Recent grad excels in the disc golf world

KIDS WHO SHINE JARED HENDERSON, 18

BY STEPHANIE GIBSON LEPORE

It seems talent follows recent Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate Jared Henderson in whatever he endeavors. First, he took after his older brother, and picked up a trumpet in the sixth grade. “I wanted to be like him,” says Jared. “He’s my big brother, and he played trumpet, so I decided I wanted to play, too.”

Jared stuck with band, playing all the way through high school as trumpet section leader. “When he was a sophomore, he and a few friends were looking for something fun to do after school,” says Hewitt-Trussville Assistant Band Director Stephanie Ezell. “So, they went to Trussville’s Civitan Park to play disc golf.”

“Football season had ended, so there was no more marching band,” says Jared, “and some friends and I had a few old discs leftover, so we said, ‘Hey, want to go try this out?’” One round turned into another the next day and again the day after that. “I was hooked immediately. I started playing every day after school and working to improve my skills.”

It wasn’t long before he recognized something: He was naturally talented with a Frisbee. “Two of my friends and I really fell in love with disc golf,” he says. “I realized I had gotten pretty good and thought, ‘I should enter a tournament.’”

Jared won the first local tournament he entered. His response? “Heck yeah! I liked the competitiveness and the community,” he says. He also came to appreciate that the sport draws in a lot of people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles. “It’s easy to stick to your own clique [in school] and not get out of your comfort zone. Playing disc golf, I met some really cool people I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise. I enjoyed getting to hang out with older, wiser guys and interact with people who weren’t just like me.”

Bitten by the tournament bug, Jared continued to enter, even traveling as far as Las Vegas to play in one. “I’ve played in a ton of tournaments in Alabama and Georgia,” says Jared. “Last October I traveled to Rock Hill, South Carolina, because I qualified for the US Disc Golf doubles championship.” Jared and his teammate, Sullivan Tipton, won the doubles competition.

So far in 2021, Jared has played in 13 tournaments, placing in the top 10 in all of them.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JARED HENDERSON

Jared Henderson picked up disc golf for something fun to do with friends, but his natural talent for the game spurred him on from playing for hobby to dominating tournaments.

Of those 13, he’s finished third place or better in nine. In September, he’ll travel to Nashville for his first event on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, the Music City Open. “The sport is growing—which is great—and this will give me a taste of the tour life, if you want to call it that. It could definitely be an option in the future.”

For now, though, Jared’s future includes attending Auburn University in the fall on the All Auburn Scholarship—a four-year renewable scholarship given to Alabama residents based on academics—because he excels there, too. He plans to major in wildlife ecology and management. “I really like being outdoors and I like animals, and I’d like to mix in conservation. I could move out west or stay here in Alabama and work on the Cahaba restoration,” he says.

This month, he’ll also stay true to his musical roots, auditioning for the band at Auburn, where he hopes to continue playing the trumpet. And there might be a little collegiate disc golf as well. “I’d like to play in college if that’s an option,” says Jared “I’m not sure if they have a rec team or not, but I would absolutely start one.”

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