Tv's '60 Minutes' Features Youth Foundation Recipient St. Benedict's Prep

St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, which a year ago received funds from the NJSGA and NJPGA to restart its golf program, was the subject of a 20-minute feature on CBS-TV’s acclaimed show “60 Minutes,” on Sunday, March 20.

The boards of both the NJSGA’s Youth Foundation and the NJPGA’s New Jersey Golf Foundation each donated $5,000 for a $10,000 total contribution to fund the golf program in 2015 at St. Benedict’s which had lain dormant for the past 12 years.

The '60 Minutes' segment told of the daily regimen and the education of the student body, which primarily consists of inner-city youth.

VIEW 60 MINUTES FEATURE ON ST. BENEDICT'S PREP

“We want to get our young men excited about the game of golf,” said Fr. Edwin Leahy, headmaster of St. Benedict’s. “The key in the beginning is enthusiasm. We’d like to get the program going and then help spread golf for youth throughout the City of Newark.

“Golf provides an opportunity for kids through athletics to step into another world. In golf, they are exposed to a whole new set of possibilities if they learn to function in that world. A lot of business is conducted on golf courses,” Fr. Leahy stated.

Three prominent NJSGA Board of Trustees members are graduates of St. Benedict’s Prep including current president Daniel Meehan of Spring Brook, vice president William Frese of Rock Spring/Montclair and immediate past president Frank O’Brien of Plainfield.

St. Benedict’s has been nationally recognized in soccer, basketball and wrestling.