On Aug. 16, past and future Timber Creek golfers, Olivia and Samantha Gibbs, were featured on NBC 5 to promote First Tee, a low cost camp to teach children how to play golf and teach life lessons through the sport. The Gibbs sisters helped volunteer and direct a camp through First Tee.
First Tee bases their curriculum on nine core values, including: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgement.
“We want to make sure we have a lot of encouragement going on, just to kind of build them up and give them a good base for life,” Olivia Gibbs said in a #SomethingGood segment with NBC5.
The Fort Worth camp takes place at Rockwood Golf Course, and allows for children in the area to learn the game of golf, be active, and have fun while being outdoors. The goals of the camp are to get kids on the green by breaking through barriers like cost and coming out of their shell to connect with others through the sport.
“I started when I was 10. I was real shy. I didn’t like to meet people at all. I didn’t like to talk to people at all. This program helped me a ton; growing in my self confidence,” Oliva Gibbs said.
Not only does Olivia Gibbs coordinate and volunteer at the camps, but so does her sister Samantha. At the First Tee camp, Samatha Gibbs helped teach children how to hit a golf ball, and the steps to approaching a swing.
“I started going to First Tee when I was five, just tagging along with my sister,” Samantha said. “But as I got older, I chose to go.”
Olivia is 10 years older than Samantha, so naturally, she looked up to her and got involved with First Tee through her sister. First Tee has given her a new view of golf. According to Samantha, “it’s fun seeing [the kids] get to learn and have fun, and you get to see their new love for the game. It pays for itself to see that.”
It is no doubt that the nine core values that First Tee teaches to young kids are important, but these values also impact the volunteers’ lives. The Gibbs sisters are in agreement said that these values help with school, but it has also help with life, stating that First Tee shaped them into a better people, and the young ladies they are today.
“Having responsibility is important, like being able to do your homework, but also having responsibility on the green,” Gibbs said.
As Samantha Gibbs takes the First Tee core values into her school life, golf skills, and life skills, make sure to support the Timber Creek Golf team. Remember to be honest, respectful, confident, responsible, courteous and have integrity, sportsmanship, judgement, and always persevere.