Almost 50 primary and secondary school teachers were introduced to the basics of golf instruction at November’s ACHPER WA Conference.
ACHPER WA (shortened from Australian Council for Health Physical Education & Recreation) aims to increase the health, education and uptake of physical activity in Western Australians of all ages, especially in school-aged children and young people.
Its membership is made up of teachers, coaches and researchers in educational institutions who are active in the areas of Health and Physical Education, Sport and Dance Education, Community Recreation, and Fitness or Movement Science.
The two-day conference at ECU attracted more than 150 educators, who attended numerous seminars and practical workshops – with golf one of the hottest tickets in town.
Despite temperatures in the high 30s, more than 40 teachers participated in two practical golf sessions, which were delivered by PGA professionals Rob Farley and Brayden McCubbing.
The focus was on how to teach golf in schools in a safe and engaging fashion, while still offering basic technical skills support. Participants were taught the basics of the swing and ball striking, which were broken down into simple steps to enable the skills to be passed on to others.
Teaching the teachers: Brayden McCubbing puts participants through their paces
Marc Pike, GolfWA’s Game Development & High Performance Manager, hailed the conference as a great success, saying: “This is our third year in a row attending the conference and overall it was a very positive experience.
“GolfWA is committed to providing pathways into golf for as many people as possible, which makes having advocates for the sport in the education section extremely valuable in raising awareness of golf and delivering engaging, practical training.”
GolfWA also had a booth in the conference expo hall, where 35 schools requested follow-up information on school visits, or links to equipment and resources. In addition, several attendees expressed interest in Community Golf Instructor accreditation and Sporting Schools initiatives.
“There’s a lot of interest in golf and we look forward to continuing to support ACHPER and its members in the future,” Pike added.
