Back in the early 90’s my dad found the sport of disc golf and quickly became addicted. As soon as I could walk he started to take me out all weekend with him, and soon this became our father/daughter activity. At first I would just throw a few holes, but back then my favorite part was being in the woods and exploring. I enjoyed watching the disc fly, but my attention span was not quite ready for a full 18 holes quite yet.  

As the years progressed I started to want to throw more and more, especially when I started to occasionally throw farther than my dad and his friends. I started playing juniors tournaments around age 8, but back then there weren’t many kids around to compete with so I moved up and started playing with the advanced ladies. I quickly started to win a few tournaments and I decided to start competing in the pro division to challenge myself more.  

I was playing on the same cards as Des Reding (a 3x World Champion) soaking up the knowledge and also the encouragement. She taught me so many lessons as an impressionable and passionate teenager. Within a couple years on occasion I could out score her on a hole, and then I started shooting better rounds too. This was crazy to me, but it made me want to practice harder. At this time I was in high school and I remember most days as school would let out I would head straight to the course and throw until sunset. The week would consist of school and practice and then the weekend would mean disc golf road trip. My dad encouraged me to reach out to a company that I thought I would like to represent as a sponsored athlete. I decided I wanted to reach out to Discraft since I had some friends on the team and I already loved their discs. I sent an email to Brian Sullivan, their team manager at the time. He responded saying that they were keeping an eye on my progress and excited to see what I would accomplish in the years to come but that unfortunately they could not sponsor me quite yet. I was a little sad, but I realized I needed to earn it. 

After high school ended I attended a near by community college where I was taking classes for criminal justice. I was fascinated with the show CSI and wanted desperately to solve mysteries as my profession. This was so exciting, at least for a couple months. Not long passed before I realized it was not going to be like my favorite show. I started to question if that was really what I wanted to do. Around this time is when I had an offer extended to me to hit the summer tour in 2010 with Eric McCabe and Liz Lopez, two Discraft pros. They were going to show me the ropes and expose me to what would change my life forever.  

My second tournament of that summer was the Beaver State Fling, the two most beautiful courses I had ever seen. I was like a child skipping around Milo McIver throwing AND exploring at the same time. When the event came to an end I had ended up taking second place, only one stroke behind the leader, WHAT!? I now knew this is what I wanted to do, this is what I was supposed to do. I was determined to expand my skill set and to win a big event on the tour. Along with this realization, I also received an unexpected email. Brian Sullivan had emailed me congratulating me on the finish and asked me if I was still interested in joining team Discraft. I was already excited, but then I realized he had responded to the same email thread that I had initially sent him years ago. That was such an amazing feeling to know they really were monitoring my progress and confident that I would make a splash in the disc golf scene. When this summer tour ended I went back to Plano and told my family I wanted to pursue disc golf full time. Of course they were super supportive and sent me on my way.  

In 2011 I went on my first full tour where I won a few big events including my first world championship. I did it. This was the point I realized, this is what I want to do with my life. I thoroughly enjoyed competing and now I found out the thing I am most gifted in, the passion was through the roof.  

It has now been about 10 years and it is still the best decision I have ever made. I have learned so many things about myself and about life in general. I have been lucky enough to traveled around the world playing, teaching, and growing disc golf. I have also had the privilege of meeting thousands of incredible people who have assisted in shaping me into who I am today. I am so thankful to everyone that has been a part of my journey, especially to my dad who lead me into this lifelong love. Thank you all for the support thus far and cheers to what is yet to come. 

 -Paige Pierce