Hi ladies!
I haven't looked on here in awhile, but I just love hearing your opinions!

I need to vent a little bit...
I've been playing for over 10 years, and I've watched the number of ladies playing the sport grow with pride & enthusiasm. I've tried several times to get a ladies league going in Wichita, KS and surrounding areas, but there seems to be a lack of interest and it's hard to pick a time/place where girls will show up and we won't interfere with the regular league. I think my next plan will involve more clinic style activities, just to get the word out and generate more interest. Any advice you ladies may have in this regard would be quite welcome.

On another note, I'm having a hard time accepting the lack of Open women playing locally. I hurt my shoulder in 2009 and it greatly affected my game for awhile. After physical therapy and many months of rest (disc golf withdrawals included), I made the move up to the Open division just last year. Now I'm finding I don't have ANY local competition most of the time! It's just like when I started playing & I ruled the Advanced division because I was often the only girl. I can't say I enjoy it much, but what's a girl to do. There are a few brave souls who will move up just so they can play with me, and we have a big huge A tier event where I got to play with a bunch of the big arm ladies, but otherwise I only get the opportunity to kick my own butt. That being said, I'm getting frustrated with pay-outs. For example, I went to a 1 day C-tier last weekend, mostly because I'm trying to give my PDGA rating a boost (at which I'm failing miserably due to the number of rounds being used, not sure how to fix that); I paid $37 to play and won $30 back. This does not even out for me as I had to drive 45 minutes to get there. Furthermore, I'm trying to raise funds so I can afford this trip to Pro Worlds in less than 6 weeks, but I'm not getting much local support (just fyi- Kansas SUCKS! in my opinion) Seems that the TD's who all know my goal would accommodate to help out the 1 Pro lady that plays consistently in all the local tournies I can get to... I know, this is selfish, but come on guys! Kansas has always seemed indifferent about supporting/encouraging the local ladies to play in general. This makes no sense to me, at all! Especially when I can go to Oklahoma, maybe even have some competition, & always have a PHAT payout! I went to the Oklahoma State championships, payed $44 to play & won over $100- and I was the only Pro lady there! So my real issue is, is it horrible of me to boycott the local tournies because I'm losing $? I know I have the option to play in the men's divisions, but I'm not interested in winning plastic anymore. Should I keep bringing it these issues until the TD's start sympathizing? Or am I just being really selfish & over-reacting? I've already got a negative reputation around here (ex-boyfriend drama BS) and I don't care what the boys think of me, but I feel belittled by their unresponsiveness sometimes...
Some lady friend guidance is most necessary. I can take productive criticism, I'm not trying to offend or hate on anybody here. Please tell me what you think.

Miranda, are you 'DUH' from the KDGA bored?

I have been to my company's plant in Wichita many times and loved playing the Oak Park & Herman Hill courses. I also really enjoyed the Camp Hawk and Canyon courses the one time I was at each.

I will buy those Omega Supersoft Putters from you if you still have them and bring them out to Pro Worlds in California. :cool:

Yes, I am Miran"duh"!
I will def bring those putters to Worlds.
Thanks so much!

Kansas doesn't suck, it' blows & Oklahoma sucks - that's why Texas doesn't fall into the gulf :).

To be honest, ladies have got it good in Texas. We have 2 great Women's clubs - the LOLO's & WTF & a GREAT group of men that support us. We've got the highest attended ladies only tournament in the world (98 ladies in 2010) in Round Rock with TWC & this year US Women's Sept 16-18. It can be hard to start a ladies group & harder to keep going. As a Pro, you kind of have to step out of you competitive game & remember what got you started in the first place. It wasn't the tournaments & the payout, it was the disc golf. There's probably 30 ladies in each of the Texas groups e mail lists. Of those 40-60 ladies maybe 10 of us compete regularly, the rest are casual golfers. We try & plan ladies days & we keep it super casual. We play short easy courses so no one gets too discouraged & we play as one big card so there's tons of comradery. Not every lady that plays once comes back - most ladies don't turn into tournament golfers & fewer turning Pro. I understand your frustration - even here in the land of milk & honey, it's still the same 3-5 ladies coming out to play every tournament. I know how my game sizes up against so & so - that's why we've got to do a better job communicating so we all end up at the same events making bigger fields thus having an impact on the men (TD's).

As for your payout conundrum - C tiers don't require added cash & tournament fees have to come out. If there's not more money, they can't pay it out. Of course if there was added cash to other open fields, I'd have a different perspective on this one :).

Don't give up the fight, it sounds like you've got the passion for the game. & btw most of us have a reputation - it comes with the passion.

Come to Texas in September for US Women's - the gang here will be sure you have a good time & a PHAT payout!

Miranda,

Have your previous attempts at a women's league been a weekly gig? I've seen weekly women leagues start strong and then quickly fall apart. I think a monthly league might attract a larger field of competitors.

I guess it is what you consider successful. I have been running a girls league in Buffalo NY for 4 years. It is held on Mondays. There is no money involved. We don't keep score. Sometimes we play 18....sometimes 9.....sometimes 27. We have about 20 members but usally have 6-10 show up weekly. Then there are the 4 or 5 times a summer when I am the only one there. Only 3 or 4 girls have taken an interest in tournaments or competetion. The rest are satisfied to be a part of our little social club.

My humble suggestions....pick a day of the week and stick to it. Show up every week no matter what. But, don't expect all women to be competetive. The truth of the matter is that very few women like to be competetive at anything. But they do like to get away from their kids, housework, jobs, and their men.

LaLa- I will be at USWDGC;my 1st all ladies tourney! So looking forward to it! I'm a little jealous of you TX ladies; I mean, look at the great disc golf girls you send out to conquer- LL, PP, Des & many more I haven't met yet, I'm sure. Thanks for the advice & I look forward to meeting you in Sept!

We keep our league casual & fun too; no fees or scores, just comradery, good times & a few prizes, just in case ;)
It has been a random monthly gathering with the same 3-7 ladies showing up for a few years now, hence why I tried a weekly or bi-weekly format to see if some new ladies would show up; I see a lot of casual lady players at our most popular course daily. It seems difficult to get them out to meet up & play together. Some don't want to stray from Oak Park (our most popular course), but it'd be more ideal to play at a course with less traffic so we're not holding up a bunch of groups, others can't show because of kids/jobs & regular life stuff which is understandable. I tried to plan different days/times & courses every other week & post a schedule at the courses & online... it was a bust. I wonder if clinics would be more successful. I could advertise in our special events section of the newspaper for free & put fliers up at the courses. The problem now is the heat... it was 111 last Saturday- heat exhaustion, anyone? Thanks for the tips!