April 24, 2009

The top ranked UCLA Women's golf team brought their golf expertise and unbridled enthusiasm to Team Prime Time's Palms Middle School location for an afternoon of golf, college counseling and so much more! The students took immediate advantage of having word class student athletes on their campus, grilling them on everything from the places they've competed to what makes being a Bruin so great.

Vern, a sixth grader and self-proclaimed 20 handicap, was happy to receive expert advice from freshman Stephanie Kono and senior Maiya Tanaka.

"I usually just play football, soccer, and basketball, but they have inspired me to play more golf, said Vern."

Tiffany Joh and Glory Yang had a similar effect on seventh grader Briana, as she exclaimed, "they were like my golfing big sisters. Before they came my interest in golf was a zero on a scale of 1 to 10, but now it's like 150!"

All-American Maria Jose Uribe gave detailed analysis of each stroke and made each kid feel like they were receiving private lessons. Meanwhile, her partner in coaching, Lalita "La-La" Boonnoppornkul, kept everyone smiling while taking notice of the effect the team had on the students.

"The exposure for these kids to the sport is great and it's amazing how far a small piece of advice can take them," said Boonnoppornkul.

The coaching of freshman Brianna Do also helped the team accomplish a rare feat - getting at-risk middle school students to enjoy something they've never tried before.

Team Prime Time Program Director Ryan Kenney, a Bruin alum, marveled at the positive impact on both sides. "The kids had an amazing time and many of them were learning about the game for the first time, which is a real tribute to the girls on the team and their coaches, who seemed to be having a great time themselves," said Kenney. "I can easily promise that golf will be a regular sport at Team Prime Time from now on. Thank you ladies!"