Die Wintertour startet am kommenden Sonntag in die zwölfte Saison. Wir haben uns daher die Zeit genommen und Dan Sellers (Einer der Organisatoren der Wintertour) zu einem Interview gebeten. Wir wünschen euch viel Spass beim Lesen.

Hi Dan thank you for taking time for some questions. First question, how excited are you for the upcoming Wintertour?

Dan: I’m as excited as ever for the players. That’s why we do it. I’m less excited personally because I probably won’t play more than 1 or 2 events.

Its your eleventh „season“ if iam correct. are there any minor changes to the tour?

12th season actually. Milandia is obviously gone. However, Alex Sessler and his team in Kreuzlingen are happy to host us twice. So, we’re kind of back to the format we had for many years with one exception. We have decided that we liked having the opening AND the closing in Wintertour so the finale will once again be at Grüzefeld.

Sadly Milandia is gone, but maybe there will be a replacement someday. what keeps you going doing the 12th Wintertour?

Because it’s fun. That’s the bottom line for me. Our crew is fun. The players are fun. The atmosphere is fun.   When it stops being fun, I’ll stop doing it.

last year you had more junior players than any other tournament series in switzerland, what do you think is the key?

I hear a lot of people talk about attracting juniors, but it stops at the talk. We do lots of things. We’re family friendly; juniors not only play free, they all get some kind of prize at every tournament; we put them in groups with their parents or friends; they sometimes have requests for a group and we do our best to honor them; no one complains about the extra time they need; we even send out complete junior groups from time to time. Do you have any idea how much the kids love that? Make it fun and the kids will come.

last year i think you set a new record with player numbers; do you think you can top it this year?

We did. 3rd season in a row we set a new record. Clearly there is an upper limit (if we filled every event) but we’ve still got some room to grow. To be honest, it’s great but, the numbers don’t matter so much to me. We were running the Wintertour when we had less than half the players we do now. Whether we get 20 players or 60 for an event, if those players have a good time, we’re happy.

The spirit at the wintertour definitely is great. do you think that’s all that matters? Have you ever considered to be a rated Tour series or was that never the idea?

Honestly, at this point in my disc golf career, the spirit of the Wintertour is all that matters to me. I like running a tour that is fun and beginner friendly. Judging by our ever increasing numbers, a lot of players like what we’re doing.

I’ve run Swisstour events in the past and I’ve even run a Swiss Championships so I’m no stranger to running professional events.

At one time we were actually connected to the SDGA and you could earn points on the Wintertour that were applied to your Swiss ranking. However, there was (and is) a philosophical difference of opinion between SDGA and DGWT and we decided it was better for us to separate completely from the SDGA. We changed the name from Voodoo Dimension Wintertour (honoring the two clubs that helped found the Wintertour) to Discgolf Wintertour (honoring the sport itself) and cut all official ties with the SDGA and its affiliated clubs. We are completely independent and while I never say never, for the foreseeable future, we intend to stay that way.

Last one, what kind of beer you’re putting in your glass this season? And do you have anything to say, then the platform is yours?

I honestly don’t remember how the beer glass came about. There has always been beer to start the Wintertour events. At the first ever Stop, at the HQ, we had a 5-liter keg of Feldschlösschen. At some point, I switched to ‚Weizenbier‘ and then Rafi engraved a new glass for me (which I accidentally broke at the end of the 21-22 Wintertour) and then he made me a new one for last year’s tour. At this point, it is a firmly entrenched tradition.

If I may, I’d like to say a couple of things.

First, I’d like to send a big shout out to everyone who makes the Wintertour happen. You will hear me thanking them individually throughout the tour. In the early days, it was a one-man show. The first season, we averaged less than 18 players for 6 Stops. Last season we almost tripled that average over 7 Stops. There’s no way I could make this happen alone. When you see them on the Wintertour, thank them and then thank them again. I may be the spirit of the Wintertour but they are the backbone.

Second, I’d like to thank all the players on the Wintertour. Without them, there is no tour. The original purpose of the tour was to bring friends together in a time of the year when they would normally not see each other on the course and have some fun. I had no idea when I started it that I would eventually be bringing so many people together. Thank you for supporting us.

(After…so many people together.) You have no idea how happy it makes me to see so many people coming out for our old school disc golf tour. I’m truly touched every time I start a player’s meeting. Thank you for supporting us!