Earlier this year we had the chance to chat with DD team members Dustin Keegan and Zoe Andyke, the brains behind one of disc golf’s most exciting non-profits, UPlayDG. The two of them, together with a talented set of board members, have created the structure to implement a unique disc golf curriculum in schools across the country. From teaching youngsters all the way to seniors in high school the basics of the sport, Zoe and Dustin have been quite busy balancing this work with their touring schedule.
As the year is about to close, UPlayDG is embarking upon one of their most important events yet - a fundraising push to make 2019 even bigger and better than ever before! In Part 1 of this double feature, we’re going to spend some time exploring what the group accomplished this year and how you can contribute to their cause.
Behind The Scenes
Running any sort of organization is a time-consuming and challenging task, and when you’re looking at everything that’s involved in maintaining a non-profit, it’s shocking to realize just how much these two got done over the year. Despite touring extensively across the nation, Zoe and Dustin have held 11 board meetings this year and completed a board retreat, bringing together everyone from across the country to flesh out the future of UPlayDG.One of the many realizations that came from these meetings is that there’s a need to modify their current plan. From 2016 to the present, Zoe and Dustin have documented over 10,000 instruction hours and in many cases, this time has been completely voluntary. Zoe goes on to explain where the group is headed:
“I built a nonprofit so that I could survive for the rest of my life on teaching and growing disc golf in a really special way. Now that I’ve built the system and the wheel, I’ve turned it into a real process. We’ve put it through the test of many other professional minds and through business meetings, and got to the place where we realized that the wheel I built wasn’t going to be sustainable at the rate we were doing it, for the cost we were doing it.”
How Can We Help?
Let’s be clear here - UPlayDG’s mission to spread the sport of disc golf to kids everywhere is not about making money, and anyone who knows Zoe and Dustin can tell you that firsthand. However, everyone has bills to pay and if the nonprofit can partner with schools in such a way to where it’s affordable for all, that’s obviously a win-win situation.During this month, however, disc golf fans around the world can play their part in helping UPlayDG to reach more students than ever before. They are holding a fundraiser for the entire month of December, and if you donate, you may end up getting some pretty sweet gifts. A $25 donation gets you a UPlayDG mini, and $50 also gets you a disc. For a $100 donation, you’ll receive a mini and a disc signed by both Zoe and Dustin, and $250 earns you the signed set plus a presence on the UPlayDG website if you so desire.
If you feel called to help support this incredible team in their mission to spread disc golf, visit the Donate section on their website. You can also help every time you place an order on Amazon by visiting smile.amazon.com first and selecting UPlayDG as your nonprofit. Check out Part 2 and learn more about what’s in store for 2019!
