If you don't live in Texas you may not understand the emphasis placed on high school sports. Of course, in Texas, football is king and will continue to reign for years to come with no end in sight. Winning a state title (in any sport) is a huge accomplishment in Texas, the second most populated state in the Union. The pride of such an achievement will follow a person for a lifetime.
Disc Golf is not currently organized by the athletic/academic/activity organizing body of Texas, the UIL, or the University Interscholastic League. High school students do not have the option to play disc golf "for" their high school...until now!
Tournament Director Matt Ryan started the Texas High School Disc Golf Championships for this very purpose. The tournament (a PDGA sanctioned, C-Tier event) is this weekend, May 13-14th at Coleman Park Disc Golf Course in Brownfield, TX. While students won't be competing for a UIL state championship, they are competing for bragging rights of Individual State Champ as well as the team title.
Here's how it works:
Friday: Meet and Greet, Practice rounds welcome
Saturday: Two rounds of 18, lunch provided in between. Girls play from short tees, boys from longs.
Scoring:
Individual Championship:
Medals will be awarded to the top 5 overall lowest score totals for boys and girls.
Team Championship:
High school teams will consist of a minimum of 5 players and up to 10 players. The lowest 5 score totals for the day will be combined for each team. Lowest total stroke count will win you the Texas High School Team Championship Trophy!
Will Disc Golf ever make it into the high schools?
All of this got me thinking....if disc golf were offered at my high school, would I have played? What would that have looked like? It's fun to think about. I think it would be so awesome if we got disc golf in our schools. It's safer than almost every other sport and FAR less expensive.
In an era of waning state funding, disc golf could be an alternative. Will it happen...well, probably not. Can it happen? Absolutely! But it will take A LOT of information to be presented to the right people.
The Texas High School Disc Golf Championships is a step in the right direction in getting disc golf integrated in Texas schools. It's not the end goal but rather progress made in expanding this great sport and making it more accessible to more people, especially the youth!
See ya on the course,
Grant
