Great Kids! A Series about Local Kids who are Changing the World

By TANIA SOUSSAN

Maddison Long, a senior at New Mexico Connections Academy, has her sights set on playing golf for a top tier Division I or Division II university team.

Long, who will turn 17 in July, has plenty of golf credentials to bolster her chances and she also excels academically. She regularly travels around the country to compete in tournaments, including as part of the U.S. Junior Olympics team where she played golf with kids from all over the world and represented the United States and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, of which she is an active member.

“I love the competition,” she said. “It’s different from team sports because you’re just kind of all by yourself. It’s all on you. You put in the work. And you can meet so many people.”

She also is one of 11 youth golfers on the 2023 NB3FIT Youth Golf Team, a program created by professional golfer and Albuquerque native Notah Begay III’s NB3 Foundation focused on improving Native American children’s health. The NB3FIT team members are selected based on skill, commitment, community involvement and willingness to learn. They get learning opportunities and skills training while being challenged to consider how they will give back to their community. NB3FIT serves Native American and tribal communities in New Mexico, and Long said it gives minority groups a chance to be more represented in golf.

Long was one of 24 youth in the United States accepted into the 2023 PGA Tour Pathway to Progression Junior Development Program. Locally, she shot 80 to become this year’s district champion, helping the Volcano Vista High School Hawks take home the first-place team trophy. (She plays for Volcano Vista because New Mexico Connections does not have a golf program.) Long placed 12th out of 47 girls at the state competition.

Because golf keeps her so busy, the online schooling at New Mexico Connections Academy is a good fit. The public charter school gives her the freedom to pursue her sport without sacrificing academics.

“It’s very flexible with my schedule,” she said. “Especially during the weekdays with high school tournaments, I can catch up. I have more time to do stuff.”

Long was awarded the prestigious College Board National Indigenous Recognition Award this year for outstanding academic achievement on the PSAT exam.

She said academics are very important to her. “Golf always comes second. I really try to focus on getting good grades. I always want to make sure I’m excelling in all of my classes," she said, adding that she gets straight As and is an honors student.

With at least two hours of practice time on the golf course every day, time management and goal setting are vital. “I always want to make sure I’m doing my best and putting my best effort towards everything I do,” she said, adding that she also loves reading and music.

Long comes from a golfing family on both her father’s and her mother’s side. She started playing early and was in tournaments at age 12.

“I’m really proud of my heritage and where I come from,” Long said, adding that her father is Navajo and her mother C’oeur d’Alene. “I always try to stay connected to everything. We’re very traditional on both sides.”

“We’re a very tight knit family, and she has really stepped up when I was sick,” said Long’s mother, Kristi, who has been battling stage 4 ovarian cancer since early 2020. “She is super, super mature. She is very humble. She’s just Maddison. She’s just a very unique girl and I’m very proud of her.”