First Tee – Coachella Valley Magazine
•
Spring 2023
•
9
J
oy Willoughby has an envi-
able job at the First Tee –
Coachella Valley. As the
organization's Outreach Coordi-
nator, she gets to spread the joys
of the game to kids at elementary
schools throughout the region.
A member of the FTCV for the
past six months, Willoughby's pri-
mary responsibility is to work
with physical educators and after-
school staff to train them to teach
the First Tee curriculum to their
students. This requires tasks such
as teaching alongside them, ob-
serving, and providing feedback.
Here, Willoughby shares her ex-
periences of working with kids
and schools in the area, what she
likes about her job and more.
u u u
What do you enjoy most about
being Outreach Coordinator?
Working with the teachers and
elementary school students face to
face. Hearing a little girl who may
never play the sport look at me and
say, "This is the best day ever!"
makes it all worthwhile. To see the
impact the program is having on
the students and the joy that it
brings is my most favorite part.
u u u
What's been the reaction from
physical educators and after-
school staff? It has been so fun to
see the them grow in their con-
fidence to teach golf to their ele-
mentary school students after they
have learned the program and
gone through the training.
u u u
How have these programs
grown? We are continuing to add
new elementary schools and dis-
tricts. We are currently in Desert
Sands and Palm Springs unified
school districts with the hope to
add Coachella Valley Unified
School District. We are also in-
creasing our number of com-
munity outreach events.
u u u
Why would you recommend a
school offer First Tee program-
ming? Because it gives kids who
may never get to play the game an
opportunity to learn how to golf.
...........................................................
> Visit firstteecoachellavalley.org/
school-program.
<< Q&A WITH JOY WILLOUGHBY
(PICTURED BACK ROW, CENTER)
FTCV Outreach
Coordinator Joy
Willoughby helps
grow the First Tee to
elementary schools
Making a difference
