ParaGolf Canada and Doug Lawrie partner to build Junior Integration Program
Toronto, Ontario (March 2, 2022) – ParaGolf Canada is excited to announce a partnership with Doug Lawrie, PGA of Canada Junior Leader of the Year winner and United States Kids Top 50 Master Teacher to implement the ParaGolf Canada Junior Integration Program into Doug Lawrie’s Focus Golf Group.
This partnership will build upon ParaGolf Canada’s Junior Integration Program, which was developed by Todd Keirstead, Founder/CEO of ParaGolf Canada, to provide opportunities for Canadian junior golfers to be exposed to a disability-positive environment that will help them become more aware, compassionate, and inclusive adults. With this partnership, ParaGolf Canada will be fusing its members into Doug Lawrie’s Focus Golf Group Academy in the 2022 season.
“ParaGolf Canada is proud to partner Doug and his Focus Golf Group Academy,” say Keirstead. “By focusing on play, the ParaGolf Canada Junior Integration Program will be helping to build a future where people of all abilities are not viewed by their perceived inabilities, but celebrated for their strengths by our next generation. The value of enabling and empowering todays juniors towards inclusion and diversity is extremely important.”
“It is important that we engage ParaGolf Canada members in explaining disabilities to our junior golfers. They should be the ones to determine the message conveyed,” says Keirstead. “The sooner we expose our youth to disability, the more easily we will start to create a ripple effect of inclusivity and acceptance.”
Doug Lawrie
Over the course of nearly 30 years as a member of the Canadian PGA, Doug Lawrie has always enjoyed how the learning of golf continues to bestow on those willing to grow. As one of leading voices in junior golf development, Doug program has been recognized world-wide for not only working with young golfers who are just getting into the game and helping them progress as they move through the junior ranks but in also developing some of the top junior golfers in Canada.
“Todays junior golfers are exposed to so much external “noise” to be perfect. I have witness anxiety, stress and the demands that these young, high performing athletes place on themselves. This internal environment inevitably creates athletes who cannot understand what it means to fail,” says Lawrie. “Partnering with ParaGolf Canada is a perfect opportunity for these athletes to understand what “able” really does mean.”
About ParaGolf Canada
ParaGolf Canada is a ground breaking initiative that creates pathways for Canadians of all abilities to advance in golf. Through golf, ParaGolf Canada wants individuals with disabilities to become actively engaged in the social fabric of their community, and to derive the health benefits that enhance the quality of life by creating an environment that empowers, inspires and encourages individuals to strive to achieve their own goals and live life to the fullest regardless of their ability.
