At First Tee – Manhattan, we’re Building Game Changers by empowering kids and teens to be the best version of themselves.
By seamlessly integrating the game of golf with character-building, we create learning experiences that help kids uncover their inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that they can carry to everything they do.
Our trained coaches not only provide an introduction to junior golf and an opportunity to enhance golf skills, but they also create a safe, supportive, and empowering environment to help your child prepare for life ahead, including friendships, school, college and even their careers.
Through our program, kids will learn skills that stay with them for life:
- Understanding and managing emotions
- Resolving conflicts
- Setting up step-by-step goals
- Planning for the future
- Appreciating diversity
- Fundamental golf skills and techniques
Age-Based Programming
As we prepare to begin registration for our 2022 Programs on March 1st, we ask that you take a few moments to learn about some upcoming changes to our classes. Beginning in April 2022, First Tee – Manhattan will be reformatting our classes to be delivered by age, much like other youth programs. Classes will now be broken up as follows:
- 5-6: Preschool/Kindergarten
- 7-9: Early Elementary School-Aged
- 10-11: Older Elementary School-Aged/Early Adolescence
- 12-13: Middle School/Early Adolescence 1
- 14+: High School/Middle Adolescence (*still enrolled in high school)
- ACE 14+: Guidelines to begin the ACE Level will be available soon. All participants that are currently in the Ace Program or Eagle Certified will be eligible for the Ace Program this year.
You may be wondering why we are making this change from our current format. As an organization, we are always striving to create a better and more impactful experience for your child through research and feedback.
By delivering our program to participants of the same age range, our goal is to create programs and experiences that are just as fun as they are meaningful, where kids feel excited to grow, safe to fail, and better equipped for whatever comes their way next.
What is Changing
First Tee – Manhattan is moving from our current skills-based programs to age-based.
- We will no longer use levels (PLAYer, PAR, Birdie, Eagle) to determine placement
- Students will register and be placed in a program based on their age. The age groupings will be 5-6, 7-9, 10-11, 12-13, and 14+
- Kids will progress through these levels based on their age. They can celebrate achievements and skill progression by earning badges.
Why we are Changing
This change to age-based programs is occurring after a multi-year effort of research and listening. There are multiple advantages to age-based programs, and chapters that have moved to this are seeing positive results.
- The strong recommendation to move to this structure results from research done by experts in youth development and sports psychology, as well as feedback from coaches, parents, and kids.
- Participants strongly prefer being with their own age group and the chance to be in classes with their friends, and to make friends within their own age group.
- Participants will learn more from programs designed appropriately based on their cognitive development.
- With classes feeling new as they move to the next age level, they are more likely to stay with First Tee longer and engage in the opportunities we provide to older students (leadership opportunities, scholarships).