State Championships?

[Deuces]

Was watching some of the recent Prodigy discs coverage videos yesterday and noticed that half the competitors in the final 9 weren't from that state. This seems odd to me. Why call something state champs if anyone from anywhere can come win it? So that got me thinking that we've got this wrong and might need to make some adjustments. Wouldn't it make more sense to require competitors to provide proof of residence to enter that state's championship?

The way it is now, McBeth could possibly be the champion of dozens of states even though he is a California boy. I don't think the European countries would allow outsiders to enter and become the Danish, Irish, Finnish, etc champion, but if they do, that also seems wrong.

What do you think? Do we have this wrong in the states, or do you like it the way it is?

 

[runningDoc]

USDGC should only be for USA CITIZENS!

 

[bradharris]

There's really no such thing as a state champion. The PDGA does not recognize state champions in any way. States also don't have their own sanctioning bodies. Some states have statewide clubs that sanction events, but typically those champions are decided through a season-long points series. So non-residents have to travel to that state frequently in order to be crowned as a champion.

 

[cjman]

Yeah, tore off on the concept a bit.
You could travel to any country's championship and win. These events aren't about being the best player specifically from the state/country. More so stating it is the premier competition in that state/region.

Wouldn't it be great if McBeth decided to rack up titles like this one year. "The Champion Tour"

 

[LukeButch]

a state championship is just a name some tournaments use, thats it

 

[#19325]

It's just another name of a tournament.

 

[Deuces]

a state championship is just a name some tournaments use, thats it

That's a shame. If they're going to use that impressive of a name, it should mean something.

If the PDGA is going to sanction events with impressive names that are actually completely meaningless then I should run a C tier in the fall called something outlandish like The Milky Way Galaxy Championship.

 

[ejvogie]

That's a shame. If they're going to use that impressive of a name, it should mean something.

If the PDGA is going to sanction events with impressive names that are actually completely meaningless then I should run a C tier in the fall called something outlandish like The Milky Way Galaxy Championship.

DO IT!

Entrants are limited to Discraft's celestially-named discs, and maybe a Pluto Platter

 

[TimSyl]

That's a shame. If they're going to use that impressive of a name, it should mean something.

If the PDGA is going to sanction events with impressive names that are actually completely meaningless then I should run a C tier in the fall called something outlandish like The Milky Way Galaxy Championship.

You can name a tournament you run pretty much whatever you want to call it. As others have said, a state championship tourney is basically a tourney HELD in that state. I suppose if someone wanted to have an actual state championship, they could make residency a requirement for participation.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

There's really no such thing as a state champion.

Yes there is. You just aren't paying attention.

The PDGA does not recognize state champions in any way.

What does the PDGA have to do with state champions? I must have missed the dictionary entry that restricts state champions to ones that are recognized by the PDGA.

States also don't have their own sanctioning bodies. Some states have statewide clubs that sanction events, but typically those champions are decided through a season-long points series. So non-residents have to travel to that state frequently in order to be crowned as a champion.

And, of course, none of this is really pertinent nor universal either. There are state championships and state champions. My state has been doing it for years.

 

[JTacoma03]

Yes there is. You just aren't paying attention.



What does the PDGA have to do with state champions? I must have missed the dictionary entry that restricts state champions to ones that are recognized by the PDGA.



And, of course, none of this is really pertinent nor universal either. There are state championships and state champions. My state has been doing it for years.

Isn't the fact that Louisiana has been doing it for years, and the disc golf nation at large doesn't know about it, more damning for your argument than his?

I can't name a single state champion from any state, in any year, I can tell you Major winners though for the last couple of seasons off the top of my head.

I love believing in titles like that, I give it all of the benefit of the doubt - and it's fair to say "who cares what people outside of the state think, it only matters if disc golfers from inside that state care" - but I just don't think organizationally our sport is there yet.

 

[scarpfish]

Our "state championship" is held in July every year in a small town in northern Kansas that offers free camping. Has its own traveling trophy for the Open division, but other than that, its just another stop on the tour run by that organization. It isn't even PDGA sanctioned. Anybody can enter. Members of the organization get a free meal on Saturday night. Honestly, its known more for the party aspect, side activities and after hours shenanigans than the actual tournament.

Thus is the sort of thing that goes down when a sport grows up on its own, rather than under the umbrella of something with official clout like your respective state's high school activities association, or state games, which sometimes includes disc golf as a competitive activity.

 

[JC17393]

I'm in the camp that it's just a name, and it generally isn't meant to be something that crowns the best player who happens to be a citizen in a particular state. I think most tournaments that feature "State Championship" in the name date back to a time when there were fewer tournaments in general and the State Championship was mainly designated as such because it was the biggest (or only) event of the year in that state. Obviously, in some states, those events continue to be one of if not the biggest tournament of the year, but that's not the case in others and the name simply carries on as a tradition more than what the event actually stands for. It would be silly to suddenly restrict these events that have never been restricted before.

I know here in the northeast, there used to be a "State Championship" for every state. They were also more than disc golf, they were usually overall frisbee tournaments (distance, accuracy, MTA, etc). They were the biggest events in a time where there weren't a lot of other events (or courses) to play, period. As more courses popped up, more tournaments were created to the point that the overall events mostly died off and with them, the States events slowly disappeared too. Of the ones that I think are left, none have any more or less prestige than any other tournament in the area. The biggest one hardly seems to be referred to by its proper name anyway...everyone just calls it by the town name or the course name.

That's not to say there can't be tournaments just for one state's residents (or one country's residents), but nothing has to be that way just by virtue of the name of the event.

 

[coupe]

Yeah, tore off on the concept a bit.
You could travel to any country's championship and win. These events aren't about being the best player specifically from the state/country. More so stating it is the premier competition in that state/region.

Except when it IS about identifying the best player specifically from a state/country.

There is—or at least used to be—at least one European national championship (Swiss, if memory serves) that awards/ed the title of national champion to the highest-finishing citizen/legal resident player, even if a non-citizen/non-resident wins the tournament. That is, anyone can compete for the event title, but only citizens/residents are eligible to win the championship title. (For an analogy, see the Braid Tailor Memorial Award, awarded at the British Open by the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland to the highest finishing PGA GB&I member born in, or with at least one parent born in, UK or Ireland.)

And, according Smigles, France and Germany restrict—or used to restrict—their championships to citizens/nationals.

 

[DavidSauls]

Years ago, the little state of South Carolina had 3 state championship tournaments, all of which were nowhere close to being the biggest events of the year. Plus a points series for a true state champion. That year I counted, on the PDGA event list, 78 events with "championship" in their name.

I think it would be nice if state championships were actually state championships, but it's not all that important.

And unlikely to happen anytime soon, for all the reasons others have stated.

 

[joecoin]

That's a shame. If they're going to use that impressive of a name, it should mean something.

If the PDGA is going to sanction events with impressive names that are actually completely meaningless then I should run a C tier in the fall called something outlandish like The Milky Way Galaxy Championship.

Since you are located somewhere between heaven and hell, I think that would be appropriate.


How many Federation credits is the entry fee?

 

[filobedo]

SC had somewhat of a crowned state champion for while. SC had a points series for several years in each division and had prizes for the top 3 finishers of each division other than Recreational and Intermediate. It basically only encouraged a few people to only play tournaments in SC so they could win a basket and a trophy that they kept for a year. David would remember better than I but I think the series counted your top 8 or 12 finishes and the same 3-5 people seemed to always win in some divisions because they would play 12-15 tournaments, all in SC.

 

[TheOtherBill]

Years ago, the little state of South Carolina had 3 state championship tournaments, all of which were nowhere close to being the biggest events of the year. Plus a points series for a true state champion.

And the SC state points title was/maybe still is held by NC resident MJ...

 

[filobedo]

Years ago, the little state of South Carolina had 3 state championship tournaments, all of which were nowhere close to being the biggest events of the year. Plus a points series for a true state champion. That year I counted, on the PDGA event list, 78 events with "championship" in their name.

I think it would be nice if state championships were actually state championships, but it's not all that important.

And unlikely to happen anytime soon, for all the reasons others have stated.

just saw you posted this

 

[filobedo]

And the SC state points title was/maybe still is held by NC resident MJ...

Exactly. I was talking with some people recently and I think MJ has won every Summer Sling at Trophy Lakes that he has played.