JUNIOR PARTNERSHIP PROVING TO BE DRIVING FORCE IN ENGLAND
Now in its sixth year, the England Junior Golf Partnership
(EJGP) continues its success and positive impact on the development
of junior golf in England.
The English Golf Union (EGU), English Ladies’ Golf
Association (ELGA), the Golf Foundation and Professional Golfers’
Association (PGA), with the support of Sport England funding,
created the partnership in 1999 with the aim of promoting
golf within schools and developing junior structures within
golf clubs.
The number of links with schools, the amount of volunteers
involved with juniors and the number of junior friendly accredited
golf clubs have all significantly increased and provide a
strong foundation at grass roots level.
The Golf Foundation launched Tri-Golf in the summer of 2000
and the programme has been a huge success with over half a
million children involved in Tri-Golf activity sessions at
their primary school. In addition 50,000 children in over
1,000 secondary schools received subsidised coaching sessions
run by PGA Professionals.
To provide a follow on from this school based activity the
Starter Centre Initiative was set up. This scheme, aimed at
providing low cost opportunities for children to receive coaching
in appropriate golf facilities, has seen in excess of 100,000
boys and girls attend sessions since it started in 1999.
All coaching was conducted using the Golf Foundation’s
recommended training syllabus called the ‘Junior Golf
Passport’. This programme, which can be used to meet
the requirements of the national curriculum, ensured that
those children coached in school were then encouraged to continue
their learning at a golf club or Starter Centre.
Further assistance has been provided via the EGU/ELGA Junior
Club Coaching Grant (JCCG), which, through the provision of
£250,000, has helped in the coaching of nearly 50,000
boys and girls at over 1,000 golf clubs since its launch in
1999. Other resources such as the Junior Organisers Handbook
and Junior Handicapping Scheme have also provided additional
support for clubs.
The EGU/ELGA Junior GolfMark is a further initiative to develop
stronger structures within golf clubs and over the past 12
months almost 400 clubs have applied to participate. A recent
survey of accredited clubs highlighted that a high percentage
offer equal access for juniors to enter competitions, with
93% offering at least 10 junior competitions per year and
81% provide cut down clubs for juniors to use. In 73% of golf
clubs the majority of junior members are classed as active
and 92% of golf clubs have junior friendly amenities.
All initiatives are clearly having a positive effect. The
recent golf club membership questionnaire conducted by the
EGU and ELGA identified an increase in the number of junior
members and a reduction in barriers to memberships such as
joining fees and complicated application procedures over the
last two years. It is also particularly encouraging that the
number of girls who are members of clubs has increased by
50% over the life of the EJGP development plan.
The PGA has also played a key role by developing a Level
1 assistant coach qualification, with courses set to roll
out in the spring of 2005. This will enable volunteers to
assist a more qualified coach when training juniors who are
new to the game. In accordance with the United Kingdom Coaching
Certificate (UKCC) guidelines, the PGA is continuing to develop
Levels 2 – 5 to highlight the coach development pathway.
The introduction of volunteer coaches will be added support
to the Starter Centre and GolfMark initiatives.
Bill Bryce, EJGP Chairman comments: “It is a tribute
to all of the partners that their dedication and enthusiasm
for junior golf has produced such strong initiatives and encouraging
results to date. We must continue to move forward at all levels
and in particular with our work in schools and golf clubs.”
A copy of the current EJGP development plan (2003-2007) can
be viewed at www.englishgolfunion.org > Junior Golf >
EJGP 2003-2007.
The success of the Junior Partnership has provided a big
step forward for the game and clearly supports the newly created
‘England Golf Partnership’ which has the task
of developing the game at all ages from grass roots through
to elite.
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