Noor Ahmed is an athlete. But she had to find the right sport for herself first.
Her path to golf began when she was just eight years old. After dabbling in soccer, gymnastics, and swimming, she joined The First Tee, a program that teaches the game of golf and instills important life skills to their participants. Roughly ten years ago, Noor’s First Tee Chapter of Greater Sacramento and Youth on Course developed a partnership, allowing First Tee participants to automatically become Youth on Course members, thus Noor was introduced to Youth on Course.
After all of the sports she played, golf finally captured her highest interest. Originally, golf presented as a large obstacle for Noor due to the challenging nature of the game, but as she kept playing, she fell in love with the process of setting goals and creating ways to achieve them. This drive and determination that she learned from golf, is also what contributed to her becoming a Youth on Course college scholarship recipient.
Noor is a sophomore on the golf team at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln where she majors in history. She has set a goal to maintain above a 3.75 GPA this semester while helping her team make the postseason.
Without Youth on Course, pursuing her passion for golf would have been increasingly difficult for Noor due to the costly nature of the sport. In her own words: “YOC made playing golf affordable for me. Golf is by no means a cheap sport and YOC recognizes that and works to make the sport more accessible to young athletes.”
The opportunities Noor has had in reference to golf has inspired her to not only succeed academically and on the golf course but also seek to give back. She currently mentors a young girl on the golf course once a week. To Noor, Youth on Course not only helps junior golfers take the first step in continuing their game, but it also guides juniors throughout their entire career.
“YOC helps every individual recognize that they need to appeal to youth in order to help grow the game. Children are the future of the sport and in order to maintain the integrity of the game we need to bring up athletes that hold it to a high standard.” -Noor