West Penn Minority Jr. Golf Association, Inc.

In 1995, Robert "Rock" Robinson along with his childhood best friend (Raiford "Rai" Beasley) founded West Penn Minority Junior Golf Association, Inc. (WPMJGA).  It was the brainchild of Rock after he participated in a National Minority Junior Golf Association tournament in Phoenix, Arizona in 1993 and again in 1994. The experience in Arizona moved Rock with the assistance of Rai to begin the work of establishing WPMJGA as a program that would teach the youth in our community the game of golf while at the same time gain affordable access to golf courses.

The program was officially established in December 1995 and enrolling young girls and boys into the program began in March 1996.  Initially, a lot of time was spent applying for and receiving tax-exempt status under federal section 501(c)(3), recruiting officers, board members and volunteers. In March of 1996, an initial Board of Directors was formulated and commitments were received from volunteers.  Fundraisers were conducted to purchase golf equipment, course fees, tax fees and general operating of the program.

The program's initial aim or mission was to expose primarily African American youth to the game golf early and use the game of golf an educational vehicle.  The WPMJGA goal was to teach the youth golf, but more importantly to assist those young men and women financially that made a choice to pursue college while at the same time develop good sportsmanship and integrity to become citizens. The goal was to use the game of as the instrument to get our young thinking about going to college.  The mission has been refined over the years to assist our young people to improve the conditions that are necessary to achieve fundamental, social and psychological well being by using the game of golf as an instrument.  This mission shapes the framework of who WPMJGA is today and the United Way approved the WPMJGA application to become a United Way Contributor Choice program in 2003 as a result of this social consciousness. This was significant because individual could donate to WPMJGA by designating WPMJGA (Contributor Choice Number 1319863) via  United Way.

.In October 1996, the first meeting with the young people to determine the level of ability and interest in golf.   The first year, six kids participated in the inaugural season. Twenty-one youngsters participated in 1997.  In 1998, twenty-five participants participated in WPMJGA activities and growth in the number of participants and activities have been a steady increase to 48 students in 2005. 

In 2003, the Tiger Woods Foundation selected WPMJGA to be one of three programs to host a “Tiger Woods//Coca Cola In The City Clinic & Festival”.  This was a milestone, in the WPMJGA history because it enabled 12 youth and their parents to take a trip to Orlando to see Tiger Woods perform his clinic.  Two participants of WPMJGA had the awesome experience of having a 15-minute one-on-one lesson with Tiger Woods, the worlds number one player.  

In 2005, the Founder and President (Robert Robinson) was awarded a Jefferson Award for his tireless commitment to the participants of the program and efforts to make WPMJGA one of the best run junior golf programs in the country.  In that same year, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity honored him with a distinguished community service award for time and effort working with the youth in the community.

 Today, WPMJGA is a vibrant golf program that has expanded its mission to include acquiring intern jobs at Country Clubs. The name of this component is called "GolfWorks".  It is a program that gets participants intern summer jobs at Country Club to learn the business of golf. These are non-traditional jobs (e.g., working in the pro shop, bag room, restaurant, accounting department, with the golf course superintendent and job shadowing the GM).  This program is also designed to rotate participants through the various job types in an effort to learn the entire workings of a golf course.

As a result of staying true to the mission, the intern program is leading to a higher self-esteem and networking opportunities for our youngsters as they matriculate to college and through life. WPMJGA has developed a strong mentoring component, great relationships with both golf courses and owners as the young ones get a feel for playing the game.  WPMJGA is striving to build relationships with educational institutions in a effort to make it affordable to attend college especially if the child has the aptitude, but may lack the finance. 

The future is bright for WPMJGA because of the role that WPMJGA plays in being a regional asset, having dedicated teachers to teach our young the game golf, and the rules and etiquette associated with the game and cultivating a support base that understands the value of WPMJGA.

A final note: WPMJGA is very proud that every child that has participated in WPMJGA has graduated high school and 98% of the high school graduates have gone on to either college or the military.