for mentoring teens
Young Life board member Dick Gerber, left, and director Heidi Troyer pose with the Young Life golf outing sign at Willandale Golf Course. The scramble outing creates revenue to help Young Life continue its efforts to enhance the lives of area teens.
Mentors and adults who can provide leadership and guidance in today’s youth play an important part of the growth of tomorrow’s leaders.
The team at Young Life of Tuscarawas & Holmes Counties has recognized that many youth are hurting, have questions about the future, and feel lost and alone while others simply seek a safe and exciting way to build wonderful relationships.
Young Life has provided an avenue for teens to connect with adults and build relationships with other teens in positive, meaningful ways, and the impact the organization has had within its various school settings has been incredible.
One way Young Life is able to provide the guidance and mentoring for teens is through its annual golf outing.
The annual Young Life scramble golf outing will take place Saturday, June 9 at Willandale Golf Course in Sugarcreek. Registration is from 7:30-8 a.m. with a shotgun start taking place at 8:30 a.m. There will be a banquet lunch with an awards ceremony following the golf outing at approximately 1:30 p.m. One new addition to the event this year is that there will be a women’s division for teams of four women in addition to the traditional four-member teams.
Cash awards will be presented to the first-, second- and third-place teams with long drive and proximity prizes in both the men’s and women’s division.
All of the proceeds from the event will go toward the efforts of Young Life of Tuscarawas & Holmes Counties, a club that meets weekly at Garaway and West Holmes high schools, where high school teens can share, laugh, play games, sing and have fun with other teens in an accepting atmosphere.
Young Life board member and outing coordinator Dick Gerber said with a YL budget of $125,000 for this year, the golf outing plays a key role in being able to meet those financial needs within the organization.
Those funds will allow YL to go out into the schools, where they also have added an effort at Dover High School and made some inroads at Hiland High School to make a positive impact within the community of area youth.
“One of the nice things at Young Life is that we go out into the schools to meet kids where they are the most comfortable, whether that is at a sporting event, music event or wherever they feel the most comfortable,” said Heidi Troyer, who has headed up Young Life with her husband Derrick for years.
Not affiliated with a specific church, Young Life has turned its focus on building self-esteem, character and leadership skills in teens with an emphasis on faith. The organization has been at Garaway High School for 16 years, where Troyer has been guiding the program that has made great strides.
“Young Life is very community-based, and one of our aims is to reach out to high school students and meet them where they are and build mentoring relationships in providing a positive adult role model and hopefully allow us to share our faith with them,” Troyer said. “It’s exciting to see what has been happening. We’ve seen lives and families changed. Kids who were struggling with a lot of difficult questions and tough life situations and peer pressure have had someone to walk through that with them. The opportunity to share, to grow relationships and to see their lives blossom has been fun to see.”
The Young Life outing will include some autographed memorabilia and door prizes from a number of local athletes who have gone on to excel at the collegiate level and even into the professional ranks.
Included in that list are women’s NCAA basketball Div. II national championship members and West Holmes stars Laina Snyder and Rachelle Morrison of the Ashland University Eagles, Detroit Tigers’ outfielder and former Hiland All-Ohioan Luke Burch, Wright State University standout and West Holmes All-Ohioan first baseman Gabe Snyder, and former Hiland All-Ohioan Seger Bonifant, who is currently playing basketball professionally overseas.
“We wanted to give some of our young people the credit they deserve for their incredible accomplishments for achieving some great things at the college level and even beyond into the professional ranks,” Gerber said. “Since we deal with young people, it seemed appropriate to give some of our young people the recognition they deserve.”
One additional former all-time great will be on hand at the event itself to lend a hand to teams who might need a spark to get going. Former All-Ohioan Jake Troyer will be there all day and for a minimal donation will provide a shot on one of the par threes. Troyer is currently working hard in the minor leagues of the PGA to make a name in the professional ranks and is trying to make his name by earning a spot on the Web.com Tour. He will talk about what it takes to play at that level.
Gerber said something else new is a hole-in-one contest on the par-three 13th hole that will see $1,000 from area pledges put up for grabs, a hole-in-one earning $500. If nobody gets a hole-in-one during the event, there will be two names drawn at random, and they will have a shoot-off with the closest to the pin on the 13th receiving $250.
Troyer said the support they have received from the community has been overwhelming over the years, and they are grateful to be able to put these funds to good use.
“The challenges our teens face are only increasing, whether it is at home or about their future, and we feel it is important to provide opportunities for adults to invest in their lives and help mentor them,” Troyer said. “The struggles are very real, and teens are making decisions now that are going to affect them in the future, and having support is important, whether it comes from family or from other caring adults. If we can become a mentor and role model, we are excited to have that opportunity.”
Troyer went on to note that Young Life is not just designed for teens who are struggling. It is also a great avenue for thriving teens to grow even more.
“Even though there are a lot of great ways for kids to get involved in their communities, there is still a great need for Young Life,” Troyer said. “It seems like more and more there are extra benefits to having teens supported by another caring adult in their lives, to walk beside them, encourage them and develop their servant leadership skills in a way that stretches them outside of their comfort zone.”
Registrations for the golf outing are due by June 7. There also are opportunities to support YL through golf tournament sponsorships. A Masters Sponsorship of $3,000, a British Open Sponsorship of $1,000, a U.S. Open Sponsorship of $750 and a PGA Sponsorship of $500 are all ways area businesses and individuals can get involved.
Registration forms are available at Willandale Golf Course, Zoar Golf Course, Five Waters Golf Course, River Greens Golf Course and Fire Ridge Golf Course, or teams can call Gerber at 330-473-3684 to register. The cost to enter is $250 per team. If anyone is interested in getting involved with Young Life, they can contact Gerber.