April 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 72

Bringing G-Ball to Municipal Parks
and Recreation Facilities

RPA has partnered with SNAG
(Starting New at Golf) to bring
its G-Ball program to municipal
parks and recreation facilities.
G-Ball has been several years in the
making to ensure age-appropriate programming to develop a child's golf motor
skills and introduce them to the culture
of the game. Dr. Robert Pangrazi, author
of more than 50 physical education textbooks, and Dr. Vanessa Anton developed
the curriculum and activities so that parent-coaches can deliver the content effectively. The program is intended to be
activity based with progressive instruction
to occur as the child develops. Play will be
the focus of the program in a non-competitive format.
In 2011, the program will be piloted by
15 park and recreation agencies. An agency could potentially include eight to 300plus parks and recreation facilities. The
program will then be expanded for 2012
and beyond. Player Development Products LLC, the parent company of SNAG,
will offer several $7,000 grants to provide
equipment and cover operational costs.
NRPA will direct the grant process by selecting the appropriate agencies to pilot
the program. The selected agencies will
begin the program at a date to be determined this summer.
G-Ball can best be described as golf's
version of T-Ball, and it focuses on children
5 to 8 years old. It is conducted by parentcoaches on soccer fields and selected open
space within municipal facilities. It is an
easy and fun way to learn and play golf at
non-traditional venues. SNAG contains all
the elements of golf but in a modified form.
Falling somewhere between miniature golf
and regulation golf, SNAG allows for full
shots, pitching, chipping, and putting. For
more information, visit www.snagpros.com.
" NRPA believes this partnership with
SNAG is a fantastic opportunity to help
enrich and expand park and recreation
agency programs, while emphasizing our
commitment to support health and wellness across the United States, " says NRPA
CEO Barbara Tulipane.
" We are proud to become partners
70 Parks & Recreation

Apr i l 2 0 1 1

with NRPA and hope to reach the shared
goals of impacting over a million families
with G-Ball, " says Terry Anton, the SNAGDADDY and co-creator of SNAG. " We appreciate the encouragement and support
we have received from the World Golf
Foundation in bringing golf to our municipal parks and recreation facilities. We believe that many of these new golfers will
want to play the game for a lifetime. "

" The G-Ball program promises to bring
golf into parity with other organized sports
by having entry-level programming at the
grass-roots level, " says Steve Mona, CEO
of the World Golf Foundation. " We hope
the low cost of participation will bring families to the game that would not otherwise
have an opportunity to participate. "
For more information on SNAG and G-Ball,
visit www.snagpros.com.


NGF's Municipal Golf Institute
Unique partnership to strengthen municipal golf course performance

he NRPA has partnered with
the National Golf Foundation (NGF) and the National
Training Center (NTC) for Public Facility Managers at Oglebay to present
the inaugural Municipal Golf Institute
(MGI). The MGI program is a national forum designed to provide public sector employees responsible for
municipal golf courses with a better
understanding of key issues facing
municipal golf operations in 2011 and
beyond.
The learning objectives for these
groups will be a combination of
oversight issues (governance, basic management structure, political
implications), and day-to-day operational issues (growing rounds,
increasing revenue, and controlling
expenses). It is hoped that attendees
will be able to take the lessons from
the conference back to their home
golf course and implement ideas

www.NRPA .ORG

that will help improve the bottom
line economics of the municipal golf
course operation.
The new partnership, which
launches at the Oglebay Resort and
Conference Center in Wheeling, West
Virginia, September 6-9, 2011, represents the next step in the evolution
of NGF's highly successful National
Institute for Golf Management (NIGM)
that was held at Oglebay Resort for
20 years through 2009.
" We are seeing so much stress
in the municipal golf segment, " says
Richard Singer, director of Consulting
Services for the NGF. " We are hopeful
that this comprehensive and unique
program will aid municipalities in
better understanding the golf business, and help to ensure that America's local municipal golf course will
continue to operate without being a
burden to taxpayers. "
" The National Training Center at

Oglebay is excited to again be the
host site and operating partner of
the Municipal Golf Institute, " says Bill
Koegler, director of NTC at Oglebay.
" Using the successful Oglebay/NRPA
school and institute template will
further strengthen the outstanding
educational program currently being offered, and provide a firm home
base for the school to grow on an annual basis.
" The NGF is excited about its
plans to return the Municipal Golf Institute to Oglebay where it all started
22 years ago, " says Joe Beditz, CEO of
the National Golf Foundation. " Oglebay provides the perfect setting for a
concentrated education and training
program, while the new partnership
with NRPA provides access for recreation professionals nationwide. "
For more information on the MGI
program, contact Richard Singer at
RSinger@ngf.org.


April 2011 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2011 - Parks & Recreation