April 2, 2018
By Lauren Hooie
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Parents clap as a joyful group of children crosses the stage to receive diplomas in blue caps and gowns. The children are graduating from the fifth grade from a world-class facility that caters to children affected by autism, the Els Center of Excellence.
Ernie Els, PGA Tour player and World Golf Hall of Fame member, started the Els for Autism Foundation in 2009. He and his wife, Liezl, have a 14-year-old son Ben who is affected by autism. Their nephew, Jovan Rebula, is a sophomore on Auburn's men's golf team.
Rebula was ranked No. 1 in South Africa Amateurs when he arrived at Auburn and is now averaging a solid 70.38 strokes per round. He was named to play on the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup International Team in Evian-les-Bains, France in July.
"I've been to the school for my cousin's graduation from elementary school, and it was awesome," Rebula said. "I've obviously got a lot of respect for the family for having such a huge impact on autistic children."
The Els Center of Excellence resides in Jupiter, Florida and sits on a 26-acre lot that includes an elementary school, The Learning Center, and a recently finished high school, The Learning Academy. Both schools are a non-profit, tuition-free service that caters to more than 100 students. The school has a 3:1 student to teacher ratio.
"The more people we can get aware of autism and my uncle's school the better it's going to be for those people going through difficult times," Rebula said. "Wherever we can get the families into a position a little quicker where the kids are comfortable with themselves and the people around them, it makes lives easier for everyone else."
Not only does the Els Center of Excellence offer academic services, it also offers recreational activities. Kids can take part in therapeutic activities like music, art and dance, as well as physical activities such as golf, fitness, yoga and tennis classes.
The Els Foundation makes physical activities a priority because keeping the children at the school active helps tackle the complications that can come with autism like obesity, joint problems, cardiovascular problems and depression.
The golf program at the Els Center of Excellence has also teamed up with PGA REACH, the PGA Tour's program that helps young people, and The First Tee, a program that brings golf to elementary schools and youth centers.
"The school's big," Rebula said. "They've got a small 9-hole golf course there for the autistic kids to play golf. They keep adding on to it and just some of the best resources you can possibly think of."
Up to 15 golf events are held annually to raise money for the Els Center of Excellence.
"My Aunt Liezl does an unbelievable job with running all the golf days where they do a lot of the fundraising," Rebula said. "I've been to one of the golf days they had in New York a couple of years ago, and it was a crazy cool experience.
"You have a lot of fun there because there are a lot of pros that get involved, and you're not just playing with random guys. It's a great experience for the people out there who don't know much about autism, and it's obviously for a great cause. It's very well run, there are auctions after and all this money goes straight to the school."
Els won the Heisman Humanitarian Award in 2017 for his work with the Els Center of Excellence. He is the 12th recipient and first golfer to win the award.
"He's inspired me through my whole career," Rebula said. "He's one of the guys you want to be like one day, on and off the golf course."
Click here to learn more or donate to the Els Center of Excellence.