Kyle Silva Named 2025 EDGE/PDGA Educational Award Winner

Disc golf is experiencing explosive growth as a sport, driven by its accessibility, community appeal, and increasing presence in educational settings.

The PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) and EDGE have announced that Kyle Silva from Black Mountain, North Carolina, will receive the prestigious 2025 Educational Award for his outstanding contributions to disc golf education. Coach Silva, who teaches mathematics at Charles D Owen High School, is being recognized for expanding the sport's reach through innovative programs.

Prior to focusing on disc golf in 2019, Coach Silva had already demonstrated leadership excellence by forming one of the school's first Ultimate teams while teaching there since 2013. He successfully balanced coaching both sports simultaneously – guiding over 100 student athletes competing in ultimate during his initial years at the school alongside his responsibilities as head track and field coach for nearly four hundred athletes.

His transition to disc golf marked an opportunity to expand athletic opportunities further. Silva founded a weekly high school disc golf club program that continues today, providing students with regular access to learn the sport under expert guidance. This initiative proved so popular it sparked a regional impact.

Silva revitalized and became director of the Western North Carolina High School Disc Golf League. He now organizes fourteen different local schools into this competitive environment each season while personally maintaining all league operations including website management, social media engagement, scheduling coordination, and overseeing PDGA-sanctioned high school events that have served nearly two hundred student athletes across multiple seasons.

"These contributions to educational disc golf are ongoing," stated a PDGA spokesperson regarding Silva's selection. "His impact makes waves in the community and will last generations."

The announcement coincides with recent data highlighting disc golf as one of the fastest-growing recreational activities, expanding significantly beyond traditional ball golf concepts or other sports like ultimate that Coach Silva previously championed.

Silva is now extending his innovative approach to transfer students at UNC Asheville. His dedication aligns perfectly with PDGA's stated mission to grow participation in competitive and educational formats. This unique combination of leadership skills, technical expertise, and commitment to youth development makes him an ideal ambassador for the sport as it continues its rapid expansion into new communities worldwide through accessible platforms like UDisc courses across the globe.

This article was researched and written with AI assistance using the Disc Golf Buzz synthesis engine, drawing from multiple sources: pdga.com (https://www.pdga.com/news/2025-edgepdga-educational-award), udisc.com (https://udisc.com/), dgpt.com (https://www.dgpt.com/announcements/dgpt-adds-madison-walker-as-environmental-and-special-initiatives-coordinator/), outdoorindustry.org (https://outdoorindustry.org/press-release/new-report-reveals-disc-golf-is-one-of-the-fastest-growing-most-accessible-outdoor-activities-in-the-world), innovadiscs.com (https://www.innovadiscs.com/tips/how-to-throw-backhands-really-far). Search powered by: Tavily, Brave Search, SerpAPI/Google. Written with AI assistance: Ollama/deepseek-r1. Original reporting credit belongs to the source journalists.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/news/2025-edgepdga-educational-award