Are most Disc Golf Clubs A "One man deal"?

[Eric troll Biscuits]

It seems after my Disc Golf cross-country tour, I learned that in many major cities contain clubs, associations/organizations. Most of which contains one guy, who try's his damnest to make the sport stronger in its community.
Everyone acts like they support them and do, but they hardly ever come to functions..
I only toured the mid-west, but I have a feeling its like that everywhere..
I did notice the bigger clubs had some scandal issues.... because there are more people involved with no management....
I guess the One man deal is the way to go?
And who will if you don't?

 

[HarkeyPuck]

Our local club has many members, and a board of directors (which i am a part of) that are voted in every other year. If you don't like how the club is running either vote someone else in or run yourself. We get a lot of participation from a lot of people. After reading your OP I feel lucky now!

 

[simpletwist]

I don't know about anywhere else but here in Western NY there are several key players. I've observed the NRDG from the outside and the inside. And without question there is A guy. But he isn't the only person involved with every aspect of what goes on under the umbrella of the organization. Not only is there a fairly large core of key old timers, but they are open to adding fresh new faces for those with the passion and dedication to take the ball and run with it.

 

[DavidSauls]

"Most" is the tough part of the question.

I know of one local club that has 50+ members, an elected board, and no scandal over its 15 or so years of existence. Disputes, sometimes, but no scandal.

I know of another which is, essentially, 3 or 4 people in a clique. They do a lot.....but pretty much on their own. "Club" is probably a generous term.

A lot of places have one go-getter whom others help, to various degrees, but don't really constitute a club.

And, any number of clubs which are large and organized; whether they have scandals, I have no idea.

 

[Eric troll Biscuits]

Thanks guys! I am glad to see the similarities and differences. Club S.O.D.A. has a long way to go. Finding mutual days/times seems to be a debate for a league... Let alone getting any of my "appointed" board members to even check out a location to install a new course. I feel as if I give them so many ops to progress with times, but, you know the rest is yet to be written...

 

[scarpfish]

A lot of the ones that aren't one man operations are two or three man operations. Really that's the reality of any organization where a lot of dry, boring stuff has to be done and you need committed and honest people in power to make the fun part possible. When those people are suddenly absent, things tend to fall apart rather quickly.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

We moved away from the one-man club idea rather quickly.
Now we're 50+ strong with three new courses to our area.
Only way to do it is with a proper Board of Directors.
Hands-on guys are key....... our president is responsible for laying tee pavers for nearly an entire course. And he's starting on tees for a 2nd course!

 

[New013]

I think this thread needs a small touch of reality in how people work in general. In general I'd say that these one man shows are guys who are doing a lot of good for the scene and probably dont get the credit they deserve. However I think you'll also find that while those that are quick to say hey somebody give me more help or split the amount of work we're doing for this they are not willing to relinquish the same amount of control of where the movement is going. Hence why you find so many small operations.

In a lot of cases where one guy starts any kind of operation or movement they want more people to buy in and more people to be involved with the work but they are less open to having others have a say in what is going on. Those that are are truly rare people.

In review, if you think you're one of these people and are reading this remember that you'll get more help with actually moving the sport forward in your area if you allow other people to have an opinion on what forward actually is. When you say hey this is what we're going to do I started this and it's my baby but you help me that **** doesn't fly with people.

 

[Underdog]

Northern Illinois Area 3 great clubs a lot of members and all have great boards members.
Aurora Area- Fox Valley Metro Club
Joliet Area - J-Town Club
Northern Il Area - Discontinuum Club

All the clubs do course improvements in their area. Do Ice Bowls to raise
money for their communities .A lot of its members belong to all three clubs
and support each other in club events. Introducing the sports to groups and
new people they meet on the courses.
Each club has its core of hard workers.

 

[timj5304]

The main course or club you speak that I am a part of is the local course near my house. On any given week we draw 40-60 players for a handicapped random dubbs league. Its a joined effort with the city which at one point was about to take the course out, now locals have stepped up and raised money, fixed baskets and so forth. There are many who do many things at the park, its not just a one man effort but there are a few key people in certain positions.


#1 is our LD, he is very organized with stats, starts on time, gets donations such as candy to give out to groups as we go out. One player at our league gets donations of mike and ike. He is the money man as well, he also gets the ball rolling and gives good ideas.

#2 is a local guy who tends to put alot of time into fixing the park. His day job is a landscaper and he picks up rocks around the park and puts them in his backpack to put rocks around trees, landscapes chips around baskets, moves broken branches around as well as broken down trees and directs erosion.

#3 is a guy who runs the facebook group, he gives ideas as well, gets the ball rolling with stuff many times. He also runs 2 tourneys at the park per year.

In addition to these guys there are devout other locals who play there basically daily, they hang out and do various activities such as dominos. You will not find any trash at this park except in the trash cans. If a piece of trash is found its picked up immediately. The younger rec players have taken notice and even though the course traffic has picked up, people get IT. Many of the regular help out with landscaping, fixing broken stuff, donating time and money to make the course and park perfect such as buying and planting plants around teepads.

To me this is the most extreme level I have ever seen of a non pay to play making the course look pay to play caliber by a group effort.

 

[Lewis]

My local club has never quite been run by "one guy," but it has often been a couple or three guys who do most if not all of the heavy lifting. It can be awfully hard to recruit people to come out and help "man" a shovel, and at the same time, it can be awfully hard to get the two or three club leaders to delegate responsibilities instead of trying to do it all themselves. However, the biggest frustration I've had with my local club is when people run for office on the board of directors and then fail to do the work they said they would do. It seems like we have more people who want to look good by holding the title of board member than who want to actually step up and do the work.

 

[curveball4]

Our club has 100+ members but on work days, tourney set ups, etc, there are 10-15 that you can actually count on to be there

 

[martinb]

A lot of the ones that aren't one man operations are two or three man operations. Really that's the reality of any organization where a lot of dry, boring stuff has to be done and you need committed and honest people in power to make the fun part possible. When those people are suddenly absent, things tend to fall apart rather quickly.

this.

 

[kenjiac]

We moved away from the one-man club idea rather quickly.
Now we're 50+ strong with three new courses to our area.
Only way to do it is with a proper Board of Directors.
Hands-on guys are key....... our president is responsible for laying tee pavers for nearly an entire course. And he's starting on tees for a 2nd course!

Thanks for the Props Jeff!! More tees coming to Central Park real soon.

 

[Lewis]

Our club has 100+ members but on work days, tourney set ups, etc, there are 10-15 that you can actually count on to be there

This is probably the case at most courses around the country.

 

[tom12003]

Our club has 100+ members but on work days, tourney set ups, etc, there are 10-15 that you can actually count on to be there

Thats actually a good number for most work day efforts. Over the years this group will probably start tiring out; try recruiting a few new worker bees each year. Trying the guilt trip on the remaining members does NOT work and only further keeps them from working.

 

[disc qualified]

"I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."
-Groucho Marx

 

[knettles]

I wish our club was as legit. We've got two courses in our area, one of which is maintained solely by the guy who designed/built it (which we all appreciate), and the other which the park doesn't want us to work on. So, we don't have alot of delegation to worry about. There's a guy who runs the facebook page and a guy who takes the ace pot money, but that's about it.

 

[DavidSauls]

There can be more to a club than doing coursework, and running weekly doubles/league play.

In our club we do that. We also have people coordinating with the parks department to try to get new courses. We run tournaments. We have two club parties a year. We handle custom club-stamped discs and shirts

Not suprising, there is a handful of people who really make things happen. But there are a bunch more who contribute to one function or the other. Some will volunteer; some are willing to do so if asked.

So you might have a member who never shows up on workdays....but caters the summer party. Someone who you never see anywhere, but maintains the website. A treasurer, doing the club's taxes. In a larger club, probably a lot more people doing something than you ever notice.

 

[Eric troll Biscuits]

Thank you! Thank you!
Guys, This postings help so much! It's like having a board with great advice, from people that have nothing to gain or lose. SO, it's truly honest advice.
My deal is this, I work a 3rd shift job. So, my days are free to do whatever.. If you've seen my "Ballad of the lost disc" video, you should know that song has landed me some cool gigs. I preform out in public 3 nights a week... It works well and has gets people talking about disc golf in a bar. Which rarely came up. Now, I got a few bar owners interested in installing baskets by the un-used volleyball area...
Which brings me to say, at a summer gig I had, I helped set up a temp course, out in IN. the guy loved the idea and want a permanent course. I figured what hell, and why not. So I got my business stuff together, FED tax ID, and paper work, blah... So I can purchase at wholesale and help this guy out. As well get some guys together to do some good for the sport, rather then just being a player.
I mainly hang out at Mt. Airy, and help Fred maintain the course... Fred wont play politics, just disc golf. However, he has created a bag tag ladder... I have helped sell about 20-30 tags, just by running my mouth! We have a lot of fun with it.. In addition Club SODA is trying to keep the league alive for the Tues. that Fred has started....
Keep posting, I love your wild opinions and stories