I got the opportunity to partner up with the United Way to bring disc golf to approximately 300 1st-6th grade students.
The students were on site at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, for a Team Smile event. Loads of local dentists were on hand to give free cleanings/checkups to these students. While they weren’t getting their teeth looked at, they had several activities to take part in.
We had a station set up where they could learn and practice full throws and then test out the radar gun to see how fast they were throwing. The second station was putting instruction and practice. Sadly, probably 95% of them have never played disc golf before. Positively, probably 95% of them have thrown a Frisbee before. We used this basic knowledge as a platform to learn more and have more fun.
My favorite class that came through was a class that spoke very little English. There were students from Korea, Vietnam, Brazil and Zimbabwe. This made talking about disc golf very difficult. However, they were eager to learn and I was eager to share the sport. Through sign language, gestures and lots of smiles and laughs, we had a fantastic time. This group seemed to appreciate success more than the rest. One made 15’ putt caused an eruption of applause and laughs; no matter how many times it happened.
This group reminded me why we try to grow the sport. Throwing discs is fun. Throwing discs well is even more fun. Everyone should get to laugh and smile as much as this fantastic group.
-Dixon Jowers
Dixon Jowers is a on Team Dynamic Discs and is an Operations Specialists at Dynamic Discs
Very cool to see this happening, it opens all kind of doors. Not just for the sport but to remind kids it’s fun to play outside which it vital. 🙂
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Dixon for your great work at this event! The kids had so much fun and were introduced to a new activity-awesome!