Niagara Falls

More women embracing benefits of disc golf as it grows in popularity

admin behindthestory, COM_ORIGINALPRPUBLICATION_niagara_this_week__niagara_falls, COM_ORIGINALPUBLICATION_niagara_this_week__niagara_falls, COM_OWNLOCALID_b995d2ef-6796-4bd6-b001-3c4562cc0ccb, COM_PRPUBLICATION_niagara_this_week__niagara_falls, COM_PRSECTION_news, COM_PRSITE_niagarathisweekcom, COM_PUBLICATION_niagara_this_week__niagara_falls, COM_SECTION_news, COM_SITE_niagarathisweekcom, COM_SOURCE_ZPS, InHouseArticle_localcommunities, Niagara Falls, Ontario 0 Comments May 11, 2023

, 2023-05-11 18:24:57,

Pam Fowler, chair of the first-ever tournament being organized by the Greater Niagara Women’s Disc Golf Association (GNWDGA) at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls on May 13, is shown at the park with one of her discs.

At a time when a round of golf can set you back close to $100 and a good club set can set you back far more than $1,000, the noble sport is increasingly one that you have to be somewhat well-heeled to afford.

A growing number of women in Niagara are embracing a new twist on the game by ditching the clubs and balls and switching to discs as fans of the surging sport of disc golf.

Pam Fowler, tournament chair of the first-ever tournament being organized by the Greater Niagara Women’s Disc Golf Association (GNWDGA) at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls on May 13, said she’s seeing rapid growth in the number of women cluing into the benefits of disc golf.

“It’s a hugely growing sport,” she said. “Last year, our club started the women’s division with 14 members and now we’re up to 54.”

Fowler, of St. Catharines, said that has a lot to do with the camaraderie that comes with disc golf.

“I can post on our Facebook group that I’m coming to play at noon, and people will just show up and play with you,” she said. “Our women’s disc golf is very community-based: we’re all about support and no one is alone in this adventure.”

Fowler’s association has a ladies’ league that plays weekly on Tuesdays, and it’s not uncommon for newcomers to show up and be lent beginners discs to try their hand at the sport that mimics golf with terms such as birdies, eagles and bogeys. “Almost anybody will pull out of their bag and say, ‘here, try it,’” she said.

The sport also has specialized discs similar to golf drivers, irons and putters. Distance discs have a shaper edge while other discs are better at curving around trees. Then there are discs with very rounded edges to toss into the metal baskets that replace cups in regular golf.

Unlike regular golf, it’s not expensive: in addition to the course at the lower Firemen’s Park, there are also free disc golf courses in St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Fowler said you can get a good starter kit with all the discs you need to play for as little as $35.

The sport is also playable year round. “I’m here all winter,” said Fowler, demonstrating her disc tossing skills at Firemen’s Park.

Like regular golf, disc golf offers physical benefits such as upper and lower body…

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Courses

Niagara Falls holding sport and recreation fair at MacBain centre April 15

admin activities, centre, community, fair, free, groups, macbain, Niagara Falls, organizations, recreation, smg_life, smg_review, sports, vendors 0 Comments April 7, 2023

, 2023-04-07 08:30:42,

Organizers are expecting a “really big crowd” to turn out for a sport and recreation fair at MacBain Community Centre April 15.

The City of Niagara Falls’ recreation and culture department is hosting a one-stop shop for families to discover programs and activities such as martial arts, dance, music, soccer, baseball and rowing.

The event is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. at the centre, located at Montrose and McLeod roads.

Attendance for families is free and registration is not required.

More than 40 organizations are scheduled to participate.

DJ Brooks, a recreation assistant with the city, said the fair held last year was “very well attended.”

“That was kind of in conjunction with the MacBain opening back up after COVID, just trying to help all of our community partners and get the word out that everything was kind of up and running again,” he said.

“I think we had 28 or 30 vendors – we have 40 plus a few more (this year). We’ve had to turn away groups that aren’t necessarily in Niagara Falls because we had such a huge response.”

Brooks said sport and recreation is in “high demand.”

“Kids and families are back participating. We’re expecting a really big crowd. We’re hoping that we get a lot of the community out as well to see all the different things that are available in our community,” he said.

“We know that the vendors, for sure – the community groups – are excited about it, so we’re hoping the community participates as well.”

Brooks said organizers have opened this year’s fair up to organizations beyond sports and recreation.

“We’ve got the native centre coming, we’ve got the Institute of Music and Art, St. John Ambulance for different courses they provide,” he said.

“If anyone comes and visits on the 15th, it’s totally free – it costs no money, but you get to go talk to Niagara Falls Soccer Club or one of the multiple cricket clubs or maybe you’ve watched curling on TV but have never been to a curling club, talk to the curling club when they’re here.”

Brooks said organizations are looking to get new registrations and want to get the message out into the community that they exist.

“Hopefully they can get a bunch of registrations out of this and we can continue to grow an active, healthy community.”

For more information, visit https://niagarafalls.ca/living/community-facilities/macbain-centre/special-events.aspx.