Alumnus Chaperones First Tee National Opportunity in Montana

Two-week Summit empowers 40 teens to hone leadership skills and identify values while providing dynamic team activities such as whitewater rafting

Chantel was one of four alumnus to get chosen to chaperone this National Opportunity.

First Tee Leadership Summit is designed to strengthen leadership skills through dynamic outdoor and team-building activities with the intended purpose of personal growth, education and coming together to make a difference. Daily leadership themes include Building Authentic Relationships, Growing through Challenge, and Building Positive Self Identity. Set in the unforgettable backdrop of West Creek Ranch, the Summit gives teens the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities including golf, fly fishing, yoga, meditation, horseback riding, archery, whitewater rafting and hiking. The teens are encouraged to apply their learnings through these activities for hands-on professional and personal development. 

“As we begin the second-annual summit this week, we can already see the transformative experience taking place for these remarkable teens,” said Dick Sullivan, President & CEO, PGA TOUR Superstore. “We are thankful to be a part of such a meaningful and impactful event for these motivated teenagers.”

“We honored to host this meaningful week for these participants who will learn skills to take with them for the rest of their lives,” added Greg McLaughlin, First Tee CEO. “PGA TOUR Superstore is supporting our mission and we thank Arthur Blank for his commitment to our country’s youth.”

“It was truly an honor to get the opportunity to chaperone 19 participants at West Creek Ranch. I was able to watch the participants grow as young leaders in just a few days. Their main topics for the week were to build authentic relationships, grow through challenges, and to build positive self identity. The participants were not the only ones to take something away from those three topics. It helped me think about all the authentic relationships I have built throughout the years with how open I have become about my life and the challenges I have and am current going through. With those challenges in my life, I learned how to overcome them even more by building a positive self identity for myself. It all comes down to who you are as a person. It takes time to becomes the person you want to be and I’m realizing that now. The three topics really went together with each other and it allowed me to be open and share my story with the 19 participants. I wanted to show them that it is okay to be open about things in your life and I saw them open up with their closing statements at the end of the week. They were all very vulnerable with who they were and who they now want to be. If I got to opportunity to go back to West Creek Ranch, I would in a heart beat.”

Chantel Brende

A few pictures of the week while Chantel was there: