‘Coach Fred’ Preston teaches youngsters about golf and life.
Frederick Preston teaches youngsters about the games of golf — and life.
On a recent day, before the sun cast long shadows across the putting green, he offered helpful hints to several young golfers at the First Tee Greater San Antonio Center on East Mulberry Drive.
“Okay, show me what you’ve got,” he said in a hushed tone as Evie Bowhay lined up a shot.
The 9-year-old with a ponytail hit the ball, which skirted the edge of the hole.
“That was a little hard, but it was a good putt,” said Preston, 78.
Borrowing her club, he demonstrated the form the shot required. Following Preston’s example, Evie made the shot. The man known to youngsters as “Coach Fred” bumped her elbow with an approving nod.
“The goal of First Tee is to make golf accessible to everyone, particularly youth from lowincome families,” Preston said. “It’s always a goal I’ve tried to uphold and promote.”
For the past 15 years, the avid golfer has volunteered at First Tee to teach children, ages 5 to 18, about the sport and the paths ahead of them. The coaches teach nine core values: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment.
The local chapter is part of a network of First Tees, an international program that began in 1997 after Tiger Woods became the first Black golfer to win the Masters.
Carrie Kimbell, executive director of First Tee Greater San Antonio, said volunteers are the lifeblood of any nonprofit.
“The fact that Fred comes back year after year is a testament to our program and the impact that we have on the community,” said Kimbell, 44. “Golf is a socially distant sport inherently and being able to be outside with the kids in a safe environment is great. If volunteering is on your heart, it’s a great place to come and volunteer.”
The local chapter is celebrating its 20th anniversary of mentoring youngsters at several locations in the San Antonio area.
Preston started playing golf 25 years ago. After a series of knee injuries, he was looking for a sport to take up. A friend gave him a set of clubs and demanded he go with him to the driving range. Thus began his golf odyssey
He followed a friend’s recommendation to volunteer with First Tee and continue his passion for teaching youngsters. He came one Saturday and he’s been coming back ever since.
Preston said he was also drawn to the program’s openness to make the game accessible to children of all races.
“That’s what makes it such a treasure,” he said. “It provides another opportunity to youth of diverse backgrounds to interact in a very diverse environment, racially and economically.”
During his 35-year career, Preston served as a faculty member and senior administrator at two major universities: the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Stony Brook University in New York. Preston received his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.
In 2005, he retired from Stony Brook as vice president of student affairs.
Along with his fellow First Tee volunteers, Preston teaches 20 students at the center near Brackenridge Park.
“The unwritten thing about these sessions is each of these young people come with their own personality, strengths and weaknesses,” Preston said. “And because First Tee is committed to character building, we’re challenged not to worry just about the mechanics of the game, but also where that individual and their parent is at a given point in time in the child’s character development.”
At the start of sessions, the coaches set up activities other than golf that promote teamwork, sportsmanship, interpersonal skills and physical fitness. He said from the start, the coaches are ready to help a young person who might lack self-discipline, control of emotions or impulses.
“I feel it’s a responsibility to help that young person tackle that,” Preston said, “and they’re going to find it makes them a better golfer, student, person, son or daughter.”
In 2005, the retired educator relocated to San Antonio after several visits to his daughter, Lisa Schmidt. Preston said little by little, he fell in love with the people and the city’s combination of Southern charm and Mexican American warmth.
The city’s historic architecture and buildings fascinated the educator whose hobby is photography. In 2009, he wrote and provided photographs for the “Historic Doorways of San Antonio, Texas” published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
In the book’s forward, Judge Nelson Wolff wrote, “When you look at his photographs, you wish you could grab the knob and walk into a past time, when life moved at an elegant and slower pace.”
Preston said he is currently working on a book with Carmen Tafolla, San Antonio’s inaugural poet laureate, about San Antonio’s outdoor public art.
And like his book about doorways, Preston has opened doors to new horizons for young people in the program.
Before he went out to coach the youngsters, Preston greeted former students Johany Rivera, 24 and Brittany Taylor, 23, who now volunteer with First Tee. Rivera is a program manager and Taylor is an assistant coach. Preston coached Rivera when she was 7 and Taylor when she was 9.
“He’s a wonderful guy,” Rivera said. “He coached us to be better kids.”
Taylor said Preston was there every Saturday, ready to help with the grip of a club or how to grasp a curve that life had dealt them.
“He was super reliable to us,” she said.
Janna Poth, 46, said she enrolled her daughter, Jamesyn, 8, in the program to foster a love of golf. With the limitations of COVID-19, she wanted her daughter to be able to go outside and interact with people.
“To have her participate in a competitive sport, yet learn character traits, is a win-win,” Poth said.
Back on the putting green, Preston helped the budding golfers.
He suggested that Joseph Cameron, 10, keep his eye on the ball. He advised Davis Thompson, 11, to take his time with his swing. As he worked with Dax Spencer, 9, he folded his hands behind his back, leaned forward and offered quiet tips.
For Preston, working with youth is about continuing the legacy of what coaches did for him as a boy on the East Coast: extending a helping hand.