Unconventional golf coach teaches his children the game and how to win

L to R: Paula, Julian, Emma, Kevin

 

By Jane Feehan

Most who seek a professional career in golf started out using a coach. Some have been coached by parents who were pros. Athletes in other sports have also been trained by family members with skills and experience. Boca Raton resident Kevin Andrews has neither skills nor experience in golf but has successfully coached his children Emma,14 and Julian, 11.

It all started four years ago. Emma already played hockey at school; Julian played soccer. During the COVID pandemic, Kevin’s sports focus was redirected inward. What game could involve the entire family?

“A friend suggested we visit Top Golf,” said Paula Andrews, wife and mother. They went to the high-tech complex to familiarize the children with the game; they left as golf enthusiasts.

Kevin moved ahead and bought a set of used clubs for Emma and Julian. He looked into hiring a coach or buying lessons. It was expensive. Multi-day golf schools can cost thousands. Individual hourly lessons top $100 . Not deterred, he attended local golf events, including an LPGA tourney with the family to get a better feel for the sport.

“I got close to coaches so I could hear their instructions to players,” said Kevin who had already dismissed paying for instruction. He knew he’d need more information. He looked at You Tube videos and got a better understanding of what coaching entailed. He bought books. Then the family visited a golf shop at a public course in Lake Worth where a golf pro encouraged them to get Emma and Julian signed up for tournaments to play with those their age and skill level.

“But no one wants to play with beginners,” said Kevin. They had to start somewhere. He put the kids through drills at home and on a local course. Pressure was building to up his coaching abilities. “I can do this,” he thought. “But I wasn’t sure how to proceed.”

Proceed he did but in an unconventional way.

Kevin is an industrial engineer. Industrial engineers are methodical. They analyze parts of processes, or systems to make things work or to build products.

“When I understood how complex the swing is, I broke it down into parts—feet, knees, hips, elbows hands and head,” Kevin recounted. He started with the hands—the grip. Kevin took videos of Emma and Julian as they swung their clubs. Post-practice analysis helped correct mistakes, build up their strengths and strategize their wins by assessing course risks.

“It’s also a head game,” said Kevin. “So, I read Alter Ego: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life (by Todd Herman, HarperCollins 2019). “It really helped Emma get out of her head while playing in a tournament.”

Emma

Tournament is now a household activity. Four years later, Emma and Julian are solid competitors in their age group. At times they beat older players. Paula drives them to a course to practice five or six days a week. Kevin joins them after work.

“I’m good at driving the ball,” said Julian who ranks recess as his favorite part of school.

Emma, who hopes to be awarded a golf scholarship for college, visualizes herself as a golf pro one day.  “Putting is my strength,” she acknowledged.

These young golfers put their golfing strengths to work as members of Gold Coast Junior Golf Foundation (www.gcjgf.org). The Boca Raton-based nonprofit provides opportunities and scholarships for young golfers under age 19. Young golfers participate in monthly tournaments throughout South Florida. Once a year the organization recognizes players with an awards event at a golf club. Founder and former golf pro Wayne McKinney pays for the food, golf carts and trophies while sharing stories of his golfing days.

This year, Emma and Julian received trophies for playing in every tourney, scoring wins and maintaining good grades at school.

Today, Emma plays on her high school golf team while eyeing the next tournament. Julian likes driving the ball and beating older kids at the game even more than school recess.  Paula, head cheerleader, and Kevin walk each 18-hole course as the kids play in a monthly tournament. Kevin remains their winning coach.

Julian

“I like to follow the advice given in a book I read that helps me coach and the kids play,” said Kevin.

‘If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done.’ (From Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad, by James Clear, Penguin Random House 2018.)

There’s probably something else that no book can offer: the confidence, determination, and love only a parent can share with a child aspiring to be a competitor in sports. It’s a huge win.

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Tags: Faces of Florida, Golf

Beach life – more than meets the eye. A lifeguard’s dedication to profession and community

Lt. Serrano, Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, photo courtesy of G. Serrano

 
By Jane Feehan 

Gio Serrano’s stop in Fort Lauderdale on his way to Texas in 1996 would change his life.

Traveling from Puerto Rico to begin school at the Art Institute in Dallas, he was blown away on that fateful stop at the South Florida beach.

“Wow! You can get paid to work on the beach in Fort Lauderdale,” Gio exclaimed then as an 18-year-old. 

The beach had drawn him into its waters as a kid growing up in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It’s where he learned to swim when his mother coaxed him into the water to encourage him to learn. 

“There was a lot of school skipping to go to the beach,” he confessed. There were no lifeguards there; that’s part of what intrigued him about Florida and lifeguarding. He decided to stay.

Serrano transferred his enrollment to the Art Institute in Fort Lauderdale to study computer animation. Determined to succeed, he worked while in school part time as a lifeguard for the YMCA in Fort Lauderdale and the YMCA in Hollywood, completed his studies and progressed into a full-time career with Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue (FLOR), which included his developing their first website.

Ocean Rescue, recognized nationally for excellence, is comprised of one chief, eight lieutenants, 36 full-time and 90 part-time lifeguards.

Today, as a first responder Lieutenant Gio Serrano blends his skills as a paramedic, an emergency medical technician (EMT) and a CPR expert to serve beachgoers in trouble. He was recognized as Lifeguard of the Year in 2007. Today he can be seen in a red rescue vehicle patrolling areas that include five lifeguard towers between Fort Lauderdale’s south and central beach to ensure staff have what they need to perform rescue or life-saving medical duties. Serrano also trains lifeguards on the beach three days a week as well as the marine unit of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

A major part of a lifeguard’s work is responding to medical emergencies, which can spill into sidewalks and adjacent roads—or other into other municipalities such as Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, via mutual aid agreements.

But water rescues also rank high. “More than 50 percent of people can’t swim,” said Serrano. “Or they overestimate their abilities. Treading water in a pool is much different than dealing with changing ocean currents and conditions.”

He also said troubles may be seen before an ocean swimmer calls for help. The work of lifeguards includes interpreting behaviors in the water that indicate lack of confidence or recklessness. Some may hear a warning shouted over a solar powered PA system from a lifeguard tower. Other swimmers often don’t pay attention to where the towers are and express surprise about where a lifeguard comes from when one arrives to assist. “Towers sit 10 to 15 ft above eyelevel, yet they don’t notice them,” said Serrano who also pointed out there are far more rescues performed than life-saving activities.

Lt. Serrano teaching
kids CPR, photo courtesy
of G. Serrano

Many who don’t go to the beach may see Lt. Serrano beyond the city’s white sands; community outreach lies close to his heart. He trains kids in CPR and in swimming safety at Broward County schools.

There’s more that Lt. Serrano does for the community.

“One of my favorite things to do is visit pediatric hospitals with the 501^st Division (think Star Wars and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker). Dressed in uniforms replicating those in the movie, Serrano and friends raise spirits and help realize hopes through Make a Wish Foundation.

Lt. Serrano (white shirt)
recognized for service,
photo courtesy G. Serrano

We never know or appreciate what a lifeguard may be asked to do. During this interview, Lt. Serrano was asked by a homeless visitor to assist with a cell phone call; another asked about a contact to help find her shelter. They came to the right person; he assisted with both.

One thing Lt. Serrano does not do is go to Fort Lauderdale’s beach on his day off. However, he visits Florida’s Keys and occasionally the Ocala National Forest for a complete change of scenery.

With 25 years in Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, he brings not only expertise but also singular dedication to our community and compassion to those in trouble. It’s all in his day’s work. It’s the real beach life.

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Tags: Giovanni Serrano, Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, Lt. Gio Serrano, lifeguards, Fort Lauderdale beach