Annika Sorenstam Takes Her Message to Harlem

In 15 years as a professional, Annika Sorenstam established herself as the dominant player in the history of women’s golf. In addition, she has participated in golf-course design and started an apparel collection as well as a financial group to advise professional athletes. Away from the game, Sorenstam is a global ambassador for the sport who devotes her time and attention to health initiatives and instruction for youngsters through the Annika Foundation and the Annika Academy.

In an interview earlier this year, we talked about the bold originals in the games, all too often a contradiction in terms in a sports world populated by copycats and risk-averse conservatives.

“For me, the independent thinkers in golf have always been Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Greg Norman,” Sorenstam said. “They have all been successful athletes who have taken their knowledge and their passion in different ways. They have been my role models. Their success in golf, of course, set them up to build a business or to extend their work into golf-course design or other pursuits apart from golf. That sets them apart from others who just play golf or [disappear] after they stop playing.

“Outside golf, I can think of Emmitt Smith, John Elway, and Billie Jean King who have succeeded away from sports. Arnold Schwarzennegger has been successful in sports. Well…bodybuilding, but he went from there into acting and then politics,” she said. “I admire people who work hard and are successful and have a lot of interests [outside sports] and contribute one way or another away from their sport.”

Sorenstam might well have included herself among that field. An independent thinker and philanthropist, she has stayed on course after golf to share her gifts and her success to try to improve the quality of life for others.

Yesterday, Sorenstam visited The Children’s Storefront, an independent school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, in Harlem as part of a wellness transformation project led by two Cal State Chico professors and organized by the Annika Foundation, SPARK, and The First Tee. Sorenstam spoke to the students about physical fitness, diet, and the intrinsic lessons and values of sports and participated in a series of activities with the children, including jump rope.