More About Ice Bowl and Why You Should Consider Running One
My name is Rick Rothstein. I’ve written this missive to encourage local disc golf clubs, parks departments, schools, disc golf businesses, and other disc golf entities to consider running an Ice Bowl in their communities in 2020 and beyond.
Ice Bowl® is disc golf’s oldest and most successful series of charitable events. I came up with the idea of the first Ice Bowl in 1987 in Columbia, Missouri with the goals of getting more people playing and receiving publicity for a new sport. After successfully drawing 34 people and getting coverage in the sports page of the Columbia Daily Tribune, I vowed to encourage others to run Ice Bowls. This was accomplished primarily through Disc Golf World News, a magazine I founded and published from 1987 through 2007.
Quite frankly, I had no idea in 1987 that 33 years later Ice Bowl would be the vehicle that would raise over $4.6 million for a plethora of local and regional charities—most of them dedicated to mitigating food insecurity. Since charity became part of Ice Bowl in 1996, I have tracked nearly 4,500 Ice Bowl events and over 216,000 participants who have made this huge amount of fundraising possible. Additionally, there are dozens of other similar disc golf events that have spun off from Ice Bowl or were inspired by Ice Bowl’s emphasis on charity.
While charity remains the primary facet of Ice Bowl, the original purposes—getting publicity for disc golf and encouraging new players—still apply. In fact, getting publicity for an Ice Bowl event, be it from the charity connection and/or the defying winter aspect, can benefit a disc golf community. It’s a fact that the approval of new courses has been abetted by holding Ice Bowls. In other communities, sponsors who initially have supported Ice Bowls have become supporters of other events and allies in helping fund new courses.
Another reason to run an Ice Bowl is about fun. That fun, in many communities, includes communal meals and chili contests, as well as selling mulligans and holding raffles or closest-to-the-pin contests to enhance charitable donations. When golfers have fun like this while doing some good for their communities, Ice Bowls strengthen and bring closer together local and regional disc golfers, as well as burnishing a positive reputation for disc golf.
There are other national/international disc golf series of events. Disc manufacturers, who naturally want to increase brand awareness and sales, produce most these series. The Ice Bowl series is different in several ways. First of all, the not-for-profit Ice Bowl Foundation operates it. Yes, we license Ice Bowl merchandise sales from a variety of manufacturers and other disc golf companies. It is through these sales that the Ice Bowl Foundation receives funding to administer Ice Bowl and to keep it going. So, while I encourage event directors to purchase licensed merchandise, there is no purchasing requirement to run an Ice Bowl. Additionally, there have never been any Ice Bowl registration fees.
Another aspect of running an Ice Bowl is that each Ice Bowl chooses its own format, which makes it different from some of the other event series out there. While a majority of Ice Bowls keep it loose and fun, others opt for PDGA sanctioning. While fighting hunger has been Ice Bowl’s historical charitable mission, Ice Bowl events still have the freedom to choose other categories of charities. Regardless of the type of charity, we encourage Ice Bowl organizers to keep the giving local to better benefit the local and regional community.
Before signing off, here’s a bit more about our Ice Bowl artwork. We take pride in our Ice Bowl designs. Each year’s Ice Bowl logo is unique and memorable. Since 2004, most of the designs have come from the creative mind of renowned disc golf artist, John Dorn, who has been creating disc golf art for over two decades. His Ice Bowl designs have proven to be very popular and Ice Bowl players enjoy either receiving a tournament memento or having the opportunity to purchase one. Traditionally, Ice Bowl schwag has been available only though Ice Bowl events. This year, we will be experimenting with selling some unique items directly to the public. A portion of each purchase will be directed towards a fighting-hunger charity to be determined. When the details are finalized, it will be announced both here and at the Ice Bowl Facebook page.
That’s my Ice Bowl pitch, for now anyway! If you’re interested in learning more about Ice Bowl, please contact me with any questions or concerns at rickrothstein@gmail.com, 816-914-0094 (text/phone) or via Facebook Messenger. If you’re ready to sign up an event now, go the register event link at this site. For more information, find the Ice Bowl FAQs here. Also, here is a somewhat dated History of Ice Bowl. Thanks for the consideration.