The MVP (Discs)- Steve Holloway Interview
While interviewing professional players and players in the community, every once in a while, I get the chance to talk to someone who helps run and be a part of a company that we all know and may use. I have talked to people from Discmania, Innova, Discraft, etc. This time I got the pleasure of interviewing Steve Holloway of MVP Disc Sports. Just like everyone I talk to, he has some amazing insights to his company and he has an amazing story to tell as well! Enjoy!
Steve Holloway wears many hats in the MVP Discs team. Officially he is the marketing director/ team manager as he tells me. A little about Steve is that his start to disc golf was not too long ago. He told me “I was in the military for a number of years and was honorably discharged, I had some back damage.” But, once he got out of the military “in 2013 a buddie decided to go play disc golf, I needed to get out more, so I bought a Disc for 25 dollars.” Now, 25 dollars is not cheap for a disc, but, he thought he only needed one, he had no idea what was coming. From that point on his fire for disc golf kept burning and got higher and higher. From then on, he kept playing and “in 2015i got my PDGA membership, played 22 events and won 15 of them and was 930 rated.” Form starting off in 2013 to being 930 rated in 2015 is no small feat to say the least. His drive to compete and be the best he can comes from his family. He told me “My family is very competitive, I like competing from them.” He continues to play and succeeds at what he does.
He got started with MVP in 2016. How he got the job he told me was “I have been doing sports management for 10 or 11 years, in 2014 or 2015 I messaged the owners and said that they needed some management. Then in 2016 they said they were ready for it.” It is impressive to see how quickly he became such an important piece in the machine that is MVP. In only a matter of a couple of years he went from not playing to be the team manager of a huge Disc Golf company. I applaud his dedication and his mental fortitude to strive to be a part of something greater.
Before I want to dive into how MVP works and what they do, I wanted to know what Steve’s favorite disc and course were. They may be small questions, but I am always curious on what people say and how different answers can be. So, no surprise when Steve told me “my favorite disc is my wave, threw 500 feet at the iron lion open and got first. Pretty consistent with it to get 375 feet.” The wave is a distance driver within MVP and is a disc that I currently use as well, I don’t throw 375 with it, but I like it too. His favorite course he told me was “Bradley park in Illinois, I helped put baskets around there. Beautiful course in the middle of a college area.” He also had to add that “Centralia park in Illinois is the nicest course, middle of nowhere park with open shots for everyone.” I have personally never heard of these courses, but I can now add them to my bucket list if I ever go to Illinois on a trip.
Now, MVP is a company that is different than other disc golf companies. The reason being is that they are a scientifically based company. Not saying that others are not, but, MVP strives and prides themselves on being scientific with their product. The main technology within their discs are the use of angular momentum and gyroscopes. Now, I won’t explain in too much depth on how each of those two works, even though I want to and could write a blog about just that. Steve explained to me that “we use a 2-mold system, which means that the rim is denser then the core making the disc fight to stay flat for longer.” This is due to angular momentum and a lot of physics.
To get on team MVP it is a simple task that most people can achieve, at least on paper it is. Steve simply told me “Team MVP is about good people first and good players second.” This includes helping your local clubs, parks, being a good person. He also told me that “you should know how to market yourself and your brand to be on the team.” He takes into your social media and posts just as much as your play. Like with any professional sport, you need to consider in what you say and post online. I think this is smart and how it should be. If Disc Golf wants to be recognized as professional, we need to treat the professionals like any other team would. The main takeaway is this, just be a good person and be a part of your community and the rest will follow.
As per all interviews I conduct, I want to know a piece of advice from the person I am talking to so I and all who read this can maybe better their game. When I asked Steve this, he explained that “Putting is the best thing to do, go throw more putts. Go practice, Disc golf is not locked down enough yet.” Putting is the key to any game. If you can be confident in your short game, you will feel great taking some shots at baskets. However, the part that I took away and noticed more was when he said, “disc golf is not locked down enough yet.” He is meaning that there is no direct formula to the sport. There are so many shots and so many ways to play the sport itself that you can do whatever you want and play however you want but you must practice it.
I end every conversation whether it be by email or by phone with seeing if they have anything else to add to the conversation or something they want people to know about them. With Steve it was easy for him to answer this. He told me “MVP is trying to do a lot of great things for our brand and our customers. I would also like to add that I do the job that I need to do because it is what I need to do. You should never ask someone to do something that you yourself would not do, so I do all jobs in my work whether it be marketing or scrubbing toilets I get the job I need to do done.”
I would like to thank Steve Holloway and MVP Discs for letting me talk to him and pick his brain and get the word out for MVP. They have been so nice to me and treated me well, Steve was a pleasure to talk to and learn from. If you want to know more about MVP, you can find them in all forms of social media and you can visit their website to learn more. Be on the lookout for MVP in 2018, Steve told me that “Amazing things are coming for 2018, it is going to be a crazy year.” Keep an eye out for them! As well as keep an eye for more posts coming soon!
picture credit goes to MVPdiscsports.com