Kids in Play

THE ORLANDO MINORITY YOUTH GOLF ASSOCIATION CREATES KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH

Dr. T.J. Dorsey is a general dentist with a passion for the links. He began making rounds more than three decades ago by way of what he describes as a hoodwinking. “When I was at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois, a friend asked me to watch him play. While there, I asked how long he had been trying and he said five years.” According to Dorsey, some manner of competitive dialogue ensued. “I told him I could whip him in six weeks. [ When the time came] I was able to tie him.” Despite his ability to just about follow through on his promise, the good dentist realized he was not fundamentally sound with the game, so when he moved to Miami in 1972, he sought the training of Doyle Banks, who would become what Dorsey describes as his own personal guru for 25 years. During that time, Doyle golfed tirelessly. “I don’t claim [ to have ] a competitive game, but I have scored as well as 70, and I was the champion at Cypress Creek Golf Course for three consecutive years.”

Yet, in 1991 he gave up his game. The reason? “Because you can’t worship two gods. You have to [ either ] commit to teaching kids or teaching yourself.” He chose the former, which resulted in the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, a teaching and mentoring program for children aged six to 18. “I have always thought the future of our people lies in our kids, so having reached a great understanding of the game I decided I had enough knowledge to pass on to the youth,” says Dorsey. “I felt the discipline required would be great for the kids.”

Once again, Dorsey’s hunch was reliable. Some of the program’s participants have worked with him for as long as 12 years, and omyga alum have played on the college level at Wake Forest, Hampton University, Florida State, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The City of Orlando supported the program from its inception, and Dorsey notes particularly strong support from then-director of community and youth services Herb Washington.

“Our position was to provide as many programs and alternatives for youth as we could. The mayor was very supportive, and we realized partnership was key,” explains Washington. “Even though Orlando is viewed as a mecca for golf it was not a part of what many inner city youth [ experience ]. Hence one of the reasons Dr. Dorsey started omyga.

“What Dr. Dorsey has done has been a catalyst for interest in other programs and inspiring golf in general,” notes Washington, who is now a regional vice president of a Denver-based environmental engineering firm and on the board of omyga. “I can use myself as a ready reference. [Before], golf was considered a sissy game and a real soft sport. Now that has completely changed [to the point that] if you don’t play you are not in what’s happening now. Tiger…has pushed kids towards the sport itself.”

While Dorsey’s efforts rely in part on the upswing of interest in the sport, he notes some challenges. “Golf is a game rarely understood by most parents and most Blacks, period. Those that remain [with me] know their kids are getting golf and life lessons, and those lessons help raise them. Most parents are pretty supportive.”

Among his list of things to do, Dorsey counts teaching a generation “who will learn the game so well from me that they teach their children. This year we had 25 kids playing on high school junior varsity or varsity teams, with nine going to regionals and two to the state level. In the future I would like to see that number increase. I would like to see more go to college with golf scholarships. I am optimistic that we have started something; it is time-consuming and heart wrenching to some degree but it is so fulfilling to see a kid go from not understanding the game to knowing how to play.

“The biggest challenge is to hook the kids on the game. If you can strike an interest, keep the kids long enough for them to get the bug, get parents to understand a game that’s unlike any other game, and be sure to have the money, time and support needed to move them from place to place to train” then it can work, according to Dorsey. The program’s rosters fluctuate between 65 and 90 youth, depending on bouts of attrition and influx.