Paris women heading to World Disc Golf Tournaments this summer

By Casandra Turnbull

Two Paris disc golfers are taking the sport to a whole new level – the world stage. This summer, Brooklyn O’Krafka and Shelley Kingma-Kitchen will take their game across the border to participate in the World Championships, qualifying for the prestigious tournament following successful 2022 seasons.

Twelve-year-old Brooklyn O’Krafka travels to Peoria, Illinois at the end of June where she will face some of the toughest competitors from around the world in the FJ12 division The competitions start with field events longest drive, putting contests and skills shots, followed by the tournament where she will play one round of disc golf each day from Tuesday to Friday at different courses in the area. If she qualifies among the top 40%, she will qualify to play in the final rounds on July 1st and July 2nd .

“I have been working on my backhand throws, which are going farther,” said O’Krafka of how she’s preparing for Worlds. “My farthest drive this year has been 279 feet I have started to throw forehand, which I wasn’t doing last year. I’ve started to focus on my midrange shots so I can get closer to the basket and have shorter putts,” she added.

O’Krafka qualified for Worlds after a stellar 2022 season. She earned division points by playing in and winning tournaments and events, including a big win at the Professional Disc Golf Association’s Provincial tournament in Peterborough last October.

“We never considered putting her in the National tournament last year, and did not anticipate Worlds,” explained her mom, Jaimie O’Krafka. “However, this year she is also competing in the Canadian Nationals, which is in Thunder Bay at the end of July. She is also registered for the Junior Provincials this year in the fall and is hoping to attend the main provincials (which you must qualify for as well).”

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To help hone her skills, she plays in the doubles league with the Brant Disc Golf Club and is starting to compete in the Tuesday night Tags at Mohawk Park. She’s been able to hit the course a few times with the recent summer like weather, but she’s also practiced a lot over the winter at the SylApps CommunityCentre Asked what her goal is once she gets to Worlds, she answered “To make it to the weekend play, but I would love to win! I’m going to try my best and just want to play well.”

To help achieve that goal, she’s going to continue to perfect that forehand throw, achieve a 300 yard backhand throw and perhaps, most importantly, finally beat her dad in a round of play (she’s come close!)

Shelley Kingma-Kitchen is also ready to take her game to a new level. This summer she travels to Flagstaff, Arizona from July 11-15 to compete in the Amateur MastersWorlds in the FA50 division.

“It surprised me that I got an invitation. It wasn’t even on my radar last year when I was playing,” said Kingma-Kitchen. “But to qualify after my first tournament season was mind blowing to me!”

Last season Kingma-Kitchen, who lives in Paris, was ranked # 1 in the female amateur 50+ year division, and ranked 7th globally, and boasted an impressive rating of 760 She won four tournaments, including the

Niagara Women’s Global Event held in St. Catharines inAugust.

Kingma-Kitchen plans to take an entire month off to prepare for Worlds, but before doing so, she will sharpen her skills at a few tournaments – Glitch in the Park at Mohawk Park, the Christie Lake Amateur Spring Fling, the Toronto Island Open, followed by the Canadian Women’s event in Peterborough, the Foxwood Open, the CWE at St. Catharines and Brant Flights 3 at Mohawk Park.

With lots of practice courses on the docket already, Kingma-Kitchen knows what she needs to focus on to improve her game.

“My preparations are weightlifting, putting practice in the backyard and walking up and down Main Street hill (in Paris) to get use to the elevation changes,” she said. Elevations at the Flagstaff courses average 7,000 feet but range from 9,000 to 10,500 feet at the highest points.

And like any sport, practice makes perfect, so she plans to continue to hit her hometown course in Paris, where it all began just three years go, to improve her field work to throw farther and nail those technical shots

Stay tuned later this summer as the Paris Independent will bring updates on these two athletes as they represent Paris, Ontario, Canadaon theWorld stage