Well . . . Labor Day has passed and for me that marks the beginning of glow season . . . where I play as many if not more glow rounds than I do daytime rounds. Unless I enter a tournament I usually leave the lights taped on my discs even.
Discin In The Dark 2012 was my first venture into running leagues. To my knowledge I had never heard of an organized glow league, although I had played in a few casual get-togethers with people to play glow in the past. We averaged 17 people in that 12 week season with a high of 34 people at Valley View and a low of 9 people at Brown Deer. We even had more than 9 in a decent downpour of rain at Miniwaukan so clearly we had a dedicated bunch of people committed to getting their round of DG in despite the early sunsets. I learned a few things during this first attempt and the one thing I wanted to improve upon first was lighting of the baskets. Last year I simply put out two glow sticks in the chains . . . but then a few people were calling for more lights so I put more glow sticks out. The problem with the glowsticks is they only show you where the chain edges are, they do not show you the basket and they do not show you the actual chains. We had been planning to use solar powered landscape lights on top of the baskets but felt like these needed to be secured and locked somehow to the basket so it would have ended up costing us $10-12 to protect a $4 light.
I have come up with a couple options . . .
There is something that is called EL wire and a battery pack. The wire could be secured to the baskets and the battery pack can be put out and taken in each week. This would also allow other people to buy (or rent) the battery packs from me for their own use. They could just hook up their battery packs to the wire and play their round and take their battery packs out when they are done.
The other option is to buy the LED tap puck lights that can be stuck to the underside of the basket (so the light shoots downward into the chains and illuminates the basket also) and removed each week. These are pretty inexpensive so even if a few gets stolen or damaged it wouldn't be the end of the world. I am going to purchase some of each option and see what you all think of the two options.
I also heard a few people saying that the MINI LED lights I sell are too bright. I have not had that problem because I use mostly opaque discs (Star PRO and DX) but if you use Champion plastic I could see how the brightness could be distracting. I have purchased some glow tape which I have heard good things about and will have those items for sale at future leagues.
NOW for the recap:
In Open we had 8 people playing tonight. Scott Slauson had the only double digit round (-10), TJ Webber playing his first glow round shot (-9), Drew Retherford posted a solid but quiet (-8) while two of his cardmates, Mike (F Bomb) Finley and Mike (H Bomb) Harrington tied at (-6) to split the last cash.
In Intermediate we also had 8 players because of an influx of last seasons Recreational players . . .Sorry if I jinxed you guys . . . I was not insulting you only stating that the division was going to be highly spread out in scoring with guys who averaged between Even and over 6 down. Perhaps I phrased it wrongly but I do encourage everyone to challenge themselves. I look forward to seeing you guys break the jinx next week. I did like how when one said he was moving up they all wanted to move up. I like the enthusiasm and drive to be competitive guys! Aaron Zittnan shot a (-6) to take the win this week. Then there was a three way tie at (-4) between Keegan Wenzler, Shaun Kirchner, and newcomer Brian Allender.
In Recreational Matt Walczak made his return from the summer off from Manic Mondays and shot a solid (-1) to take the win over Disc Dog this week.
We had another newcomer this week in Peter Devine who enters the Novice Division. Thank you for coming Peter and I hope to see some other people come out to give you some competition each week, so please do not be afraid . . . just come out and have some glow in the dark fun!
We had two in the Womens Division this week which was good to see . . . Jessica Evans shot (+6) which is not bad considering how much harder the course plays in the dark. She bested Loriena who apparently went with her own format of 1 disc night by using her Flying Squirrel on every shot. She figured it was the straightest flyer for her so since she cannot see the trees that would be her best bet at missing them.
I should be getting my lighted pens on Friday and my glow tape should also be available by next week as alternatives to the LED lights. I also do have some glow discs and UV Blacklight flashlights for sale to help light up your glow discs and glow tape so find what works best for you and go with it. I still prefer the LED Lights but see the value in the tape too.
If you want a real challenge . . . come on out to Brown Deer on Thursday to play Travelling Glow Throwers . . . it plays about 10 throws harder in the dark if you ask me, but still is a ton of fun!!!
Discin In The Dark REVAMPED for 2013
Well . . . Labor Day has passed and for me that marks the beginning of glow season . . . where I play as many if not more glow rounds than I do daytime rounds. Unless I enter a tournament I usually leave the lights taped on my discs even.
Discin In The Dark 2012 was my first venture into running leagues. To my knowledge I had never heard of an organized glow league, although I had played in a few casual get-togethers with people to play glow in the past. We averaged 17 people in that 12 week season with a high of 34 people at Valley View and a low of 9 people at Brown Deer. We even had more than 9 in a decent downpour of rain at Miniwaukan so clearly we had a dedicated bunch of people committed to getting their round of DG in despite the early sunsets. I learned a few things during this first attempt and the one thing I wanted to improve upon first was lighting of the baskets. Last year I simply put out two glow sticks in the chains . . . but then a few people were calling for more lights so I put more glow sticks out. The problem with the glowsticks is they only show you where the chain edges are, they do not show you the basket and they do not show you the actual chains. We had been planning to use solar powered landscape lights on top of the baskets but felt like these needed to be secured and locked somehow to the basket so it would have ended up costing us $10-12 to protect a $4 light.
I have come up with a couple options . . .
There is something that is called EL wire and a battery pack. The wire could be secured to the baskets and the battery pack can be put out and taken in each week. This would also allow other people to buy (or rent) the battery packs from me for their own use. They could just hook up their battery packs to the wire and play their round and take their battery packs out when they are done.
The other option is to buy the LED tap puck lights that can be stuck to the underside of the basket (so the light shoots downward into the chains and illuminates the basket also) and removed each week. These are pretty inexpensive so even if a few gets stolen or damaged it wouldn't be the end of the world. I am going to purchase some of each option and see what you all think of the two options.
I also heard a few people saying that the MINI LED lights I sell are too bright. I have not had that problem because I use mostly opaque discs (Star PRO and DX) but if you use Champion plastic I could see how the brightness could be distracting. I have purchased some glow tape which I have heard good things about and will have those items for sale at future leagues.
NOW for the recap:
In Open we had 8 people playing tonight. Scott Slauson had the only double digit round (-10), TJ Webber playing his first glow round shot (-9), Drew Retherford posted a solid but quiet (-8) while two of his cardmates, Mike (F Bomb) Finley and Mike (H Bomb) Harrington tied at (-6) to split the last cash.
In Intermediate we also had 8 players because of an influx of last seasons Recreational players . . .Sorry if I jinxed you guys . . . I was not insulting you only stating that the division was going to be highly spread out in scoring with guys who averaged between Even and over 6 down. Perhaps I phrased it wrongly but I do encourage everyone to challenge themselves. I look forward to seeing you guys break the jinx next week. I did like how when one said he was moving up they all wanted to move up. I like the enthusiasm and drive to be competitive guys! Aaron Zittnan shot a (-6) to take the win this week. Then there was a three way tie at (-4) between Keegan Wenzler, Shaun Kirchner, and newcomer Brian Allender.
In Recreational Matt Walczak made his return from the summer off from Manic Mondays and shot a solid (-1) to take the win over Disc Dog this week.
We had another newcomer this week in Peter Devine who enters the Novice Division. Thank you for coming Peter and I hope to see some other people come out to give you some competition each week, so please do not be afraid . . . just come out and have some glow in the dark fun!
We had two in the Womens Division this week which was good to see . . . Jessica Evans shot (+6) which is not bad considering how much harder the course plays in the dark. She bested Loriena who apparently went with her own format of 1 disc night by using her Flying Squirrel on every shot. She figured it was the straightest flyer for her so since she cannot see the trees that would be her best bet at missing them.
I should be getting my lighted pens on Friday and my glow tape should also be available by next week as alternatives to the LED lights. I also do have some glow discs and UV Blacklight flashlights for sale to help light up your glow discs and glow tape so find what works best for you and go with it. I still prefer the LED Lights but see the value in the tape too.
If you want a real challenge . . . come on out to Brown Deer on Thursday to play Travelling Glow Throwers . . . it plays about 10 throws harder in the dark if you ask me, but still is a ton of fun!!!