biscoe
* Ace Member *
yep. Virginia has gone from 15 courses and 1 PDGA event to well over 100 courses and 60 or so PDGA events in the same time frame.
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Can we cut the #growthesport thing already?
- Thread starter numbernine
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yep. Virginia has gone from 15 courses and 1 PDGA event to well over 100 courses and 60 or so PDGA events in the same time frame.
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I've seen what disc golf looks like outside of America, all the complainers should thanks their lucky stars that #growthesport has so many different avenues of growth that the term's meaning is still vague. We have an embarrassment of resources here that other countries simply don't have. Poor us, hmph!
DatRedDude
Eagle Member
Quite the contrary, the bigger it gets the more players we have at leagues and tournaments. The more money our club makes and the bigger our annual b tier(with a-tier payouts) can be.
I just think the hashtag itself is weak and self serving.
Big for who? Once there is money(corporate sponsors) to be made and people see it, you attract a different kind of TD. People will do it for money and not for the love of the game so to speak. I know this happens already but not on the scale it would. I don't want that personally. Maybe i am way off there but i don't think so.
Literally nothing to do with the conversation though.
Like others have mentioned; the sport is doing just fine. "#growthesport" seems to be code for "Whatever bad decision I make is fine, as long as I mask it with the intention of making the game bigger on some level".
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Be more specific
Too true. When Conor and I were in Korea we were taking the trains for hours just to play a round. I had to build a pretty crappy course on base just so I wouldnt go broke traveling to play disc golf.
As to the original topic, Im a pretty darkly cynical guy but I just can't agree with the assertion that #growthesport is a code for someone about to do some unpopular decision. Growing the sport, for most, comes from an honest desire to see their pasttime reach the pinnacle of sport. It's why people talk about disc golf in the Olympics, or bigger pro payouts, or whatever.
But it doesnt have to be about that. We all have different goals, different visions of where we want disc golf to go. I love seeing more casual players out on the course. Sure only 1 out of 100 of them will join the club, do work days, observe etiquette and police the drunkards, but it is still a damn sight better than sitting on the couch wasting away.
Maybe the real problem here is the hashtag craze.
At its best, what it means is: "I'm doing my best to represent the sport with class and integrity to both insiders and outsiders in a way that earns respect and makes people want to play, enjoy playing more, or get the sense that big dollars and media attention are not better placed elsewhere."
At its best, what it means is: "I'm doing my best to represent the sport with class and integrity to both insiders and outsiders in a way that earns respect and makes people want to play, enjoy playing more, or get the sense that big dollars and media attention are not better placed elsewhere."
I'm just glad the sport didn't stop growing before I found out about it, since it grew by 1 participant that day.
Even though I might have accomplished more with the 49,000 hours I've spent on it. 20% of which have been on this website which, too, was a product of the sport's growth.
Even though I might have accomplished more with the 49,000 hours I've spent on it. 20% of which have been on this website which, too, was a product of the sport's growth.
tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
Ditto. While I'd like to go back to the days when my favorite courses didn't involve waiting at every tee pad any time after 8am, I imagine those involved prior to me finding the game were thinking the same thing about me. Back then, I'd have to clear Cincy and Dayton to play as many courses as Cincy has now. That's growing of the sport I'll never complain about.
It's not all fun-and-games; certainly, with the growth, has come a certain amount of annoyance. Particularly on courses we once had pretty much to ourselves, and now deal with crowds (some of them, particularly annoying in themselves). But, at least for me, the benefits of growth have outpaced its drawbacks.
I have little reason to believe the continued growth won't be the same.
tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
Plus you have one of my favorite courses in your back freaking yard!! While I wouldn't want to deal with keeping it mowed, I'd love to be able to get a round in whenever I had time without the hassle of loading up the dog and my gear and racing the sunset after work (which I've lately just been staying home).
BuiltTooLong
Double Eagle Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2014
- Messages
- 1,740
I don't think that most of us have a problem with Disc Golf becoming more mainstream. I think the real issue here, is people using the "Grow the Sport" mantra as a guise to their own personal gain. For instance, there is a kid who created a facebook page, went on every disc golf related facebook page in the country and solicited donations so that they he could re-donate the discs to random people that "like" his page. How does giving away discs to people that already play disc golf growing the game?? Now that he has thousands of followers, he started selling merch w/his nickname and discs he's acquired.
I'll have to plead ignorance---I haven't witnessed anyone using the phrase for their own gain or personal agenda, with the possible exception of top pros who are trying to bolster the top levels into something financially sustainable. Which I don't find objectionable, even though it's way down on my own wish list.
I don't doubt they're out there; I just don't encounter them. At any rate, it's not the innocuous and ill-defined phrase that's the problem; it's those particular people
Hashtags, on the other hand, are an abomination upon the language.
I don't doubt they're out there; I just don't encounter them. At any rate, it's not the innocuous and ill-defined phrase that's the problem; it's those particular people
Hashtags, on the other hand, are an abomination upon the language.
Sorry, senior moment there.
I was meaning, why call it "just a hobby", and leave it at that? Should we give up trying to get people playing, get bigger payouts, etc. because it's "just a hobby" to you?
The Shide
Casual lurker
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2010
- Messages
- 937
I have to admit my post this morning may have been a senior moment, as well. It's not that I don't want to see disc golf become more popular, but when it starts to adversely effect the pace of play...
The rate of growth of the sport needs to have some kind of balance, an equilibrium if you will. When you have more players, you need more courses.
Hmm, makes me wonder about whether or not DD is behind this after all. EMac is now designing courses. Hmmmmmm. Curiouser & curiouser.
#twitterkilledgrammar
DatRedDude
Eagle Member
Is it paying your bills? If not its a hobby.
Hobby "an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure."
Never said we should give up trying to get bigger payouts and people playing. When it gets big(not holding my breath) everyone will cry that corporate america has bastardized their beloved hobby.
I put a lot of time into this hobby that i love; running events, raising funds, course cleanup, leagues, club meetings, i just don't get why people want it so big. Its big right now, i don't need to see it on ESPN to enjoy it any more or any less. Would i love Eli Lilly to throw us 20k sure, will it change the way we approach thing in our club, no.
knettles
Double Eagle Member
But a sport is essentially a hobby that has competition. So disc golf can be a hobby to some, and a sport to others. If you go out for solo rounds without keeping score, that's more of a hobby. If you're playing in leagues and tournaments, that's more of a sport. I think both are important and have their places in the disc golf world.
In other words, just because you're not getting paid doesn't mean it's not a sport. That just means it's not a professional sport.
