LOCAL GOLFERS REALIZE SCHOLARSHIP DREAMS
Charlebois, Brancaccio taking talents to the University of Detroit Mercy next season
Almost from her first swing of a golf club at the age of six, Kyla Charlebois wanted to earn an NCAA golf scholarship, while an arm injury changed Austin Brancaccio's scholarship direction.
The two Villanova high school students accomplished their scholarship goal, with Charlebois and Brancaccio each signing a national letter of intent to play golf for the University of Detroit Mercy next season.
“All my hard work paid off,” said the 18-year-old Charlebois, who is from Amherstburg. “It is a relief, but I'm still working hard to work on my game.”
Charlebois has made a name for herself locally winning backto-back junior girls' division titles on the Jamieson Junior Golf Tour. While high school sports were shut down for nearly two years, she was still named Villanova's MVP in 2018 and
2019 while winning a WECSSAA individual and team title and finishing second at SWOSSAA.
“I am really excited to have Kyla join the team next year,” Detroit head coach Lindsey Lammers said in a release. “She brings a lot of raw talent and has a lot of potential to make a big impact on the team as a freshman.
“I know her work ethic is going to be above and beyond and she's a great fit for the family culture we are building.”
While her game was on the rise, COVID-19 shut down Charlebois' hopes to get her name out to schools in the United States.
“Right when COVID started, I was supposed to start competing in the States to get my name out there,” she said. “I had to do more to get my name out.”
But Charlebois, who will study biology in hopes of becoming a pediatrician, found the chance to play close to home a perfect fit.
“I looked at a couple of schools, but I like this one because it's close to home, the team atmosphere and the class sizes are small,” Charlebois said.
While her goal is accomplished, Charlebois praises her time on the Jamieson Junior Golf Tour with helping to get her over the finish line.
“Just the competing and competing at that level with all the pressure,” she said. “I'm excited to get the chance.”
For the 18-year-old Brancaccio, who is from Lasalle, the scholarship goal was a little different a few years back.
“Originally, I was a baseball player and had a couple of offers for baseball and didn't feel comfortable picking a school,” said Brancaccio, who was a pitcher for the Windsor Selects. “I injured my shoulder last summer and had more time for golf and I ended up committing to golf.”
The motion of swinging a golf club did not have a negative impact on his shoulder the way throwing a baseball did.
“When I golf, it's perfectly fine, but when I go to throw there was a lot of pain,” Brancaccio said.
With a late start, Brancaccio had limited opportunities to showcase his skills, but got that with the Jamieson tour, where he won his first event last year and placed in the top 10 overall in the junior boys' division.
“Basically, over the summer, I was emailing a bunch of schools and sending videos of my swing and updated scores,” said Brancaccio, who will study business administration. “(Detroit interim head coach James) Tinkey emailed me back and said they were interested.
“Basically, just emailing back and forth and I went on a visit and from there I knew I wanted to go there.”
Tinkey sees potential in Brancaccio that he believes will come out over time at university.
“We are really excited to welcome Austin to the squad next year,” Tinkey said in a release. “He brings in a lot of talent and has the potential to make a big impact on the team over the course of his career.
“His incredible attitude and work ethic make him a great addition to our program.”
Of course, Detroit has already some success with area golfers in Assumption high school product James Hill and St. Joseph high school product Alek Mauro.
“I played with Alek and James at Essex Golf course,” Brancaccio said. “It helped a lot knowing some of the guys and feeling comfortable over there. Knowing a couple of guys on the golf team helped the decision.”