Summertime has officially kicked off and Uplay is charging forward with high energy to take advantage of unique opportunities for teaching disc golf!
Throughout our 2023 teaching tour events, Uplay has taught in schools, YMCA camps, and at the First Tee of Austin. We have taught children of all ages ranging from Kindergarten to high school seniors. We continue to stay committed to the sustainability and growth of disc golf at each location by leaving our Uplay Disc Golf Basic curriculum book + equipment, and by ensuring the local teachers, coaches, and staff members have access to further resources in the Disc Golf Industry!
Starting off our summer presentation during the week of the Dynamic Discs Open, we reached out to Eric McCabe, head coach of the Emporia State University Disc Golf Team, and planned a very specialized "meet n greet" + "Q & A" + demonstration of skills for the ESU team members. For many years Uplay has researched possibilities to connect and provide positive learning experiences for the collegiate population of disc golf, and finally, the perfect situation presented itself!!
Our program director, Ella Hansen, was honored to present to the students that they will be on the list of 1st recipients to receive the newly revised and more robust 2nd edition copy of our Uplay Disc Golf Basic book. UPlay's challenge to the students is to creatively use the book to teach and introduce disc golf to others. The "extra credit" challenge is to communicate with Coach Eric and Uplay about how their experiences serve them, and their audiences, and if it enhances their personal skills! :)
Coach Ella was joined by coaches Thomas Gilbert, Calvin Heimburg, Connor O'reiley, and Ty Love. Although Ty has been an Uplay ambassador since 2019, this was his first teaching event with Uplay on the tour. It is fun to take a moment and place yourself in his 18-year-old freshly graduated shoes - while discussing the "how-to-teach" and also demonstrating advanced topics to the ESU students with his fellow heroes. How cool!
Our Pros spent the first 25 minutes discussing and providing tips on how best to introduce the sport of disc golf to new players and Uplay's basic teaching methods. They rounded out with a solid Q & A and skills demonstration that was fun and enjoyable for all, and Uplay celebrates helping to bridge a gap from multiple angles. A complete ACE while continuing to dream big and develop this population.
Huge thank you to Angie Smith for the photos, Isaac Goldbladt for the video collection, and Meagan Brown for volunteering to help support the media collection:
https://flickr.com/photos/193803280@N04/albums/72177720309093081
Be sure to subscribe and watch DGN for the Tournament Central broadcast to see the Uplay report from the previous event.