88 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • November/December • 2021
Ben McCoy on the links.
Ben McCoy, Mentor in Chief
“Kids become confi dent and outgoing and
know they can be whatever they want to be,”
explained Ben McCoy, Director of Golf and
Head Golf pro at Lemon Bay’s A Better Shot.
“The smile on their faces will convince you
of that in a New York second. A Better Shot
matters.”
Ben makes the time to meet regularly with
local children, just to touch base.
“I make sure everyone is still on track. Just
because the summer program is over, we still
contact you to follow up and see how things
are going in your life. We’re not letting anyone
fall through the cracks. We still stay in touch
with every child, making sure everything is
good. We have a couple who started junior
golf together and are now getting married.”
Knowing each child by name, their families
along with their golf handicap, Ben is a leader,
a mentor, and a friend.
One doesn’t have to look far to see the
outcome of The Better Shot program. It
isn’t measured in golf scores, but in the
children and what they have learned from the
program.
The success is measured by their graduates,
like Yui Fujii, whose goals are to graduate
with his Ph.D. within four years. “I’m thinking
the most logical step would be to go to an
agency like the EPA or the CDC, wherever my
specialty takes me. But I want to go out in the
fi eld to low and middle-income countries and
do my part.”
Public service is Yui’s passion, having spent
the summer of 2019 in Haiti doing research
and volunteer work at a cancer facility. “It’s
hard to experience this and then come back. I
know I’m going to go back again because the
people of Haiti have to live with poverty their
whole lives.”
With an anonymous challenge grant of
$100,000 to raise $150,000 in the Fall of
2020, A Better Shot launched its fi rst formal
fundraising campaign in December’s “Giving
Monday.” The Board is continuing to work
hard to award higher scholarships, as well
as exploring any prospective partners in
Charlotte County who share a commitment to
enhancing life skills of its youth.
The program started by Eldridge and
Honey back in 1999 is needed more today
than ever before in our age of social media
and isolation.
“We’re here to mentor and give children the
best in life,” agreed Ryan. “Everyone is here
to encourage you. It’s a special program and
the board members and leadership are all
committed to making the program better for
the children and the community.”
For more information, inquiries, or to make
a donation please contact juniorgolf@lbgc.co
or call (941) 697-4190.
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