The Midwest Invasion, Part 6: Sarah Cahill & the USWDGC

Recently, the Throw Pink Championships Team Event brought 120 women together for a wild weekend of disc golf and community. That event smashed the ladies record for attendance, and in a few short weeks, that number is going to more than double. The United States Women’s Disc Golf Championship set for the last weekend in June and ending on July 4 promises to be an experience for the ages. Already over 100 FPO registrants, and several hundred more amateur sign ups means that this will be, by far, the biggest women’s disc golf event in the history of our sport.

Over these last weeks I have been exploring all the people and organizations that have put in the work to manifest this historic collaboration. Women and men from across the country have been putting their blood, sweat, and tears into growing women’s disc golf, and it’s been an honor to share some of those stories. This week I caught up with Sarah Cahill who is acting as Social Media Coordinator for the PDGA and the USWDGC. She wears many hats in our sport, and her knowledge and passion for the game make her the perfect person for the job.

In 2018, I signed up my wife for the Women’s Global Event at Gray Fox DGC, and we had the pleasure to meet Sarah. She recalls, “My first event was the Wisco Disco in 2016, about two months after I started playing! When we met, I had been playing for around two years. It amazes me that I'm in my seventh season now!” I remember that my wife was very nervous playing in this event, and Sarah was just so friendly and welcoming that it really helped Alyssa settle down and enjoy the round. We’ve been friends ever since.

Sarah, and her husband Tony (who got married at Cedar Creek Park in Fairmont, MN), sat on the board of directors when they lived in Madison, but they recently moved to Minnesota, and she quickly got involved in the scene there. Sarah says, “When I moved to Minneapolis, there was an election for the board of directors for the Minnesota Frisbee Association, which is one of the longest standing disc golf clubs in the country. Since I had been Treasurer for Mad City Disc Golf Club, I was looking for more opportunities to be involved in my new state, so I ran as a candidate for the West Zone Coordinator (essentially the person who represents the interests of the West metro of the Twin Cities). I have been on the board since November 2021, and we have been primarily working to reactivate the club from being dormant for a few years. Setting up new membership statuses and benefits, helping to run The Majestic tournaments, and creating a vision for the club have been our primary objectives so far.” Sarah is the type of person that sets a goal and works until that goal is achieved. I think Minnesota disc golf is better with her on their board.

Sarah’s heavy involvement in all things disc golf made her a natural fit for handling the social media responsibilities for the PDGA and the USWDGC. “I am fairly active on social media already, so it has been a joy to be able to use that time to benefit the disc golf community. The majority of questions are fairly easy to answer as they involve the courses and disc golf community that I was a part of for five years. I probably spend one to two hours a week on the page, primarily answering questions, but also trying to promote the local community now that we are closer to the event. I loved living in Madison, and I'm hopeful that this will give a lot of disc golfers the opportunity to experience the beautiful disc golf community and surrounding city during their stay”, Sarah says. You can follow the PDGA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Between her recent move and constant travel, Sarah has a comprehensive grasp on women’s disc golf, so I asked her about some of the reasons she’s seen that are contributing to the explosive growth of women’s disc golf. Sara says, “I think we are at a unique time in disc golf where the pandemic has really given people a need for accessible outdoor hobbies. In my home city of Madison in 2020, the public health department even went so far as to specifically decree that disc golf was a safe sport while most other things were closed, which I believe gave a lot of additional attention to our courses. The women's disc golf communities tend to be very socially oriented; your course friends might become your after-course dinner friends, and then your off-season winter friends. I think this really helps make disc golf feel like an integral part of your social life, which encourages people to invite their other friends. The women's scene in the Twin Cities metro has been extremely welcoming, and several of us have become a friend group that hangs out outside of disc golf. It'd be hard not to want to share that and grow that with other people!” Disc golf is more than a sport, it is a community, and the bonds we feel with other golfers is genuine. Why wouldn’t you want to share that feeling with others. 

Recruiting new people into the sport also means guiding them as they explore and grow. Regarding advice for women looking to get involved Sarah says, “My advice to someone looking to get started would be to start on social media, look for your local disc golf Facebook groups and see if there are any local women's groups. If there aren't, try putting out a shoutout to other women to see if you can meet up with someone to learn the game! Most disc golfers are very friendly and would be excited to help you learn our favorite sport. I would also check out Dynamic Discs' YouTube channel for form videos once you get started; there is a wealth of information on how to throw flat, how to putt, and any other kind of technique that you may be looking to get your game off the ground!”

This growth of ladies’ disc golf naturally leads to thinking about the future. I asked Sarah where she sees the sport in the coming years. “I can't predict the future, but I would love to see more women get involved so that eventually, PDGA membership is more evenly split between men and women. Right now, women are a fraction of the membership (somewhere between 3-10% depending on the year). Bringing on additional sponsors to boost women's payouts so that women can afford to play the tour is starting to happen now, and I'm hopeful that this helps grow the sport at the professional level, which will bring more interest at the amateur level. I like having a co-ed tour for visibility: I think it's important that in a male dominated sport, the women are on the same media coverage, at the same events. I would worry that if there were two tours to follow, the male tour would likely get more attention (based on other sports with similar gender issues, like basketball and the WNBA). Seeing all the top athletes on the main co-ed DGPT really sends a powerful message that disc golf is for all genders and for everybody.”

Clearly Sarah has her finger on the pulse, and her continued involvement will only yield good things. Her passion, dedication, and approachability make her a wonderful ambassador, and if you get a chance to meet her, you’ll agree that she is an amazing human being.