Junior Golf Development Centre (JGDC)
Vision:
The establishment of a network of Junior Golf Development Centres across Canada, providing interested youth with the opportunity to access comprehensive age appropriate golf programs and services, delivered at a national standard, providing the skills and experiences to the participants and their families that will keep them involved with golf for life
Objective:
- Create program standardization which is compliant with golf’s Long Term Player Development (LTPD) guide
- Develop a “club system” in the country that has a clear athlete development pathway
- Enhanced support to member clubs that shows the increased service that both the Provincial Golf Associations and Golf Canada are providing
- Foster the growth of recreational junior players – through the linkage with the Golf in Schools program and CN Future Links programming
- Educate parents and guardians
- Assist in the development of a club model that will provide career opportunities for PGA of Canada members in coaching
Benefits:
- Enhanced relationship with member clubs
- Enhanced relations between key stakeholders (PGA of Canada, PGA zones, Golf Canada, Provincial Golf Associations, National Golf Course Owners, Club Managers)
- The potential for Provincial Golf Associations to access Provincial government funding for implementation
- Growth/traction of LTPD compliant programming for junior aged players
- An increase in the number of trained and certified coaches as a result of base criteria for club involvement.
- Improved communication with families
- Opportunities for unique/new competition formats – i.e. inter-centre team competitions
- Enhanced intelligence that can be used for talent identification both provincially and nationally
How it Works:
The JGDC initiative provides a clear golf developmental pathway with comprehensive coaching support for golfers between the ages of 5 – 18. These centres will create a systematic approach to developing junior golfers which benefits players, families, coaches and golf facilities. The end result is a system which can provide support to players demonstrating a desire and high level of competency while fostering the life-long passion for golf as a basic underpinning to the entire programming.
The framework would look similar to an inverted pyramid, where the goal is to have a large base of players who “feed” the system, have age/stage appropriate programming provided with every experience. Ultimately as the player progress, they will filter through the club, with programs getting more and more specialized as the players develop. Players and families will have a choice on whether they want to be involved in programming that is more competitive in nature or if they want to continue their engagement in the sport recreationally.
For recreational players, a JGDC is able to provide programming and access to those who will play for life but who aren’t interested in competition. In this stream, the JGDC will be lead and assisted by PGA of Canada instructors and Future Links Leaders. These recreational programs focus on servicing the demands of a sizable and captive group of players who simply want to play the game for life.
The competition stream will be run by a PGA of Canada Head Coach, who has been certified and trained through the Golf’s NCCP Competition stream.
Junior Golf Development Centre Framework
Branding:
The JGDC initiative will establish a consistent brand which will be permitted for use by each centre to leverage brand recognition and enhance national continuity.
Costs:
A JGDC has no cost to start and can operate at private, public, semi-private, or municipal golf courses. Ideally, access to multiple courses in a given community ensures players have the opportunity to train in an age-appropriate learning environment and that they have access to facilities.
- Material:
The majority of start up material and templates have been created and will be provided free of charge to all participating centres. Only requirements may be some in-house printing.
