opportunities Archives - First Tee

(2025 Summer of Opportunity!) Summer is here, and with it, another round of First Tee National Opportunities. Every year, First Tee – Silicon Valley participants who have been long standing and highly engaged are selected to apply for these unique, once in a lifetime experiences. FTSV has submitted their applications, and many participants have been selected to attend these opportunities and represent their chapter. Congratulations!

Qualifications to apply for Opportunities

Every year, participants from First Tee chapters worldwide apply for one of the limited spots at these limited opportunities. To apply, our chapter looks for FTSV participants who have a minimum of 3 years with First Tee and have been highly engaged in the chapter over the years (e.g., volunteer coach, participant at least 2 seasons per year each year, active in tournaments/Girls Golf, etc.). Applicants are selected to apply based on their time spent in the program, amount of volunteer hours, engagement in FTSV extracurriculars, and other accomplishments. Once selected to apply, applicants must meet the requirements set forth by First Tee National, write several short essays, listing their accomplishments in and out of the classroom, and include letters of recommendation.

Good work to all participants who were able to submit applications this year!

So far, this year FTSV has submitted 24 applications for 4 different National Opportunities, including the College Scholar Program.

First Tee College Scholarship – Class of 2025

Two participants, Isabella Herrera and Li An Panfil, accepted into the College Scholar Program, provided them with financial support, career mentorship and internship opportunities. Congratulations and good luck with this next chapter of your life!

First Tee National Championship – Notre Dame June 22-26

Participant Brian Yu was selected this year as our representative to the FT National Championship tournament. Unfortunately, he will not be able to attend, but it was an honor to be selected.

First Tee Game Changers Academy Honoring Joe Louis Barrow, Jr. July 8-12

Participants Li An Panfil and Nicolas Hernandez Lopez were selected to attend the Game Changers Academy.

First Tee Leadership Academy with PGA Tour Superstore, June 16-21

Participants Edwin Sanchez, Vian Tran and Marissa Wei have been selected to attend the FT Leadership Academy held in Atlanta, GA.

First Tee Leadership Summit with PGA Tour Superstore, August 4-8 or August 11-15

Participants Joshua Joo and Vikrant Bhende have been selected to attend the FT Leadership Summit taking place at the West Creek Ranch in Emigrant, Montana.

Applications are being filled out for the Innovators Forum and the Drive Your Future Academy and selections will be made in August and September respectively. Selected participants for the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach will be announced early next month.

Published: 06-16-2025

It’s another Summer of Opportunity and the competition is fierce! Every year, First Tee – Silicon Valley participants who have been long standing and highly engaged are selected to apply for First Tee National opportunities.

Qualifications to apply for Opportunities

Competition for the opportunities is high and spaces are very limited. To apply, our chapter looks for FTSV participants who have a minimum of 3 years with First Tee and have been highly engaged in the chapter over the years (e.g., volunteer coach, participant at least 2 seasons per year each year, active in tournaments/Girls Golf, etc.). Applicants are selected based on their time spent in the program, amount of volunteer hours, engagement in FTSV extracurriculars, and other accomplishments. Once selected to apply, applicants must meet the requirements set forth by First Tee National, write several short essays, list their accomplishments in and out of the classroom, and include letters of recommendation. Applicants from across the country apply for the limited spaces. Selected recipients get to experience opportunities of a life time.

So far this year, we have been able to submit 21 applications for 17 unique participants. We hope to have 8 more applications submitted in the near future to bring the total to 29.

We are thrilled by the acceptance of 9 of our participants…

Hopefully more in the coming months! Norah Yang, Eduardo Tapper, Isabella Herrera, Marissa Wei, Tristan Hipolito, Alexandra Varo, Natalie Chen, Dakota Chang, and Ashely Pang (pictures shown left to right below) have all been selected to attend various First Tee National opportunities.

All 2024 participants that were selected for opportunities

Norah Yang & Eduardo Tapper were accepted to the First Tee National Championship to be held at the Walker Course at Clemson University in South Carolina, June 23^rd – June 27^th. Joey Jang was selected as an alternate. Click here to learn more about Norah and Eduardo and the National Championship.

Isabella Herrera & Marissa Wei were accepted to the Game Changers Academy in Minneapolis, MN, July 9th– 13th. Click here to learn more about Isabell and Marissa and what the Game Changers Academy is all about.

Natalie Chen & Alexandra Varo were accepted to the First Tee Leadership Summit in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore in Emigrant, Montana, August 5^th – August 9^th and August 12^th – August 16^th. Click here to learn more about Natalie and Alexandra and what the Leadership Summit is all about.

Dakota Chang & Ashely Pang Selected to First Tee Leadership Academy in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore in Atlanta Georgia, June 17th-22nd. Click here to learn more about Dakota & Ashley and the First Tee Leadership Academy.

Tristan Hipolito was accepted to the Participant Advisory Council in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, July 22^nd – 24^th. Click here to learn more about Tristan and the Participant Advisory Council.

“Our chapter looks forward to having Norah, Eduardo, Isabella, Marissa, Tristan, Alexandra, Dakota and Ashely represent our chapter at these national opportunities. We are grateful to have had them in our program and are thrilled for them to gain these experience around the country. They are great people and have made our program a better place.
– First Tee – Silicon Valley Program Director, Chris Moreno-Hunt

A special thank you to Coach Phoenix for working with each participant on their application.

Please join us in congratulating Norah, Eduardo, Isabella, Marissa, Tristan, Alexandra, Natalie, Dakota, and Ashely for their outstanding achievement! Acceptance to these opportunities is a product of their character, the work they put in, and the commitment they demonstrated to our program.

To find out more regarding our local, regional, and national opportunities please visit our youth opportunity page or reach out to Coach Phoenix at [email protected].

Published: 06-12-2024