STUDENT SPOTLIGHT – WILL SAGNELLA

By Warren Beardow

Warren Beardow of Southport, Connecticut, is as accomplished teacher as evidenced by his presence on the WGTF Top 50 Teacher list. He has a golf academy where he has enlisted the help of one of the area’s top high school golfers, Will Sagnella.

“Will is a North Haven High School senior who has been with me for the last two seasons as assistant coach,” said Beardow. “Will is an accomplished high school team golfer who has a strong desire to help bring young kids into golf. I recruited Will to work with me and the response from the kids, their focus and advancement, has shown the value and reward of continual recruitment and training of volunteer assistants. Will quickly learned to develop his own lesson plans.

“Each lesson consists of six to eight kids in an age group with three coaches. The lesson plan is written and discussed in advance to have as much impact on each student as possible. Coaches quickly learn how to individualize the teaching to each student and how each learns. Many of the volunteers I have worked with were high school golfers who have gone on to college. Many have played of college golf teams. In every case the volunteer coaching experience was a valuable part of their college application resumes.”