In an effort not to come off as an ass here, I have never run a disc golf tourney. But I have put on quite a few sanctioned bowling tourneys, as well as larger grass roots, unsanctioned downhill mountain bike races. But it seems to me like the TD's are wanting to always get something out of running a tourney in disc golf. I have never started work on a bowling tourney expecting to get something out of it for myself. Ive actually spent a lot of my money putting on mountain bike races. In bowling to sanction a tournament you have to deal with two governing bodies (local sanctioning body and the pba) plus you have to pay to be using a bowling center.
From what I have seen in my limited time in disc golf that has been a problem for me.
Am's expecting to get something for playing. I play in advanced and I think its stupid that there is a payout to anything other than open. I dont even like a players pack, because that is taking away from the people who are really trying to make money. If you want to get something back, practice more and play in open.
Td's wanting to cater to the few who are a problem or loud mouthed about everything. Do what is right and what follows the rules. If someone doesnt like that, then they can go play somewhere else.
And then finally TD's really looking for credit for what they are doing. Yes thank you for putting on a tourney. But this is disc golf not ball golf. We are very much a minority. If you think you are the end all be all of disc because you choose to put on a tourney, then you need to take a step back and realize that outside of the course, nobody knows who you are.
If everyone just had some tact and class, and wasnt so entitled then our sport would be much better off.
I tend to agree with this....only because I've directed many, many chess tournaments and know that directing tournaments is a labor of love. You do it because you enjoy it, not because you're expecting anything in return.
In chess though there aren't any "player's packs" that come with the entry fee. Like,
ever. You paid your entry fee (usually anywhere between $20-$30) to compete for prizes within your class. If you didn't win, too bad. But your games were rated and you got some competition out of it, so win-win.
But....
You had to be a member of the U.S. Chess Federation to play in that "sanctioned" event and to have your games rated. And then you might've also had to be a member of a state association (or purchase a membership) to play,
on top of the entry fee you paid to sit across the board from your opponent. With USCF memberships at $40/year and state associations varying between $10-$30/year, and the average entry fee being what it is, the standard, run-of-the-mill player is shelling out well over $200/year if they play in three tournaments a year. And that number doesn't even figure in the cost of travel and lodging & food expenses. The point is disc golf is dirt cheap by comparison.
People are going to complain no matter what the cost or what you give them. That's a given. In this day and age of entitlement, you could give somebody a million bucks and they'd complain because they had to pay taxes on it. I think disc golf suffers from the same malaise that chess does but for different reasons. Both have stigmas attached to them (but DG less than chess) and both have few followers (per capita) and even less advertisement.
We need players.
How do we get them? DG is really expanding (at least so far as I can see). Have tournaments contributed to that expansion? If so -- other than competition -- what drives people people to play in them? What additions to the formats (tier variations, more prizes/packs, etc.) would make them more attractive to players? And most importantly, what's the incentive for the budding TD to take up the mantle and offer to run it for our motley group of woodland throwers? Are there enough TDs or does the sport need more?
These are the questions that kept me out of the
really good schools....
