Jimmy Collins Award 2009 - Jimmy Headrick

While there are many different categories of awards presented by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, some years the Committee finds that there are people deserving of recognition who do not necessarily fit into one specific category. For that reason, the Committee presents the Jimmy Collins Awards to outstanding individuals and organizations.

Collins was a longtime supporter of New Orleans sports who is credited with creating the New Orleans Sports Awards and forming the awards committee in 1958.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl's 2009 Jimmy Collins Award honoree was Slidell product Jimmy Heradrick.

The PGA director of instruction for The First Tee of New Orleans, La., Headrick is the first member of the Gulf States PGA Section to earn the PGA Junior Golf Leader Award. During the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Headrick lost his home and two positions – his post as PGA director of golf at The Golf Club at Eastover in New Orleans where he had served for more than 20 years, and as the women's golf coach for the University of New Orleans.

Headrick began to resurrect his career by working part-time and serving as a tournament official for the Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour. In 2007, Headrick was named executive director of The First Tee of New Orleans.

Headrick, 54, was elected to PGA membership in 1979. He has been a decorated member of the Gulf States PGA Section, winning the inaugural Section PGA Junior Golf Leader Award and was honored again in 2007. He also was recipient of the 1989 Section Golf Professional of the Year Award.

Among his innovative accomplishments include founding the first inner-city golf program in New Orleans in conjunction with The PGA of America and the New Orleans Police Department. Headrick also was involved in the renovation of the New Orleans Junior Golf Tour, which involved more than 160 youngsters, and he initiated the BC Cup, which is in its 14th season as the most prestigious junior golf championship in New Orleans.

The BC Cup also spawned the BC Foundation, which provides junior golf scholarships to a boy and girl in the New Orleans Junior Golf Program not based on golf skills, but rather on academic standing, attitude and community service.

Headrick and his wife, Carol, live in Slidell, La., and are the parents of five children: Joshua, Jill, Jacob, Jared and Josie.