How do we get more members?
How do we increase turnouts to our PDGA events?
How do we encourage he building of strong player bases?
How do we solve he jamming up of our schedules with events?
How do we encourage local, state, regional, national and international coordination and cooperation?
How do we make organized disc golf a tangible reality on all levels and for all participants?

The answer is to drop the Tier Event Structure (TES) in favor of a World Qualifying Tour (WQT).

For proof of its potential simply look at the USDGC, the USADGC, and every local, state and regional series around.

Each PDGA event becomes a stepping stone to the next level of competition and so on until you have your field of qualified players for the World Championships.

Tiers would be replaced by local, state, regional and national qualifiers, with places to the next level of qualification set by number of members in the preceding qualifier events state. I.E. California has 15% of the US memberhip, they get 15% of the field spots at the National Level Qualifier Event. And at the Worlds the US has 85% of the membership, so they get 85% of the field. Open spots will be filled by a set criteria based on qualifier points to accessibility.

The National Tour would exist outside this framework. Though qualifier events certainly could be qualifiers for spots in those events certainly as well, thereby helping to fill them as well.

This is pure message board genius! ;)

How do we solve he jamming up of our schedules with events?
How do we encourage local, state, regional, national and international coordination and cooperation?




Again, Nick: any initiative of yours that concerns coordination and cooperation is laughable. These are two areas of which you have demonstrated time and time again that you have severe deficiencies. Again, the number one way to move the sport forward is for you to vacate leadership positions in the regional and national organizations.

Wow, you two are like that with each other! Hm. I missed the first 700 installments, but I'm guessing it's an ongoing thing. Nice article Nick Kight about you in Dave Henrickson's mag.

How to get more people to join the PDGA? Tell them where their money's going.

How to get more people to join the PDGA? Tell them where their money's going.



If you play 3 PDGAs and get 4 magazines, a memberhip card, rule book and other junk that should cover the value of the cash membership right there. If you want to know more then ask?

Besides, what isn't self-evident should be able to be guessed by anyone knowing a thimble full of organizational methods.

If you are not a member, and don't support worldwide promotion of disc golf then what interest is it of yours anyway?

So you are saying that Sweden and Japan can send like 3 players each to Worlds, and only those that qualify? I think this is heading in the wrong direction. There are a lot of people who go to Worlds in this sport because they can. I mean, I understand that having a bunch of not very competitive players competing amongst the elite may not be the way of other much larger organizations where space at such events is limited, I don't think with the limited payouts of Worlds, that we are going to get people frantically trying to qualify for Worlds each year. When we get to a point where there is a larger field than is attainable at the event, this may be the case.

The USDGC does a great job of making people want to come back year after year. But Worlds each year is a bit of a crap shoot, one year you have an Iowa, the next you kight have a Phoenix. Without some team that works on producing worlds each year, player turnout for worlds will continue to struggle.

I think this is a fine way to qualify people once the tournaments get too big for all the attendees, but until then, I think we should continue in the current "Floodgates are open after June 16th" method. Often, the people who get the most out of worlds are the players who have never been to one.

I agree with Matt.

Until we are turning away a significant number of players due to limited spots available, there's no sense in adding restrictions to entry for the worlds.

Worlds is a financially losing proposition for all but about 5% of the competitors.

I've always said going to worlds is a lot like going to work. You play two courses per day and you have travel time to account for. You have mandatory meetings and such. You wind up getting up around 7am to start your day, you're busy all day until you return to your hotel around 5-6 pm. You do this for five days straight and by the end of the week you're feeling drained. How is this not like work?.......

.........Oh yeah, now I remember, at work 100% of the workforce receives a paycheck and in golf only 30% leave with a check.,

There are a lot of people who go to Worlds in this sport because they can. I mean, I understand that having a bunch of not very competitive players competing amongst the elite may not be the way of other much larger organizations



People go because they can. Exactly as it should be for now.

For an example of another very grassroots level of sport activity look at the sport of running road races. There is barely a weekend in the year in my area that a person would be unable to compete in a road race. The vast majority of the people who run these races have absolutely no chance of winning. It's a participation sport where all are welcome including the elite, the competitive, the average and the plodding beginners all at same time.

I once raced the world record holder in the marathon along with a large handful of olympic athletes. It was effin' awesome !

Comparing DG to running - The USDGC is much like the Boson Marathon in that a person has to earn entry to Boston with a very good, well above recreational, marathon, 3hours 10 minutes for open men. It has over a century of tradition and is where the cream rises to the top in the world, but also the best recreational runners from around the world who area able to run it. Compare this to the NYC Marathon that chooses recreational participants by lottery. People pay something like a non-refundable $8 just for the chance to pay their $80 race fee. There are probably more 40,000 spots available and I think they have like 125,000 people entering the lottery.

If there is a problem with the Worlds process then maybe that should be discussed. But if it ain't broken, don't fix it.


. . . where space at such events is limited, I don't think with the limited payouts of Worlds, that we are going to get people frantically trying to qualify for Worlds each year. When we get to a point where there is a larger field than is attainable at the event, this may be the case.

I think this is a fine way to qualify people once the tournaments get too big for all the attendees, but until then, I think we should continue in the current "Floodgates are open after June 16th" method. Often, the people who get the most out of worlds are the players who have never been to one.



Even if you do add a qualifying process, only people will come to Worlds if they can. If it gets too big then deal with that problem when it happens.

I think that there is a marketing side to this that significantly changes the way players qualify and their desire to qualify for ever increasing levels of competition dynamic.

The best part is that it wouldn't cost the PDGA a penny.
Another benefit is that it would essentially end inter-regional competition for players.

I've always said going to worlds is a lot like going to work. You play two courses per day and you have travel time to account for. You have mandatory meetings and such. You wind up getting up around 7am to start your day, you're busy all day until you return to your hotel around 5-6 pm. You do this for five days straight and by the end of the week you're feeling drained. How is this not like work?.......

.........Oh yeah, now I remember, at work 100% of the workforce receives a paycheck and in golf only 30% leave with a check.,




Well that and when your at Worlds your actually enjoying it and having a good time where as most people hate being at work :D

Ive always said a S H I T T Y day on the course is always going to be better then a good day at work :D

While that has appeal to it, in theory, wouldnt that structure be banking on the concept of near real time data exchanges? I mean, how does one know that they have in fact qualified for the next level that may be scheduled the following week? How would the PDGA be able to react to the huge amount of data requiring crunching in order for this all to play out? We are all painfully aware that some TD's take their time in turning in such data.

Does anyone have one of the old PDGA Regional Maps, you know prior to things going to State Reps?

The process would work something like this:
Local PDGA Qualifiers: Players register at their local course and play in that event to qualify for the:
State PDGA Qualifiers: Play in this event to qualify for the:
Regional PDGA Qualifiers: Play in this event to qualify for the:
World PDGA Championships

Number of players qualifying would depend on the number of PDGA Members in each event.
Regions with smaller membership bases would likely have fewer qualifier spots at the next level.
States like California, Texas and Florida would likely have more than one State Qualifier event and be considered a region in and of themselves, where as states/provinces/countries with fewer PDGA Members would be combined into one Regional Qualifier.

When the target Regional Qualifier is an event like the Memorial, Skylands, WVO, folks are definitely going to want to qualify in the events leading up to it.

Every local club would likely run a Local PDGA Qualifier, while the State/Province and Regional Qualifiers would go to the highest bidders.

Here is the typical season for a player wanting to qualify:
1) Registers at their local course to qualify for the State/Province Qualifier at the Local PDGA Qualifier Event.
2) Competes and qualifies for the next level, the PDGA State/Province Qualifier event. (If they do not, then they can try to register and qualify at another local course within their state/province, which should encourage more local events.)
3) Players who have qualified already can still participate in as many Local Qualifiers as they want, only players who have not yet qualified will win the qualifier spots.
4) The State/Province Qualifier(s) will be held to host the players that have qualified at the local level. Some states (as mentioned) will likely need to hold more than one event at this level due to number of qualified players and travel distances. If the player finishes at a certain cut level then they qualify for the Regional Qualifier event.
5) At the Regional Qualifier event the top players from the surrounding State/Province Qualifiers will compete for the membership proportionate qualifier places for the World Championships.

Note: Each levels events is open to all PDGA Members, but qualified players will be allowed to bump non-qualified players, this is true all the way up to the Worlds.

I believe this would drive not only greater participation and make qualifying for the Worlds something more than it is currently, but it would help to develop local, state and regional player bases and organization.

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

Still toddling along behind are you?

How do we get more members?
How do we increase turnouts to our PDGA events?
How do we encourage he building of strong player bases?
How do we solve he jamming up of our schedules with events?
How do we encourage local, state, regional, national and international coordination and cooperation?
How do we make organized disc golf a tangible reality on all levels and for all participants?

The answer is to drop the Tier Event Structure (TES) in favor of a World Qualifying Tour (WQT).

For proof of its potential simply look at the USDGC, the USADGC, and every local, state and regional series around.

Each PDGA event becomes a stepping stone to the next level of competition and so on until you have your field of qualified players for the World Championships.

Tiers would be replaced by local, state, regional and national qualifiers, with places to the next level of qualification set by number of members in the preceding qualifier events state. I.E. California has 15% of the US memberhip, they get 15% of the field spots at the National Level Qualifier Event. And at the Worlds the US has 85% of the membership, so they get 85% of the field. Open spots will be filled by a set criteria based on qualifier points to accessibility.

The National Tour would exist outside this framework. Though qualifier events certainly could be qualifiers for spots in those events certainly as well, thereby helping to fill them as well.

This is pure message board genius! ;)




what a stupid idea, I hope this gets decided before renewal time so I know whether to renew or not. Everyone but you and a few others like the way things are now; so why not conform to what everyone else wants, instead of wasting everyones time with trying to change something that we all like.I like the way the A,B,and C-tier structure is.I dont believe that your ideas would increase numbers at all, so my vote is to leave things the way they are especially when we are seeing an increase in the # of memberships.

This is just an thought there is nothing official to it. We already do have a qualifying tour, nobody really pays it any attention as is though. This is my stupid way of trying to bring it a little more attention and drive a little more participation.

Thank you for your stupid opinion. ;)

LOL!

Post deleted by atxdiscgolfer

Is this kinda like the World Poker Tour?

I'm all in.

$5 per player Tour Registration Fee at Local Qualifier Level-
$2 to PDGA
$1 to State Qualifier
$1 to Regional Qualifier
$1 to World Championship

$4 per player Tour Registration Fee at State Qualifier Level-
$2 to PDGA
$1 to Regional Qualifier
$1 to World Championship

$3 per player Tour Registration Fee at Regional Qualifier Level-
$2 to PDGA
$1 to World Championship

How many total participants did we have last year in PDGA's?
I think the $100,000.00 cash payout would finally be within reach of our World Championships.

Considering the cash cow Am Worlds are, set their fee at $2 throughout.

I think your on the right track Nick! I don't know if it could work, but I agree that a change needs to be made. We need a new system that appeals to the viewer/crowd, and newcomer.

Anything that bumps up the world championship payout sounds good to me :) When you take 2nd in the world you deserve more than $2,500 . . . .

$5 per player Tour Registration Fee at Local Qualifier Level-
$2 to PDGA
$1 to State Qualifier
$1 to Regional Qualifier
$1 to World Championship

$4 per player Tour Registration Fee at State Qualifier Level-
$2 to PDGA
$1 to Regional Qualifier
$1 to World Championship

$3 per player Tour Registration Fee at Regional Qualifier Level-
$2 to PDGA
$1 to World Championship

How many total participants did we have last year in PDGA's?
I think the $100,000.00 cash payout would finally be within reach of our World Championships.

Considering the cash cow Am Worlds are, set their fee at $2 throughout.



Wow! How many states do you suppose that pyramid scheme is illegal in?!? :D