The annual Great Southern Junior Golf Championship held on Friday 11 September 2009, was the culmination of a series of coaching clinics and attracted approximately 82 juniors under 18 years of age.
02 October 2009
Funded by the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) Indigenous Sports Program, and held in partnership with the Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation and the Nyoongar Sports Association, the tournament was an opportunity for clinic participants to test their golf skills with others from around the Great Southern.
"Although it was wet, cold and later on a bit windy, the kids all turned out and it was fantastic, you're competing with many other sports so we didn't expect to get so many kids to take part in the tournament," Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation programs manager Cedric Bell said.
Over the past three years, the Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation and Nyoongar Sports Association have conducted golf clinics in towns throughout the Great Southern including Manjimup, Albany, Narrogin, Katanning and Tambellup.
Supported by approximately eight coordinators based in the region, Cedric Bell says the winning strategy is to connect with local elders to encourage the local youth to take part in the clinics, club events and junior tournaments.
"The Nyoongar Sports Association has connection with town elders and quite often a lot of them play golf, the (Association) links the contacts with elders up and try to get the juniors to participate, there's been a very strong response," Cedric Bell said.
The Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation then supports regional programs by providing resources for local clubs and in 2010 hopes to introduce coaching sessions for people interested in supporting juniors to keep playing golf in their community.
"Once we set up the programs in the towns and get commitment from the community and have kids playing golf, we provide sets of junior golf clubs to the local golf club," Cedric Bell said.
"In partnership with the Nyoongar Sports Association, we also hope to facilitate an opportunity for Indigenous sports leaders to travel to Perth to be trained in the new Community Golf Coaching course, a nationally accredited course through Golfing Australia."
The Indigenous Sports Program program aims to encourage Indigenous people to try new sports, join local sporting associations or clubs and to develop pathways of skill development for talented juniors identified through their participation.
"Kids with a keen eye and hand eye coordination will readily pick up golf, it's not as physical as footy or basketball and suits a number of kids who are not traditionally active," Indigenous sport acting state coordinator Nick Abraham said.
"It's another alternative to sports that the kids see as more mainstream and it's a great social environment as well."
Click on the link below to find out more information on the Indigenous Sports Program or click Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation.
