Angelly Castaño, PDGA 301117, throws in Colombia. All Photos: PDGA Country Coordinators & National Association Partners

In mid-December 2024, the PDGA announced a new sponsor a member in a low- or lower-income country program. PDGA members, when they renewed or joined, could now help grow the game we all love in a brand-new way – by contributing the $20 cost of an Amateur membership for a deserving disc golf enthusiast in Africa, Asia, Latin America or Ukraine.  

This program was originally envisioned as having “the potential to foster the participation and advancement in the sport of 500 or more players per year in countries and circumstances much less fortunate than our own.” When combined with related PDGA initiatives including the International & Marco Polo Programs, it has become another key resource for spurring growth of the game in locales where the affordability of baskets, discs, and PDGA memberships is otherwise an obstacle. In doing so, PDGA members are directly helping the organization to deliver on its mission “to develop disc golf into a globally recognized competitive sport and recreational activity.” 

We are excited to report that this cool program has significantly exceeded expectations to date. As of March 31, 828 member sponsorships have been purchased. In turn, 410 coupon code usages have been assigned to our Country Coordinators across the developing disc golf world, of which 232 sponsorship codes have been redeemed. Benefitting nations so far include Uganda, Colombia, Ethiopia, Philippines, Guatemala, Mongolia, Kenya, Mexico, Thailand, Ukraine, Cambodia, and Rwanda. A handful of other participating countries have yet to start issuing memberships but are expected to do so shortly.   

In turn, the overwhelmingly positive response of our members who have contributed is also ensuring that the program can be sustained in 2026 and beyond, when many of the beneficiaries will likely need the same assistance with their renewals.

Here are some of the compelling stories we have received regarding sponsored membership recipients: 

In the Philippines, two of the young players in question, Jordan Magallanes #273327 and Monette Ignacio #300757, belong to the Ayta Abellen First Nation, located in northern Luzon. Recently the mayor’s office of their nearby San Jose municipality, provided the funds covering their travel costs to the Pilipinas Open on Palawan Island. When Jordan was introduced to the game by our Country Coordinator, Luisa Bartolome, he played barefoot because he had no shoes. Now he is teaching the game to his fellow Ayta youth. 

And the tales of the first ever PDGA members from the small, central African nation of Rwanda are as follows:

I am he who is the first Rwandan who get the PDGA membership!!!! One day I went to the sports center and I found a big group of American people who were playing Ultimate frisbee. I asked them if they can teach me how to play they said yes come on. So I started to play until I became a good player and I joined Rwanda national team. When they left my country, they gave me so many discs and they told me go and teach others. Now that game is popular in different places of Rwanda.  Then I saw African disc golf supporter John Luetzow on Facebook and he accepted my friend request to him. I told him I was an artist and I make paintings which I need to sell. He was interested in buying one. Then we started to talk about disc golf. He sent me a big box of discs and I said wow!!! I started to give those discs for kids and some teachers who told me thank you coach. Then John sent me disc golf target from USA. Now I have plan to create new disc golf course in one of our Eco parks that will be the first in my country. I hope we are soon going to invite everyone here to play with us in Rwanda! — Emanuel Bahizi #300607

Emmanuel Dushimirimana  #302120 and Baptiste Jean Niyibizi #302257 are based at the Kunda Village Kids Ministries near the town of Gisenyi. When they were just babies, both lost their parents to the Rwandan genocide in 1994. They grew up in the Noel Nyundo orphanage which provided financial support for their education. When Emmanuel saw that mostly very poor families were providing shelter for the young orphans, he set up a support and sponsorship program for their schooling. Niyibizi’s dream, reflecting his country’s recent tragic history, is to use sports as a source of development and reducing depression for youths. Together they are now teaching disc golf as volunteers in their villages and at their school orphanage because “this golf disc sport will help our children to not go on the streets and to have a better health.”  

The news gets better:  The Paul McBeth Foundation, our International Program partner, is now exploring the feasibility of a course installation in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.  

We hope this news brings a smile to all the disc golf fans who read it, and we look forward to bringing you more updates on the impact of the sponsor-a-member program in the months ahead. On behalf of the entire PDGA community around the world we say THANK YOU to all of you who have donated amateur international memberships so far and gotten this inspirational program off to a flying start!