01/12/2017
In 2016, PDGA registered women from Arizona played in 278/1635 of PDGA sanctioned tournament events. (Source: PDGA search by Player Statistics for AZ, search performed 1/12/2017).
That accounts for a women’s participation rate of 17%!!
We increased participation in Arizona by more than double over the previous years and we are outpacing men’s participation growth by a large margin.
It is important for me to mention that we achieved this growth with the help and support of a great number of men in our wonderful and welcoming disc golf community. The community has been supportive in many ways; donating discs for new players, running inclusive and fun tournaments, caddying and volunteering at the Phoenix Ladies Open and other tournaments, sponsoring entry fees for women, juniors, new players, and more.
We obviously have a lot of support from women disc golfers too. Women in Arizona are running leagues in several Arizona cities and show strong support for the AZ disc golf community.
Thank you to everyone that has helped. We had more than 100 volunteers and sponsors for the Phoenix Ladies Open. Arizona supports women disc golfers and it shows.
To support women’s disc golf in your area, there are many things you can do. Please consider the following actions:
-Tournament directors can offer preregistration for women and juniors or offer more opportunities for women and juniors by reserving more tournament spots.
-Tournament directors can consult local women players on layout for women’s divisions and consult parents on layouts for junior players.
-Consider restroom needs and try to find sponsors that can accommodate the need. For this year’s Jerry Garcia Disc Golf Festival in the Pines (the greatest disc golf tournament in the world), we had a great sponsor with a port-a-pottie business who donated the use of a dozen or more port-a-potties. There were several reserved for women’s use during the weekend. That is a great example of consideration and generosity. Thank you again to Shane Sandoval and H & R Septic Service!
-All disc golfers can encourage and welcome new players to play league and tournaments.
-Donate discs to women’s leagues or as CTPs for your league and tournament rounds.
-Consider sponsoring a women or junior disc golfer!
Finally, I am pleased to announce that in 2017 Women’s Disc Golf Outreach will offer grants totaling $3000 (one $1000 grant, 3 - $500 grants, and 5 - $100 grants) to support the growth of women’s disc golf. You can apply for a grant on our webpage womensdgo.com in the coming weeks. Anyone can apply for these grants. An announcement will be made shortly with requirements for the grant program. Please stay tuned.
In the meantime, please consider buying a women’s bag tag at dgtags.com. Portions of each tag sale are donated by dgtags and DGA to Women’s Disc Golf Outreach. These are global women’s bag tags that can be tracked online. It’s a great way to help Women’s Disc Golf Outreach, and it is a fun way to interact with women disc golfers throughout the world. If we reach the pre-order goal of 150 tags by Valentine’s day February 14th , I will personally double the top grant award and make it $2000!!
(DGA discs with the new women’s dgtags and WDGO logo are also available and 25% of each disc sale will go to Women’s Disc Golf Outreach).
Thank you all for your support of women’s disc golf and thank you for your support of Women’s Disc Golf Outreach!!
–Bill Richardson WDGO Founder and President, PDGA # 65696
