program for youth ages 5 -18. The program provides participating locations with clubs, bags, teaching materials, marketing materials, and instructors. Children are taught the fundamentals of the game as well as life lessons such as etiquette, integrity, sportsmanship, safety, honesty, and respect for themselves and others.
Sticks for Kids has impacted over 500 programs in all 50 states and 18 international military bases, ultimately reaching more than 225,000 youth participants.
In order to maximize the potential impact of Sticks for Kids, the GCBAA Foundation decided to expand eligibility. The GCBAA Foundation will now consider granting support to any program that may help achieve the overriding vision to grow participation in the game.
Providing exposure and introducing the game to youth across the United States is very important (especially to those without the means to learn or play); however, the primary Sticks for Kids objectives are to:
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Create more junior golfers who play the game, and
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Generate more rounds played by juniors and their families
To maximize impact, the GCBAA Foundation is very interested in supporting existing programs (especially nationally branded initiatives), and identifying opportunities for single-grant recipients to use Sticks for Kids support at multiple facilities.
The GCBAA Foundation will consider any qualified opportunity. Recipients will be selected based on how the Sticks for Kids resources will be used to achieve objectives and the potential for the program to make the biggest impact.