Golf in schools

[RussUK]

My nephew asked me the other day if golf was so good why isnt it played more in schools?

I thought that was a very good question, why isnt it?

I know in the states there is high school golf and over here we have the odd sunday golf drop in for kids to try it. But what about an after school option or even PE?

I played squash for my school and that meant going "offsite", so that isnt an issue however time is, so it would have to be an "after school" activity.

What about cost? Well lets say its played at a local Par 3, short holes dont need lots of clubs. Low cost clubs from Dunlop for example can be bought for under £7 each. Schools could buy a number of sets cheap (like mine did with raquets for squash) or use your own, like i did with squash.

I know this is a lot for many parents or even schools budget wise but i think golf is great for kids. why?

Well, i think its good for teaching discapline and patience and manners. Football is the main school outdoor sport here and if you look at th role models they have its not great. When you see a fully grown man throwing a hissy fit about being substituted then young kids see it as acceptable.

A friend of mine related that at her sons under recent 13 football (soccer) game one child was substituted, promplty flicked V's at the ref and kicked the waterbottles as he stormed off. When asked why he said its what the pro's do.

On the whole Golf has more good role models. Simple things like removingthe cap and shaking hands after the round. I have seen this at my course and they do it because they see there hero's do it.

So, for all those in the US who have played Highschool golf, how did it change you growing up?

For those here in the UK, do you think getting more kids into golf, or the option og golf, through shools would be a good idea?

[rob0225]

I would say most of the high schools here in the states have a golf team.

[dkolo]

  rob0225 said:

I would say most of the high schools here in the states have a golf team.

I think saying most have them is a big stretch. I'm sure it's region-dependent, but there's too many city schools and less affluent districts in the US for me to think most have a team.

[lumpuckeroo]

I think I would go with most, I get that urban schools in NY or LA probably don't have high school golf teams. Those areas might have so many schools it cancels out most, but I would suspect of the 2167 high schools in the state of New York, there is a big percent that have high school golf. In Kansas of the 474 high schools approximately 350 have golf programs. We have 20 high schools with less than 50 students and even some of them have programs. If the rest of the U.S. has 75% of the high schools with programs then I would stick with most.

[dkolo]

  lumpuckeroo said:

I think I would go with most, I get that urban schools in NY or LA probably don't have high school golf teams. Those areas might have so many schools it cancels out most, but I would suspect of the 2167 high schools in the state of New York, there is a big percent that have high school golf. In Kansas of the 474 high schools approximately 350 have golf programs. We have 20 high schools with less than 50 students and even some of them have programs. If the rest of the U.S. has 75% of the high schools with programs then I would stick with most.

I thought about that but I googled a bunch of school districts in the area on LI and a good amount don't have teams, even in the burbs. It's really expensive apparently. In our district, I spoke to the golf coach, and they pay retail for things like range tokens and course time. So if a district doesn't get a deal and they don't have a lot of money, it's tough for a lot of districts.