For most sports teams, a solid development program is essential for success. These programs allow young athletes to develop their skills in preparation for playing on a high school Varsity team. For the boys’ golf team, a development program that started in middle school has allowed for their Suburban League championships over the past three years. What started out as a teacher taking some students out to the golf course, eventually developed into the middle school golf team that prepares young players for Varsity competition.

The middle school golf team initially began with this year’s seniors, becoming an official team with this year’s juniors. That team began the development of the middle school kids into the high school golfers that they are, creating a team of champions.

Coach Jed McKnight recognizes that the middle school golf team is what gave the high school team one of its greatest strengths.

“Most teams in our league have maybe one or two golfers who can go out and compete, and we put six guys out there that can [compete] and really have guys that even aren’t playing who also could as well. We put guys in matches who, maybe number wise, might be our tenth, eleventh, twelfth player and they ended up scoring for us and beating kids on other teams,” he said.

Junior Andy Trem acknowledges the impact the middle school golf team had upon him as a golfer.

“If it hadn’t been for that eighth grade team that I played on I wouldn’t have really ever played golf. That was really the first time I ever played…I knew the game growing up and I played a little bit that summer and heard they had a team so I decided to give it a try….That opened me up into the whole world of real competitive golfing,” he said.

The middle school has not always had a golf team. In fact, it has been one of the newest athletic programs in the Revere School District, only developed a few years ago. McKnight began the middle school team as a way for middle school students to learn the game of golf and to develop their skills for the high school Varsity team.

“It all started with this year’s senior class, these guys who have been a part of all this success. The first year we did it, it wasn’t a formal team. I took guys to play golf at a golf course. After that started I began thinking, ‘well let’s try to create a team,’ and then our current juniors were on our first team,” he said.

Trem was a new member to Varsity this year, working his way onto the team. He enjoys joining in on Revere’s golfing success.

“I’m proud to play a role in a team that’s one of the good teams at Revere. It’s the most important team that I’ve ever been on because it’s a Varsity team and it feels good to have success,” he said.

Senior Bo Youssefi was one of the first to participate in the middle school golf program and he appreciates how that benefitted him.

“Cory Hill and I both participated in the middle school program. It gave me experience and expectations for what an actual high school match would be like,” he said.

The team finished the season winning the sectional match, but just falling short of qualifying for the state tournament in the district match. Senior Cory Hill admits, however, that the team still improved toward the end of the season.

“At the beginning of the year we always went out and tried to beat each other…At the end of the year, we went out and played for the team, not for the individual,” he said.

Now that this year is over, the team looks forward to welcoming those middle school students from this year’s middle school team next year and prepares to say goodbye to those seniors who started with that program.