Where in the World is Paige Shue Headed?
By now most people know that Paige Shue is leaving Dynamic Discs. And if you did not know, well Paige Shue is leaving Dynamic Discs. After being with the company for more than a decade she decided to part ways with Dynamic Discs and Jeremy Rusco and will announce a new sponsorship in the first few weeks of January 2023.
She did an interview with the Charlie and Josh on the Upshot where she intentionally or not dropped a few hints as to where she was going. Using some internet sleuthing I think I have a few ideas as to where she is headed for the 2023 season.
Paige Shue and Dynamic Discs
First it should be noted that she never gave Dynamic Discs a chance to resign her. She did not go out and get offers and brought them back to Dynamic Discs asking for them to match or beat any offer. She said in the interview that she did not tell them that she was looking and had no intentions of resigning with Dynamics Discs. They were both able to publish outwardly friendly and amicable departure videos. I am curious as to what fundamental issue Shue had with Dynamic Discs that she did not want to consider them for the 2023 season and beyond.
For brevity’s sake, I will only mention the larger brands.
Process of Elimination
In the interview she mentioned that it was frustrating to have such long lead times for getting discs because the manufacturing is all in Sweden at Latitude 64. Right off the bat we can eliminate Discmania, Clash Discs, and Kastaplast.
She also mentioned that the company had better mold consistency that Dynamic Discs. No matter if you are all Innova or no Innova there is one thing that Innova is known for, the lack of consistency from run-to-run. From what I understand Lone Star Discs is better than Innova in consistency but not at the Dynamic Discs level of consistency.
That leaves Prodigy, Mint Discs, MVP, and Gateway. While I am leaning towards one brand, I would not be surprised if her and Grady ended up there. That was one other thing she let slip. The way she phrased it, her and her husband will end up at the same manufacturer. And it she made it sound like they will end up with and RV.
While Mint is growing by leaps and bounds, I would not necessarily say they have all the disc slots covered yet. I also do not know enough people who through Mint Discs that can testify to the run-to-run consistency. I have thrown the Alpha and it is a great disc but it is only one. I also do not know if they could afford to sponsor an RV for the family.
I would put Gateway in the similar category as Mint Discs. While Gateway has been around for a much longer time I do not know if I would consider their discs to have unique flights. Also, like Mint, I do not know their consistency.
And Then There Were Two
That leaves Prodigy and MVP.
I would say that both companies could sponsor Paige and Grady Shue and hook the up with an RV. I think that both companies have a consistency on par or better than Dynamic Discs. And both companies have unique flights. I would say MVP is more unique than Prodigy with the gyro plastic. Both companies will let the players “just play” and not force them to run events or do a lot on social media. She is also looking for a company that will let them try it out for a year before signing a long-term contract. From the outside it seems like both companies would be willing to do that.
The question is, who has the cap space to afford these players? MVP might be a little tight between Sarah Hokom, Madison Walker, and James Conrad. Things seem tight with Prodigy as well with Alden Harris, Gannon Buhr, Heather Young, and Kevin Jones.
Could It Be, Prodigy & Paige Shue?
I think Paige Shue is going to end up at Prodigy. Prodigy is hurting for a top level FPO player. At the time of writing Heather Young has not played in a sanctioned tournament since the Tennessee State Championship June 3-5th. While Young is a talented disc golfer, she stopped touring after Texas States. Prodigy could use a FPO World Champion on their top team. Shue mentioned that she wanted to tour more and is looking to hit 8-10 Disc Golf Pro Tour events in the 2023 season.
That is my educated guess on where I think Paige Shue is going to end up. If my track record is anything to go by, I will be horribly wrong. Last year I predicted Catrina Allen would go to Dynamic Discs and she DGA. What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!
