Forward Momentum (Day 6 of 365)
The Team Tryout was amazing!
We are still working on wrapping up the event but I wanted to thank all the players again for coming out this weekend. This is a special event for our team and we are already starting on our plans to make 2026 even better!
I unexpectedly also learned a lot about my ambitions for the blog and what is realistic to accomplish. It doesn't help that I'm trying to pre-published my future topics too. My lessons:
- I likely will not have time to Blog and run an event simultaneously.
- I 100% need to be more free operationally.
- I have to make a choice about quantity vs quality soon.
- I believe I'm conditioned towards quantity right now, but I'm realizing my actual 365 challenge is to make myself more about quality...
If you looked at Blog #5...
I have not finished it.
I am still working on the photos for all the winners. I just ran out of time and cycles yesterday(see quantity vs quality above).
Sunday night was busy. Then I had another blog to do today.
Again, that's why I need this challenge.
To all the competitors and staff at this years Tryouts, I promise I will get you a well deserved wrap-up post.
My lesson from yesterdays blog is to give myself more time and space to tell your story. Especially before the event.
I will be working on a recap post between now and 1/12. We'll go over some of the amazing stories, the winners, and potential spicy changes we have for 2026 Tryouts.
So. New topic time.
PDGA Leagues are coming to Sprinkle Valley.
Starting in 2025, we will be hosting a PDGA League on Tuesdays at Sprinkle Valley. The winter league will run from 1/7 to 2/24(8 weeks).
The event will have a 12pm to 3pm flex start. We have limited hours due to daylight. It is what it is.
- Weekly Registration Link Below:
- https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/Sprinkle_Valley_Winter_League_2025
- PDGA League Standings:
- https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/87925
- Will start the spring league in April with longer flex start times.
- March will be a busy month for us. Sprinkle Valley DGC has a few big dates that month we need to be ready for(more on all that later).
We honestly are doing this because of the beer.
You can consume alcohol in PDGA League play.
You can not consume alcohol in a C-Tier or above.
Beer + PDGA rounds is a big appeal.
This is the only format in which you can do it.
I would not run a PDGA League if beer was banned.
Ever.
No real reason to.
So then, what if we used PDGA Leagues to test out new changes and track other stats.
- Putter Only Ratings/Standings.
- Test out no jump putts and get immediate player feedback.
- Standstill only leagues and ratings.
- Rated Tournaments with only Mint, MVP, Innova, etc.
We live in an era where all of this data is already tracked. It is just a matter of do we want to capture it and use it to market the sport.
Would you want to play leagues like this? Maybe have different regional or holiday themes to it?
To be honest, I deleted and rewrote the next part about 4 times. It was twice the length of what I already wrote.
So I just said it's ok to be done. I need to refine the ideas I think. Something something Camp Sprinkle.
Until next time!
Upcoming Blog Topics:
- 1/7: Salamander Flight Ratings by plastic.
- 1/8: The Eternal Bullet...
- 1/9: Thoughts on 2025 PDGA Rule Changes
- 1/10: 2025 Heart of Texas Tour (HOTT)
- 1/11: Sprinkle Valley Work Days
- 1/12: Team Tryout 2025 Recap & 2026 Plans
Thanks for all your work at the tryout! I’m now 2/2 having the best disc golf experience when I come down to Austin.
I’ve been running PDGA leagues since they were introduced and I love the idea of using them as a format/rule testing ground! It really gives some spice to the “weekly round” malaise that sometimes plagues sanctioned leagues. If I ran one, I’d have to play too. I imagine this is something you’d need a waiver from the PDGA for and an XL “tier” designation, and that could even mean ratings don’t count for those that might not come in order to “protect” their ratings.
Sanctioned leagues are great. I think doing leagues with different changes would be fun. I imagine people would feel “wait a minute, a putter only round at sprinkle valley is going to kill my rating!” BUT would need to remember that everyone would be operating under the same rules/limiters for the round (kinda like a super windy day), so while scores could vary what they are normally at the course, ratings for everyone for the round shouldn’t change too much.
That’s the other thing - there are lot of people who feel the PDGA and ratings are “very official”, and that makes them hesitant to join. Since it is technically “official”, many are concerned that as a casual player, they “don’t know all the rules”, or might get berated during the round by other players for not knowing something, or maybe “not being good enough”. i read this online all the time, and understand the feeling because I had the same worries before playing sanctioned disc. The funny thing is many casual players that are hesitant to join don’t realize they likely already know enough of the rules to play a sanctioned round smoothly.
I think playing rounds with changes like this can help some understand that playing sanctioned rounds doesn’t mean youre playing with super stiff serious people who only care about the “official” way of playing disc. On the flip end, as I mentioned before, I know some might fear what playing with such changes might do to their rating. As someone who makes a yearly rating goal, I understand how ratings can be important to people, but I also understand that I’m not solely defined by my rating. Overall I hope these type of leagues would help people learn ratings are not everything, but are still an incredibly helpful and insightful tool. For the casual players as well, they could see that sanctioned rounds can be incredibly fun while still being ‘official’, and hopefully be a gateway for them to try out sanctioned tournaments as well. More people at tournaments = more fun.
Standstill only league? Sign me up!