We had an overwhelming response to our “Looking for the next female disc golf talent” article with over 170 players submitting applications in search for the next up-and-coming female disc golfers to join Team Discmania!
There were players from all over the world expressing interest from 14 countries represented with many individuals from North America, Australia and throughout Europe. We witnessed lots of experienced veterans that have been competing for 5+ years reaching out and even more players that were new to the scene over the past year. But I think that we were most impressed by seeing interest from at least a dozen new players from the ultimate Frisbee ranks and converting over to disc golf!
The process of player evaluation is a very time consuming procedure but we wanted to ensure that we thoroughly evaluate each and every player to select those that are the most deserving of Discmania support. Therefore this announcement took a little longer than expected but this also ensured that we looked at every statistical category, taking into account the consideration of player recommendations and limitations of tournament play in a shortened 2020 season.
Our Discmania Team Manager, Avery Jenkins, being a former Disc Golf World Champion and a very active touring player spanning over a couple of decades, knows what it takes to be the best. He has great experience in scouting talent throughout several seasons of recruiting via the Discmania Combine events and the building of the current Team Discmania roster. We leaned on him with the assistance of our female players, Casey Pennington and Esther Schultz, that provided great insight throughout the entire selection process. With a difficult decision being made, two players were chosen for Team Discmania 2021.
We would like to announce the addition of both Ella Hansen and Cadence Burge to the official Team Discmania roster!
Ella Hansen
Ella Hansen is a 2x Ultimate World Champion from Eugene, OR that was first exposed to disc golf at the 2018 USDGC but started playing in the fall of 2019 with some Ultiworld crewmates while filming an ultimate tournament. She got her first golf discs from a friend a few months later, and started playing regularly in January 2020. Coming from an athletic background, she obviously quickly adapted to the sport because of her competitive nature and powerful throw gained through years of competing at the highest levels of Ultimate. Discmania is a great fit for her for so many reasons and when asked about what it meant to be selected for the team, she had this to say: “I'm stoked and honored! Discmania makes really high quality discs, and every new disc I try exceeds my expectations. I'm really excited to join the notoriously far throwing members of Team Discmania, and I'm hoping that I can keep that reputation going on the FPO side.”
She has aspirations to play all of the biggest events in the sport and has committed to playing the 2021 west coast swing with DGPT/NT tournaments in Oregon and California with the potential of playing the USWDGC and some other events in the northeast later this season. She also added, “I have only been playing disc golf for less than a year but I feel like I have a really good trajectory and that my ultimate skills have translated really well. I'm a competitor and I have a drive to win and be successful and I just overall really love throwing discs. I've had such a good time learning how discs fly, and my Discmania discs are my favorites." Her distance throwing should prove to provide her great impact as she makes a name for herself on the PDGA Tour.
Cadence Burge
Cadence Burge is a 14-year old junior player from Huntsville, AL who was introduced to the sport by her father and has been playing tournaments for the past seven seasons. She has been very active on the disc golf scene over the past season competing in 17 events and winning 12 of those in Advanced, Intermediate and Junior divisions. “I am beyond happy that I was selected to join Team Discmania and I am ready to practice with new discs and try new things. Just the fact that I was selected out of all the other talented people makes me feel like there are so many people that believe in me.”
She’s the truest example of an up-and-coming player that has been developing her game, increasing her rating and getting better with every tournament that she competes. When asked about some of her goals that she wants to accomplish within the sport she said, “For short term goals, I want to practice and spread the sport to people so others can see how amazing this community is. In my career I hope to one day be good enough to travel around the US and play Pro Tour events with others, even if that goal will take a while.” Her game will continue to progress as Eagle McMahon provided a personal recommendation for her when he first saw her play last year.
“I’m excited to welcome both of these ladies to the Discmania family as they both have great potential to achieve some amazing accomplishments with our sport. Huge thanks to Casey & Esther for providing valuable understanding and assisting with the overall evaluation and player selection as I’m very happy with strengthening our quality female roster.” says Avery.
We are expecting big things from Ella and Cadence over the next few years!