The First Tee Leadership Summit, in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore, is designed to strengthen the participants’ leadership skills through dynamic outdoor and team-building activities with the intended purpose of personal growth, education and coming together to make a difference. After participating in a 5-week local Leadership Series available to First Tee Orange County teens, Antonio was chosen as one of our three chapter’s nominees to be considered for the Summit. He was then selected as one of just 40 First Tee participants in the nation to take part in this amazing opportunity. Of those 40, Antonio was one of ONLY FOUR who were chosen to receive a life-changing $20,000 College Scholarship and this is his story:

“Going into something that had never been done before with little information created a unique situation that I had never been in before, but it turned out to be one of the most life-changing experiences I have ever gone through.

First, the initial five-week leadership training at PGA Tour Superstore, where I was able to better understand my strengths and values. It was the first time I had ever stopped to think and access what makes me unique and how I should use it to help my other relationships. Through that process, I began to see a change in how I conducted my intentions and goals. I started to think about my goals and how they could be attainable, and soon becoming an orthopedic surgeon did not seem so crazy to me. I became comfortable with challenging myself because I believed that I had the skills and possessed the qualities to overcome obstacles and achieve my goals. 

From the end of the leadership series and understanding my ultimate career goal as an orthopedic surgeon I was given the opportunity to attend the First Tee and PGA Tour Superstore National Leadership Summit in Montana, hosted at West Creek Ranch. The experience was filled with great people, great activities, and even better memories. From horseback riding to whitewater rafting, to even the beautiful mountain sunsets, I was presented with a huge growth moment. I learned from the great minds of executives from PGA Tour Superstore and LPGA player, Shasta Averyhardt. Each gave unique ways to improve our leadership and helped me identify ways to change for the better. My personal favorite was coming to understand the foundation of relationships and team building. Like horseback riding, you have a leader who tells the directions and what must be done, but the team is an integral part of the system because they carry out the orders. Without the horse or the team, no orders will be done and the leader fails in accomplishing their goal. 

My favorite speaker, Shasta Averyhardt talked about the mental burden of being a leader and building more personal relationships and it spoke to me. It introduced the idea that I control how other people see me, and when I put on my best attitude and keep my head up even in the darkest of times it affects the people that surround me. Also, she spoke to me because she talked a lot about setting our intentions. To be intentional with our actions in order to obtain our goals. I found that in order for a dream of mine to become reality, I have to believe it into existence. That was something that was brought up many times during the week, including Executive of Marketing at PGA Tour Superstore, Ralph Stokes, who said in order to be the first you have to see yourself as the first. 

The entire week was filled with countless memories with the other participants that helped create an unforgettable environment and experience for all individuals involved. 

Last, I was presented with one of the four $20,000 scholarships as part of the leadership summit with PGA Tour Superstore. When I received the call from Ralph Stokes it was a moment I will never forget. He left me speechless, and it capped off a perfect First Tee opportunity. I am even more grateful for this special time in personal growth because it brought a great accomplishment into my life and I am so proud of the person I evolved into through this experience. All the participants in the entirety of the leadership series had an equal chance at being presented with the scholarship and that goes to show the bright future the next generation can have on our society. This is just the beginning of leadership amongst the youth, and I am excited for the new changes and life-changing ideas that will come from my fellow friends. 

This once-in-a-lifetime experience gifted me with the experience of leadership development and personal growth. Having come out of the experience with new friends, a better understanding of myself and my goals, and a scholarship, I see the life-altering effect it will have on the rest of my life. 

I am a leader who believes in myself and my team, who creates opportunities for success and accomplishes my goals through teamwork and communication. I say this with my whole heart and mind and share my knowledge with everyone else so we can create a better community for everyone.”

If you want to help build more game changers like Antonio then consider supporting First Tee – Orange County today!

The First Tee Leadership Summit, in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore, is designed to strengthen the participants’ leadership skills through dynamic outdoor and team-building activities with the intended purpose of personal growth, education and coming together to make a difference. After participating in a 5-week local Leadership Series available to First Tee Orange County teens, Bennie was chosen as one of our chapter’s nominees to be considered for the Summit. He was then selected as one of just 40 First Tee participants in the nation to take part in this amazing opportunity and this is his story:

“The First Tee PGATSS Leadership Series with the local chapter was an amazing experience for me! The best part of this training was that I got to know myself much better than I did before. I never before had a chance to seriously envision my future career, but now, I feel that I am pretty clear about it. Related to that, I now know clearly what my key values and strengths are – this knowledge is beneficial for a lifetime. This training has really helped me to create a solid vision of what I want to be when I grow up. I would say that the most valuable experience for me was creating a presentation centered around an envisioned career. This experience gave me a chance to do an in-depth examination of the path to become a sport psychologist, which is a career that, until recently, I did not have a very clear idea about. I was able to look into the work of my role model, Dr. Bob Rotella, and analyzed how my values and strengths could tie in to my envisioned career. I also found out what goals I should set for myself and what degrees I needed to earn in order to get to the top of my goal ladder – becoming a mind doctor.

        The week of the First Tee PGATSS National Leadership Summit in Montana was undoubtedly the best week of my life. The lectures and activities at the leadership summit taught eye-opening concepts that I will forever hold dear as I continue my journey to become the leader that I aspire to be. The lecturers, including retired NFL quarterback Michael Vick, at the summit were excellent in sharing their inspiring stories with us, and the activities, including archery and horseback riding, were so effective in reinforcing those concepts. Many conversations, including all of the lectures, during the week were very helpful to me, but I particularly loved PGATSS Partnership Marketing Director and former Alabama running back Ralph Stokes’s talk about his experiences. First and foremost, I loved his interpretation of “success”—how it is individualized and that one has achieved success when one has earned the right to decide (for example, if my goal were to make the PGA Tour, I will have been successful when I have earned the right to CHOOSE whether or not I join the Tour). As for his stories, I found his insightful stories extremely intriguing, especially because he was a pioneer in what he did. Mr. Stokes brought up a really good point regarding representation. He explained that representation can be important but is not absolutely necessary. From football to business sales, Mr. Stokes was “One of the First.” His stories really captivated me and inspired me to aim higher. I liked his story about being a black player on the Alabama football team in the 1970s, but I especially loved Mr. Stokes’s story about his sales. After he was unsuccessful on his first sale, his boss told him to not worry about it because his boss believed that the sale was unsuccessful just because the targeted buyer was racist. Mr. Stokes refused to accept his boss’s advice and persevered through the setback. He ended up making a sale to the imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan! Amazing! When I asked Mr. Stokes about why he was so determined to persevere, he gave a very powerful answer: truth. He sided with truth. He knew that the failure of the first sale was really his own fault and knew that he could improve on his mistakes so that he could achieve success. His level of honesty is TRULY (no pun intended) inspiring. 

Having gone through this amazing leadership training process, I feel that I am a different person now. My number one takeaway from all of the training is this: I must explore more to achieve my full potential. I used to always underestimate my potential and would hold myself back from achieving goals that I thought I could not achieve, but now I know that I can achieve more than I think. Jumping off the top of a 25-foot-high pole at the summit certainly taught me that! I am now stronger and am ready to be a leader to face life’s many tough challenges.”

If you want to help build more game changers like Bennie then consider supporting First Tee – Orange County today!