Client Spotlight: Lauren
Horizons in Hemophilia, February 2010
By Cathy Hulbert, LCSW, Social Worker
Lauren, age 11, knows that life is a lot like golf. Having an upbeat attitude greatly increases your chances of success. Lauren started playing golf 4 years ago. Before long she was bringing home trophies and medals. Recently, she received something incredibly exciting: an invitation to play at the 2010 European Championship in Scotland! It will take place this June.
“In golf or in any sport you have to have a positive attitude,” said the energetic 6th grader, who attends Riverwatch Middle School in Suwanee. “Even when things appear challenging, a positive attitude allows you to learn and become better. The important thing is to set goals and keep working toward achieving them.” She played in 13 tournaments in 2009 as part of the U.S. Kids Golf Tour. Seven were in the Canton, Ohio Summer Tour and six in the Atlanta Fall Tour. Lauren placed first in ten tournaments and second in three other tournaments. She won “Player of the Year” in both tours!
“You can’t just think you are going to be great,” she said. “You have to do the things that other people won’t do to become great.”
Lauren’s parents, David and Sherry, say they greatly admire her incredible spirit. Going to Scotland will be an experience “that will forever change her life,” says her father, whose own love of the game helped his daughter get into the sport. The family is now working hard to raise the $5,000 for the cost of the trip and they continue to invest a great deal of time to support her golf success. In the meantime, she keeps working to improve her score. Her average score for the Ohio Tour was 49.166. Her average score after the Fall Tour in Atlanta was 45.333.
“Lauren played some very difficult courses and gained some valuable experience,” her father said. “She is a very dedicated, determined and focused young lady. One of her big goals is to play in the Olympics in 2016.” He added, “We practice together every day. When she first started playing golf she also was playing tennis,” he said. “But the swings were so different that she decided to focus on becoming good at golf. No, GREAT at golf!”
“I love the game because it teaches me lessons,” she said. “It teaches me that I have to keep an optimistic attitude through the game. This also helps me in life. I have to have a positive attitude in school and in regular life to stay successful.”
Recently, she played a regional tournament in Tampa, Florida. She placed fifth and won a trophy. On February 15 and 16 she went to Jekyll Island to compete in another regional tournament. Her other planned engagements for the year include the World Championship in Pinehurst, NC, in August, the PGA Golf Club Invitational in Port St. Lucie, FL, in October and the “Desert Shootout” in Phoenix, AZ in December. “You have to really love a sport to succeed at it,” she said.