TOOK ON A DECIDEDLY NEW LOOK
How Some Disadvantaged Kids Made A Hole in One
Because of One Man’s CALLING
By Sara Pentz
LA businessman and golf enthusiast, Mike Robbins, first became involved with a program called Champions for Kids in l995. The goal of the year-round program was to prepare underprivileged youth, academically and athletically, for success in High School so they would be able to obtain scholarships for college. The objective was to meet weekly to teach these primarily African-American and Latino youngsters to play tournament-level golf, and to supplement their academic progress with a comprehensive tutoring program.
Over the next three years Robbins simply dedicated his life to the program with some amazing results. But along the way he faced an assortment of roadblocks, which would have discouraged a much more dedicated man than Mike Robbins.
Robbins put his personal stamp on the concept and changed the name to Executives ‘Fore’ Kids. The program offered academic tutoring from 9:00 am to 10:30 am, and golf instruction from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon every Saturday morning. Punctuality and etiquette are two of the many life skills being taught in addition to academics and golf.
By bringing these children together to learn golf, Robbins was convinced he could strengthen their academic skills, reinforce their understanding of homework assignments, expose them to advanced information, enhance their public speaking and reading skills and, ultimately, help boost their self confidence.
It worked, even though Mike Robbins had to foot the bill and spend nearly every Saturday at a small, somewhat unkempt golf course in Compton, California. It was a bold step because many considered Compton to be one of the most crime-ridden sections in Los Angeles County. However, Compton population statistics showed that almost 50% of the adult population had not graduated from High School. It was a perfect setting for Robbins’ pet project.
Executives ‘Fore’ Kids has been successful also despite the monumental human obstacles. One 11-year-old girl, born with a serious motor deficiency, has a near perfect golf swing for her age and aspires to be a professional golfer. “She came into the program when she was 8 years old and now has the swing of a Tiger Wood,” claims Robbins. “She had serious mood swings and a very bad attitude. I needed a different nurturing approach with her. I broke her out of her shell. Par for the Compton course is 27. She did 27 and 28 two consecutive times.”
“Another youngster with a serious learning disability wanted to knock the hell out of the golf ball. I had to teach him to slow down and think methodically. His parents couldn’t control him. Now he’s a perfect gentleman,” Robbins offers with pride.
Five of the young golfers are now in High School doing well, and one has been offered two scholarships for sports and academics. Robbins believes there are others in the program, whose lives will be dramatically improved including a 13-year-old boy with the potential of a Freddie Couples. “He’s got the mental composure, the mechanics and the desire.”
When Robbins first learned about the Champions For Kids program while in Raleigh, N.C. on business, he was impressed with the educational component. He chose the City of Compton precisely because of its reputation as a Mecca for criminal gangs. “I have yet to run into a gang,” laughs Robbins. He contacted the school district thinking maybe ten kids would show up for the first Saturday of golf. To his amazement 125 children stormed onto the course. It was chaos. None of them had any knowledge of how to play the game of golf and they were undisciplined socially.
Suddenly Robbins had to find golf clubs and shoes for all those little feet. “I decided this would not be a make-shift program,” explains Robbins. He contacted the PGA Foundation and was sent a first-start kit for golfing, along with some flags, videotapes and rules books. Some of the parents could afford to donate clubs, but Robbins had to cut them down to size and clean them up. “It was a real rag tag group in the beginning,” he admits.
From there Robbins applied for an assortment of grants. For every letter he sent out he got one back saying ‘sorry’. In the end Robbins paid for everything from his own resources. “I made the decision that if I wanted to do this for the kids, I would have to fund it myself including equipment, clothing and educational supplies. It was crunch. My wife thought I was nuts. But I knew this was a ‘calling.’ I knew I was supposed to be in Compton helping those kids.”
Robbins stepped up the program by personally paying two local high school golf coaches to work with the kids. Additionally, he hired the best schoolteachers for the tutoring program. “I was only interested in a quality-tutoring program. But the teachers got burned out. I went through five teachers.”
Despite the set backs Robbins was relentless. He could not find any professional golfers to help until Rick Booth, the golf pro at Porter Valley Country Club, stepped up to the plate. Says Booth: “I remember wishing I could have learned golf as a kid. I felt Mike’s program was a personal responsibility. It wasn’t part of my job description, but it was part of my value system.” Booth fell in love with the Compton kids. He bought them sodas and signed golf balls. In return he found himself the role model of an adoring fan club.
Robbins efforts to bring the young golfers into a better world have not stopped on the last tee. He has provided them with a way out of their environment. “I want to give them well-rounded exposure to all possibilities,” he says.
With the help of the Compton Police Activities League, Robbins entered the young golfers in a Sacramento tournament. On Tuesday nights he took the kids to a computer center to surf the Net where they became involved in a nationwide web site design contest. He invited a Morgan Stanley Dean Whiter broker to teach the kids about the stock market. And he introduced them to ‘society’ when he escorted them, dressed in the new clothes he had purchased for them, by limousine to a Martin Luther King Masquerade Ball in Los Angeles.
These kids have learned more than the skills of golfing. They have learned the character it takes to be a good citizen. They have Mike Robbins to thank, -- because of his personal love of golf and his chance meeting with program called Champions Fore Kids.
In l995 Mike Robbins became the volunteer Executive Director of Champion For Kids in Los Angeles. It is a federally tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to providing year-round academic tutoring and junior golf instruction for inner-city youngsters. The organization, incorporated in l993, was founded by Larry Turner in Raleigh, North Carolina and is supported by the PGA Foundation and Lynx Golf.
The youngsters who participate in the Champions for Kids program meet weekly with teachers and golf professionals for tutoring in reading, writing and math skills, in conjunction with junior golf instructions.
Robbins became involved because of his own enthusiasm for golf. As a member of the City Club on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles he was aware of the personal and social attributes which were the underpinnings of success. He wanted to make those same values an integral part of the African-American and Latino communities of which he had been a part. In order to get local participation, Robbins changed the name to Executives “Fore” Kids.
Robbins is a successful entrepreneur and political strategist who has served as special assistant in the White House to President Jimmy Carter and to members of the United States Congress. His Company, The Robbins Group, provides management consulting, international protocol, limousine transportation, and other business and entrepreneurial services to clients nationally and internationally.
Before they began playing golf most of the youngsters in Mike Robbins’ Executives ‘Fore’ Kids program thought golf “…was a pretty stupid game.” Now they admit that golfing is “very trendy.” They find golf “relaxing” and “competitive.” Most of the Compton kids are playing golf regularly, at least once a week. Some of them play up to four times a week especially in the summer when they are not in school.
From this program they have learned unimaginable ambitions.
Listen to them talk.
A baby born with serious motor skill problems wants to tour as female professional golfer. “Little Freddie Couples” wants to be an architect and a contractor, and play golf for recreation. A stocky Latino boy wants to be a commercial pilot and play golf. A diminutive kid with a giant smile wants to be a fireman and play golf. And a lanky boy with a swagger wants to be an entrepreneur and a golfer. He wants to play jazz and go to five different colleges so he can learn a lot. “I can go to college when I’m 40 years old, too,” he has discovered.
What have they learned from playing golf?
Golf has taught them respect. They have learned to be patient and polite. They have learned to be responsible. They have learned to be competitive. They have learned to be thoughtful. They have found out what it’s like to win, and what it’s like to lose.
They have learned to help each other learn the game of golf. Overcoming their competitiveness, they have learned to be helpful to the others who don’t know how to play the game as well. Some are more natural athletes than others. You can see it in the way they swing the club, the way they miss the ball, and the way they accept their failures.
They have learned to take instruction. They have learned to ask questions. They’ve learned how to select a particular golf club for the particular shot so they can conquer the terrain. They’ve learned the concept of strategy and how to set goals. They’ve learned manners and etiquette. They have learned sportsmanship.
It’s an enormous gift.
For these children of Mike Robbins, this has been a more than a lesson in golf and math or reading. It has been a lesson in life. These kids have been led out into a world with unimaginable potential. They have glimpsed new and different possibilities. They have grown up way beyond their years. They have played the game of golf and because of that their lives have been expanded and enriched beyond measure.
Thanks to Mike Robbins who loves the game of golf and had a calling.
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