In a world full of flashing lights and the buzz of notifications, it can be difficult to feel connected with those around you. As school and homework swallow all free time, it can leave relationships feeling distant and faded. When friendships are trapped behind screens, it is easy to feel ignored.

School clubs are a perfect solution to the loneliness every high schooler experiences. Clubs have recurring meeting times, making it easy to schedule time with friends. Missing a meeting is not a big deal, as there will be another opportunity next week. Clubs are centered around activities, so conversation is never recycled and every meeting is fresh and interesting. No matter how niche your interests are, or how marginalized you feel, there’s someone else in the 2,000 students here at ThunderRidge that you can relate to. Take, for example, disc golf.

Almost no one had heard of the sport when Connor Brant started the TRHS Disc Golf Club earlier this year. Now the club is thriving with several regular members. The club is incredibly welcoming of new players and people who just come to check it out alike. Connor said, “I don’t think anyone who came to try didn’t have fun. Not everybody stayed in the club, but nobody disliked it.”

Disc golf is a relatively new sport, invented around 1950 (Gregory, 2015, para. 2). Disc golf is, you guessed it, golf but with frisbees. Players take turns throwing their frisbees with the goal of landing them in holes. Since it is difficult to throw frisbees into holes made for golf balls, disc golf employs ‘pole holes’ instead. You may have seen them around campus. Pole holes are vertical poles with curtains of chains (see image on left). Frisbees will hit the chains which slow their momentum, preventing them from bouncing off the pole. The frisbee then drops into the bucket under the chains for easy retrieval. A full course is 19 holes (DGA, 2017). The goal of the game is to land in the holes with the fewest number of throws.

Connor Brant, president of the TRHS Disc Golf Club, has loved playing with a frisbee since he was a little child. In his past, Connor has played many games with frisbees, but a certain one caught his eye. When his uncle introduced him to disc golf, Connor was immediately smitten. After a year and a half of practice, Connor is considering entering competitive disc golf.

Yes, competitive. Disc golf has a professional tournament, hosted by the Professional Disc Golf Association. This association has more than 870,000 members and is growing daily. The tournaments today are professional, with local qualifying matches and player rankings (Gregory, 2015, para. 52). Connor hopes to join this thriving community of disc golf lovers.

However, this level of intensity is not for everyone. Most of the club members just come for a casual game with friends. There’s plenty of time to laugh and talk with friends in the fresh air while searching for discs.

Club members meet next to the elevator on the second floor by the main staircase. When the club has gathered, the group heads outside to ThunderRidge’s disc golf course. Connor said, “Anyone who’s new we take them out, let them borrow our discs, teach them how to play.” They spend time throwing frisbees, practicing form, and refining techniques. More experienced members like Connor help new players with how to throw and the best strategies. Sometimes they will organize games and play the course all the way through. But usually, the group practices throwing or just one section of the course. Occasionally on weekends, the club will meet at another nearby disc golf course.

Take some time to decompress from the stress of school, work, and life. Go outside, play a game. Reconnect with friends. Join us in the Disc Golf Club today!

If you are interested in the disc golf club

Contact Connor Brants at brandtcd@s.dcsdk12.org

Contact Ms. Leuenborg at ksluenenborg@dcsdk12.org

Follow the Disc Golf Instagram @TRHSdiscgolf