Empirical research is defined as “Any study whose conclusions are exclusively derived from concrete, verifiable evidence.” Can you name any such research that is guiding disc golf? It does exist, but minimally given the rapid growth of our sport and its current rate of expansion. So where do we turn for such information?

Enter Alexis Kerman(PDGA #142354). She is currently a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia pursuing her Master’s degree with an emphasis on disc golf(we’ll get to that in a bit). As far as she knows she is the only person in higher education pursuing their thesis via empirical research for disc golf(get in contact with me if you know otherwise!). She is also currently the doubles College Disc Golf National Champion. She’s had a meteoric rise in the sport which all started with that familiar early compulsion that guided so many of our early days in disc golf. Kerman, however, is giving back to the sport in many ways. She is also giving to the sport in ways that will resonate for years to come. Let’s meet the person behind the attributes.

Background

Kerman grew up in the Dallas, TX area and has played competitive sports her entire life(figure skating, horseback riding and tennis) including ultimate frisbee for 8 years. She was adept at competitive sport and the flight of disc, though throwing an ultimate disc is FAR removed from throwing a disc golf disc. Enter COVID;

“My plan was to go play for a competitive Kansas City women’s team but Ultimate was completely shut down. My husband, Scott Hayden, had started playing disc golf in the winter of 2019 with our other Ultimate friend, Ryan Tray. They really are the reason I started playing in the first place. I do want to give a huge shoutout to George Smith and Brenda Lowe because they are the ones who encouraged me to sign up for Mid-America Open. I would say the start of that tournament is where the exciting and non-stop desire to play disc golf was solidified,” said Kerman.

Chew on this for a moment. From this humble beginning in the sport in March of 2020 Kerman is currently(as of Nov ‘22) the number one ranked female college disc golfer in the country! It’s been quite a couple years. As many of us know, disc golf has a way of becoming a fixation in our lives. “The desire to get better, learn and grow as a player keeps me coming back for more,” says Kerman. She uses this passion to bring good into her life as well as for the sport.

“Even though I have not been playing or involved with the sport for very long, I have put a lot of my life into disc golf as a whole. This includes my work, personal and school life. Disc golf has been such an easy sport to become so passionate and enthusiastic about, especially when it comes to growing the sport.”

Work And Academia

At the time Kerman was delving into her early days in disc golf she was working full-time as the Outdoor Recreation Program Manager for Jefferson City Parks, Recreation & Forestry. Her job

involved developing and implementing programs for Jefferson City and allowed for flexibility of activities.

“I connected with the Jefferson City Disc Golf Club and was able to create a Jefferson City Women’s Disc Golf group…and started the indoor putting league where proceeds went to helping purchase supplies and equipment to run the league and grow the women’s side of the sport.”

Kerman is currently a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia pursuing her Master’s in Natural Resources with a study area in Parks and Recreation. Her thesis is entitled “INSIGHT INTO DISC GOLFING IN COLUMBIA, MO: MOTIVATION & PARTICIPATION, COURSE USAGE, WILLINGNESS TO PAY AND USER DEMOGRAPHICS.”

Kerman had this to say about the intention and direction of her research;

“There is very little empirical research about disc golf. There are some studies that have looked at environmental concerns, studying this niche group of disc golfers, and willingness to pay. I hope that my study can add to the research that has been published and potentially encourage more researchers to look at disc golf as a research topic.”

Disc golf has erupted in popularity since the beginning of Covid. It is felt via the amount of players at courses. Local governments, parks and rec departments, private landowners, etc. have taken note. There is a clear and present need for more courses, but how to go about infrastructure and course implementation? Enter empirical research. Kerman noted this;

“As course usage increases because more people are playing disc golf, it’s important to understand who they are, what do they enjoy or not enjoy about your courses, what amenities are important to them, are the courses providing to their overall health and needs, etc. By understanding these aspects of your users, you recreation managers can make plans for the future to help make improvements, budget for disc golf specifically, provide better/more amenities and look at what may be lacking for this activity.”

Going Forward

With regards to her thesis, Kerman recently wrapped up data collection and will soon begin data analysis. She hopes that by the end of winter break(2022) her data analysis for research objectives will be complete. She looks forward to putting this data into digestible bits for the Columbia Parks And Recreation Department to use for course management/implementation moving forward. This is where the rubber meets the road. “I am very excited about these next steps because I hope to discover and be able to share some interesting information that comes from the data.”

Now for the future or Kerman’s competitive play. She hopes to keep getting better and progressing on the professional side of the sport once her collegiate career is finished at the end of this school year.

“In 5 years I hope that I will be on the DGPT. I just turned Pro officially the other week! I am still new to the sport, so this means I have a lot of room to grow and learn and get better.”

Cheers to that!

Bringing It All Together

As has been the case in all of Kerman’s endeavors, when she puts her mind to something she succeeds. This is especially true with regards to the thread of disc golf throughout various areas of her life. Through work it happened via her parks and rec efforts to grow the sport via outreach programs for leagues and instruction in Jefferson City. For competition she earned her way to become a collegiate National Champion for Mizzou. And in academia she has committed her thesis to the vastly important subject of gathering empirical data for motivations to play disc golf. All of this having played the sport for two and a half years. It is dedication like this that begs the question,”What have I done for disc golf?”

Kerman is also actively growing the women’s side of disc golf. Keep an eye out for an article devoted entirely to this subject. Kerman is also open to engage so if for any reason you would like to reach out you can contact her via email at AlexisKerman@Gmail.com or via Instagram @kermie123lexi.