Disc golf team members help build course in Africa

Two members of Liberty University’s disc golf team traveled to Macha, Zambia, May 17-29 to build a disc golf course and lead clinics introducing hundreds of Zambian youth to the sport.

Senior Lance Brown and rising sophomore Hunter Thomas worked with Push the Rock, a ministry based in Allentown, Pa.

Brown and Thomas said the children in the Macha village were eager to learn the game.

“It was cool just to see the joy of learning how to throw a Frisbee for the first time come over their faces,” Brown said. “Personally, the sport is like a job to me, and I don’t often get to experience the fun side of it. It made me appreciate the opportunity I have to be able to play at a high level. It’s a sport that provides joy for a lot of people, and I need to make sure I have that childlike joy and enjoy God’s creation out there all the time.”

Hunter Thomas demonstrates a drive off the tee.

Using makeshift baskets constructed from wash basins and chains welded to poles, the team plotted out and cleared the path for the nine-hole course with machetes and dug holes to anchor the baskets and map signs, located beside two sets of tee pads.

Brown said that the course is a very beginner-friendly layout with the longest hole just 240 feet from the longer tee pad to the basket.

“To set up the course and be on another continent was amazing,” he said. “We all had a little part in the layout and the design. Most of the work was clearing the bush and the small trees. We had a dream of what it could be and it came to fruition in about three or four days, so that was awesome.”

The team gave over 100 discs to village children.

Liberty Head Coach Steve Bowman says the potential for future ministry overseas and in the United States is limitless.

“It’s a great outreach for their youth, to get excited about and be active,” Bowman said. “As a team, we’re looking to be more spiritually aware of and take advantage of opportunities to be used by God, using disc golf to connect people.”

Liberty’s disc golf team is one of 35 teams competing in 19 sports in Liberty’s Club Sports program. Every season, several teams and individuals participate in regional and national tournaments in their respective sports. In April, Brown placed sixth individually to lead the Flames to a best-ever seventh-place team finish at the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships.