Coming into her own as a mentor
Corner Brook’s Rosie Allen wins Golf Canada’s Lorie Kane Future Leader Award
Rosie Allen is already somebody for younger golfers on the west coast to look up to.
The 15-year-old has been instrumental in helping develop the First Tee program in Corner Brook, has helped plan and run events for Blomidon Golf Club’s junior girls’ program and has worked with the Autism Society to develop programming for junior golfers with various forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Through her work, she is making an impact on younger golfers.
“It’s amazing to see and it’s amazing to watch them grow,” Rosie’s father, Wayne Allen, a coach and PGA pro at Humber Valley Resort, told Saltwire Network. “Because the younger girls, certainly 5-, 6-, 7-year-old girls, would rather Rosie as a coach than me. I’m just an old man. They relate to Rosie.”
Allen credits his daughter’s calm demeanour and personality.
“She’s very engaging with the kids and she has a lot of fun with them,” said Allen. “She’s really grown into the position more and more.”
Recently, Rosie received a big honour nationally for her efforts in growing golf in her community.
In February, Golf Canada announced Rosie was the recipient of its 2023 Lorie Kane Future Leader Award.
Per Golf Canada, this award “honours an individual 19 years of age or younger who embodies community leadership; has a history of sportsmanship or demonstrated activities to make the game more inclusive; or an individual who has used golf to create a meaningful impact in their community.”
It is one of the Lorie Kane Community Spirit Awards named in honour of the Canadian golf legend.
As part of the honour, Rosie also receives a $5,000 scholarship to go towards her post-secondary education as well as a four-month internship with Golf Canada.
“It was a great honour to win the award,” said Rosie. “It’s really rewarding, and I love seeing the kids grow in the game and learn other things besides just golf.”
The award will presented during ceremonies in Montreal this June.
MENTORING
Rosie became interested in coaching very young.
She was about nine or 10 years old, she says, when she started assisting her dad in coaching.
“My dad was my coach, he’s been my coach my whole life and when I got old enough, I knew I wanted to teach the kids the same way my coaches taught me,” she said. “It looked like such a fun job and I got to help so many little kids become who they are today.”
First Tee is a program for kids, introduced two years ago at Blomidon Golf Club.
As a coach in the program, Rosie is helping make golf more accessible to underrepresented groups.
The program fosters life skills through golf.
“It’s been hugely successful, it’s very structured and all the coaches have to be trained,” explained Allen. “So, Rosie, for example, is one of the coaches going through the training. Kids of a certain age can be trained at various levels to coach various age groups through the program. Rosie enjoys the work. She feels they learn life skills about staying positive, having good sportsmanship, establishing friendships and being honest.
WORKING WITH THE AUTISM SOCIETY
As part of the program, Rosie started working with the Autism Society in Corner Brook last fall to develop and run a program for golfers aged 5-9 with various forms of autism spectrum disorder.
Rosie loves seeing how much they enjoy the game and how much pleasure they experience when they acquire new skills.
“It’s just super rewarding to see how happy they get and how excited they are to be there, and they always show up and they always come with a smile on their face,” she said.
For her father, it’s been a pleasure watching her work with them.
“Watching her interact with those kids and the kindness towards them, it’s amazing to watch,” said Allen.
He says the program was a huge success. They’re looking to expand it this year and increase the numbers.
“Golf has enabled them to join, have fun, learn a sport,” said Allen. “And a lot of them have said they’ve actually felt part of a club since joining the program. It really doesn’t get any more satisfying than that.”
ITS A MENTOR SYSTEM
For the junior girls’ program, Allen explains they have all female coaches. It works like a mentoring system.
“As the girls develop, they become mentors to the younger girls and (they) look up to them,” he elaborated. “So, Rosie, having been through the program as a junior girl, is now one of the coaches and giving back, helping the younger girls develop and become great leaders themselves.”
With so many female coaches emerging, Allen feels it has had a great impact on growing the number of girls within the game on the west coast.
Now that Allen, formerly of the Blomidon Golf Club, is working at Humber Valley Resort, these programs will be offered there going forward. Rosie will continue to be involved as a mentor and coach.
Rosie will continue to be active in playing golf as well.
She has been a member of the provincial development team for four years and has won events in her home province.
Two of her goals include playing in the Canadian Junior Girls Championships and competing in the 2025 Canada Games.