By Dan Plouffe
William Brown and Keenan Reynolds’ young protégés might have got a little mixed up between their mentors’ two favourite sports when they added a goalie to defend the golf hole, but their smiles and laughs left no doubt that they understood the main lesson.
“Really, the whole point of the program was just to have fun,” underlines Brown, 23. “Have fun with the kids and get out and do something a little different than they might not have ever thought of doing or have the opportunity to do.”
Six players in their early teens were among the sold-out crowd at the Ottawa Community Housing Foundation’s charity golf tournament on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Loch March Golf & Country Club.
The youngsters from different OCH neighbourhoods across the city were the inaugural class of the Front Nine Project, an initiative spearheaded by Brown and Reynolds, both local former junior hockey players.
With high costs and some coaching needed to get started, golf can often be inaccessible to youth from low-income families, but through “grassroots community fundraising,” including many contributions from friends and family, the hockey pals raised over $15,000 to get their program off the ground.
“We love the sport,” signals Brown, who played university hockey at Queen’s and now studies law at York, while Reynolds would also like to go into law at McGill after finishing his political science degree at Carleton.
“We think it’s so good – for just getting outside and having fun, but also the mental toughness, the mental aspect of the sport, and being able to deal with adversity, especially in a sport context,” he adds. “And also, in all honesty, with COVID, this summer, golf was one of the only things that kids could do, or anyone could do.”
The Front Nine Project players got together two evenings a week during the summer, most often at Pine View’s driving range, where Brown and Reynolds taught them the basics.
The outings to Putting Edge and Mini Golf Gardens were also popular, while the youths’ first full round was at the OCH Foundation For Healthy Communities event, which raised over $65,000 to support its Pack a Sack, Youth Futures and recLINK programs.
“It’s very exciting” to play a real round, shares 13-year-old Cici, who calls herself “more of a mini-golfer rather than a ‘golf-golfer.’”
“I didn’t think I would like it because, I don’t know, I just find golf a little boring, but I do actually like it,” she adds. “It’s been pretty fun.”
The Grade 8 Glashan Public School student also enjoys badminton and volleyball, though she hadn’t got to play much of anything during the pandemic, before her intro to golf.
“I think (COVID) helped me in different ways,” Cici notes. “There’s cons and pros to everything. Pros: I grew up a different way and I think I matured better.
“But it also kept me away from friends and I didn’t get to finish sixth grade the way I wanted. That was just really disappointing. And I can’t really learn online, I’m more of a visual one, so I have to be there to see what I’m learning.
“And I haven’t been able to participate in any sports.”
Organizers eager to continue Project
The Front Nine Project got started after the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) Foundation connected Brown and Reynolds to the OCH Foundation. Brown played defence for OSEG’s Ottawa 67’s in junior, while Reynolds was a centre for Navan/Carleton Place locally and with Owen Sound and Flint in the Ontario Hockey League.
“When we played in the OHL, we had kids coming up to us, or we were sort of looked at as community leaders, and we wanted to continue doing that, just in a different way,” recounts Brown, who also played with the Nepean Raiders. “It’s turned out great so far, we’ve enjoyed the experience, particularly working with kids.”
The connection between the youth and their leaders is evident when Cici is asked how she’s enjoyed working with Brown and Reynolds.
“Their humour is a little off, so it’s kind of hard to interact with them, but I think they’re still good people,” she jokes, knowing her mentors are within earshot.
Brown ribs back: “C’mon, you’re throwing dirt on our grave!”
“Really, it’s been super rewarding,” Brown highlights. “Like, I became friends with six new kids. I’m excited to see what they do growing up, and I hope to keep in touch with them, because they’re all great kids.”
OCH Foundation 2021 Golf Tournament photo gallery:
Editor’s note: In the interest of disclosure to readers – the Ottawa Community Sport Media Team (the not-for-profit organization that publishes the Ottawa Sports Pages) works alongside recLINK to execute the Connecting Athletes of All Means to Paths in Sport Project. The CAMPS Project provides free sports opportunities in partner sports clubs’ programs to children/youth from low-income communities. More information is available at OttawaSportsCAMPS.ca.