Alcona High School Golf Receives New Equipment
The Alcona High School boys’ golf team needed help with new equipment, and Head Coach Dustin Yokom knew where he could find it.
He reached out to Ryan French of The For the Future Foundation, and French was happy to gift the team all sorts of new equipment, including new clubs, push carts, towels, and golf club head covers.
“My goal was to bring this golf team back, and I applied for the program thinking, ‘oh, this is just a shot in the wind’, but when he reached out, we were just so ecstatic, and I couldn’t wait to tell the guys,” said Yokom.
Golf is an expensive sport to play, and the economic barriers of the sport can discourage those who want to play golf from getting involved. With the help of the For the Future Foundation, not only will the current team have upgraded equipment, but they now have the chance to get more potential players involved.
“This is very rewarding,” said French. “We helped out Alpena High with some smaller stuff on a bigger scale, we’re helping out Alcona. It’s super rewarding, I’m lucky enough to have a platform and a foundation that helps kids. This is as special to me as I’m sure it is to the coaches and the players.”
The equipment totals around $30,000, and includes a simulated driving range. While it can have an advantage on the course, French says it’s about the experience.
“It’s a lifetime sport, it can lead to meeting people who can give you jobs, it teaches you a lot of life skills,” said French. “We would love for them to go and win state championships and everything, but that’s not the goal of the foundation. The goal of the foundation is to give kids a chance to play golf if they want to.”
The players were ecstatic about their new gear.
“It’s kind of like waking up at five in the morning, getting your dad out of bed, and mom, like, ‘hey, let’s open up presents,'” said Alcona High School junior golfer David Sharboneau.
The golfers and coaches are already looking forward to next season, when they can finally break in their new equipment.
