KARL PEARSON
A Karl Pearson column...
No matter what, the first person to accomplish something in any endeavor has a special distinction. It is one that can never be taken away.
Shelly Ford is one of those rare persons. She takes her status as Ashtabula County’s first girls golfer to qualify for the state tournament seriously. She also realizes she has created a real goal to shoot for as the winner of the first two awards as the Star Beacon Ashtabula County Girls Player of the Year.
Even though she isn’t riding west in a covered wagon or heading off into the great unknown, Ford understands that her efforts have made her a path breaker of sorts.
“I definitely feel like I’m a pioneer,” the Jefferson High School senior said. “Being the first means a lot to me. It shows how serious golf is to me. I want to be able to show younger golfers what the sport has to offer them.”
The daughter of Jeff and Mary Ford of Ashtabula hopes she has set a worthy example for those that follow her to emulate.
“First, I want to show them how much I love this game,” the Cleveland State University-bound golfer said. “I want them to see that I tried to stay true to the game, that I tried to play the game as it should be.
“It means a lot to me that I can be the first to make an impact on the game around here. I hope that I showed I was a good sport.”
According to Sara Dean, her coach at Jefferson the last two years, Ford comes up aces on all accounts. Dean knows how privileged she has been to go along for the ride with Ford over that period of time.
“I absolutely feel I’ve been blessed to work with a once-in-a-lifetime athlete,” she said. “It’s been a great ride right from the get-go. She’s been phenomenal to watch.
“I think Shelly has set the stage for so many girls in sports, and not just in golf. She’s proven that if you put that amount of time and effort into something, the rewards are going to be there.”
The rewards started coming very early in the 2009 season, when Ford earned medalist honors in the girls Star Beacon Invitational on the first day of the season for the very first time. But they had actually arrived even earlier as she made her decision to commit to Cleveland State before that first official round.
From there, it just kept getting better. Even though it was a bit of a struggle, she managed to fight her way back to state for a second straight year. When she got there, she improved upon her performance from her junior year, moving up to 16th from 20th in that junior season.
Even though it was a foregone conclusion once she made it to state that she would win a second Player of the Year award, Ford expressed gratitude for her selection.
“It’s a huge honor,” she said. “I worked very, very hard to get back to state this year. It was a great way to end my senior year on that note at state.
“The big thing I really wanted was to go back to state and finish better than I had last year. I couldn’t have asked for more than that.”
To Ford, it has definitely been a special year.
“Signing early (with CSU) was a huge thing,” she said. “I wanted to get it out of the way because I knew if I left it looming, it would be a huge distraction.
“It definitely meant a lot to win the first and second Star Beacon awards. Winning the first one was really cool and I was definitely shooting to win it again.”
Ford set other targets for herself this year.
“I wanted to not have a round over 40,” she said. “I had just two rounds over 40 this year, so I was pretty close. And I really wanted to just go out and have fun with the game.”
Ford credits plenty of people with making the game that much more enjoyable for her. Certainly at the top of her list are her parents and her younger brother, Kevin, a sophomore at Jefferson.
“My mom and dad and my brother have been an awesome support system for me,” she said.
But she feels she has also been blessed with great coaches.
“I’m really grateful to Dave Smith, my swing coach over in Erie,” she said.
It certainly includes her coaches with the Falcons, Scott Treen for her first two seasons at Jefferson and Dean for the last two.
“Coach Treen has been amazing,” Ford said. “He really helped me with my game. He can really play the game, too, so that helped a lot.”
She’s equally grateful to Dean, just for different reasons.
“Mrs. Dean has been awesome, too,” Ford said. “I don’t know what I would have done without her. She was always there for whatever I needed. She was even a shoulder to cry on if I needed it.
“I feel very fortunate to have played for the coaches I have. I couldn’t have asked for better coaches.”
In turn, Dean is grateful that Ford gives her so much credit.
“Shelly is just a phenomenal player to watch,” she said. “I appreciate that she gives me credit for helping her with the mental aspect of the game.”
There are many things Dean feels makes Ford special.
“Shelly is just a great person,” she said. “She is a great student (carrying a 3.9 grade-point average to rank 10th in her class of 186). She’s got the whole package.
“I know that Shelly will continue to work hard to get the maximum out of her opportunity at college. I know she put a lot of thought into picking Cleveland State because of that (where she plans to major in nursing).”
Ford is the kind of athlete that some of her rivals, or even her teammates, might resent because of her gifts. They might also consider her unapproachable. None of those is a part of her makeup, Dean said.
“She’s friendly with all of her opponents,” the coach said. “Some girls want to be paired with her because she helps them bring up the level of their play. There are others who don’t want to be in her group because I think she intimidates them, but I don’t think she tries to do that to other golfers.”
In fact, Ford has come to a deep appreciation of her teammates and the opposition.
“My teammates have been wonderful,” she said. “They know this is what I’ve worked so hard for. They’ve been totally supportive. I enjoy the girls from other teams, too.”
She hopes her example of what golf has already given her will influence other area girls to try the sport as well.
“I would tell them not to judge the game before they try it,” Ford said. “It can be very frustrating, but it’s a game of practice. There’s nothing like hitting an awesome drive or sinking a 20-foot putt.
“It’s really a lot of fun. I’ve taken some of my friends out and they’ve had fun with it.”
Ford has a firm understanding of what the game can mean in the long run, too.
“Golf is something you can stick with for a really long time,” she said. “It’s something you can take into your professional life. It’s a great game.”
She believes area girls are just beginning to understand what the benefits of the game can be. She believes the future is bright.
“I definitely see the game growing with girls like (Geneva seventh grader) Danielle Nicholson and (Perry sophomore) Ashley (Rideout),” Ford said. “I think the Geneva girls have a lot of promise.”
Dean said they couldn’t have a better example to follow than Ford.
“Shelly will be a hard act to follow,” she said. “She has worked hard for her opportunities.”
For her part, Ford has enjoyed every minute of the pursuit. Now, she will watch others from a distance, but with no less interest.
“I wouldn’t change my high school career for a second,” she said. “Everything that has happened has made me the golfer and the person I am today.
“I hope the players coming up are as fortunate as I’ve been.”
Pearson is a sports writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at kpearson@starbeacon.com.
