NOTES FROM SOUTH ZONE JUNIOR CIRCUIT--MAY 2008

Dated: Mon 19th May 2008 Posted by: Vijay divecha

THE PARENTS LEAD BY EXAMPLE

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH ZONE JUNIOR CIRCUIT—MAY 2008

The Junior Circuit got off to a great start this year with our annual trip to Ooty and Coorg followed by the two tournaments at BGC and KGA. With 50 of us from Bangalore travelling together – there can be no better start to our season. This epidemic is now catching juniors, parents, grand-parents and coaches. It was great to have my two friends and fellow-coaches Bambi Randhawa and Tarun Sardesai on the trip.
I wish the other centres like Chennai, Hyderabad, Mysore and Coimbatore also arrange to travel together. This will ensure more numbers and of course more fun.
Ooty, Coorg BGC and KGA had geared themselves to the invasion of the juniors with the attached parents, grand-parents and coaches following.. Mr.Veluswamy , Mr.K.K.Aiyappa, Mr.Anand Srinivasan , Mr.Vivek Rao and their teams must be thanked for the warmth and hospitality extended – the kids can feel the warmth and the parents have responded with the excellent support from the Volunteer Group.
After the mandatory Rules Clinic at every event, we now have a mandatory Parents Seminar. This is now Standard Operating Procedure. I would like to thank all the parents who attend these seminars and who have now organised themselves into a fantastic Volunteer Group that looks after the scoring area, observer duties, marker duties and everything that makes our tournaments better than any in our country. What the parents have brought into our circuit is not definable. We can be proud to proclaim that we have learnt how to behave in a responsible manner on the golf course during a junior event. May the rest of the country learn from us. And what a good example of responsible behaviour we are now showing our kids. Fantastic!! KEEP IT UP AND MAY WE MAKE OUR KIDS PROUD OF US.
“How did you do all this without us?”, was one of the questions asked by some of the parents to me. The answer is that some of us are now realising all the work that goes behind these events. Lets forget about the past and make our events better in the future.
One of the highlights of this season is that THREE coaches attended all the events. Bambi Randhawa, Tarun Sardesai and myself --- WHAT A GREAT FEELING!! Bambi and Tarun kept us all entertained with great golf stories and anecdotes. Bambi revisited the 5^th hole at Ooty where he made his first albatross; Tarun told us about his first South India Championship experience at Ooty and his run-in with Mr.Veluswamy. What a feeling it was for all of us to be together – FANTASTC!!
It is now important for us to take this forward and the next big challenge is to teach our kids RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR. Throwing and banging of clubs, using abusive language and other such issues need to be addressed. Unfortunately, Mr.Tiger Woods himself is guilty of this and he needs to set a better example! Kids do what they see us doing so WE MUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE. We must pass on the correct value systems to them and we can then be proud of them. At the Rules Seminars I have informed the kids about behaviour on the golf course and in the club house. This message needs to be reinforced at home by the parents, at the club by the coaches and at all events by all of us. The objective is that our kids will do us proud by behaving in an impeccable manner wherever they go and when the others notice this they will come back to us with the statement, “How well the kids from the South behave”, -- that will be the day we can feel proud of the heritage we are passing on to our children.
I have been saying this for ages and I am going to repeat myself. I AM AMAZED AT THE PASSION THAT OUR KIDS ARE DISPLAYING FOR GOLF. At every event, I see kids doing their best, and they complete the tournament whatever their scores. We are not recognising this courageous army and I am determined to find a way of rewarding effort.
On the other hand, during the last four tournaments I did note some juniors who dropped out on the second day saying they were not well. Fair enough, one can fall sick and drop out—but when the same drop-outs then go and walk the golf course and are seen having fun and disturbing their friends who are playing, one begins to wonder whether they dropped out because they were not well or because they were not playing well. We need to address this problem. Again, kids do what they see us doing and after so many years of association with golf I know where this is coming from—many seniors are setting this example!! A good sportsman does not give up—NEVER SAY DIE.
Khalin Joshi at Ooty after a bad first round came from seven strokes back to go into a play-off and win. Anirudh came from a not too good first round at Ooty and Coorg to emerge winner. Imagine both of them dropping out after the first round. The ability to come back from a hopeless situation is something that every sportsman has to learn. I hope this message goes to all that I am referring to and that it is not repeated.
Our South Zone circuit is unique and we are doing something here that no other zone is doing. For this I must thank all the clubs that host all our junior events – without them this would not be possible. We must thank all the juniors who participate. We must thank all the parents for all the work they are putting in – you are an example to all other parents in India. We must thank the Indian Golf Union and The Karnataka Golf Association without whose support we might never have been able to initiate this. We must thank all the coaches who are introducing juniors to the game.
This last bit is for the parents from Bangalore – like we decided—lets have a party to celebrate. Let the A & B Group look after the C & D Groups. Please call me on 9342884719 to fix the venue and date.

Back to index ...