In this series of articles, Don't Shoot interviews young, up-and-coming players who are looking forward to their big break in the disc golf world. Here's your first chance to hear about some of the big names of the future of the sport.

Up first, we spoke to Connor Endy, from Barto, Pennsylvania. The 17-year old high school senior, who's disc golf trick-shot videos have been shared and reposted across social media this year, kindly made time in his busy school and disc golfing schedule to talk to Harry and it was clear from the start why the 971-rated young professional, already sponsored by local company Birdie Disc Golf Supply, was recently one of six people signed by Team Discmania for the 2020 season - not just for his disc-golfing ability but for his whole outlook on the sport and life in general.

Getting sponsored by Discmania, which he announced via Instagram on Christmas Day happened fairly quickly for Connor. Initial contact with the company was via one of Discmania's sales managers and sponsored professional, Steve Braud, at the 2018 USJDGC. Playing only his fifth PDGA sanctioned event, Endy managed to place 8th, and he explained to me how this friendship with Steve allowed him to participate in a local Discmania Combine hosted in Pennsylvania. The Combine is one of the tools used by Team Discmania to recruit new players to their roster. Run by Avery Jenkins, the process involves skills tests consisting of putting, approaching, long driving and speed-gun, as well as a single sanctioned round. Connor was full of praise for this system, and spoke of how much he enjoyed it and how rewarding it felt. Not taking the opportunity to participate for granted, he trained almost every day for six months, and the hard work paid off - winning both the distance competition and speed-gun test, and placing fifth in the rated round, Connor was officially asked to join the team.

Connor Endy lays down a roller at Buttervalley DGC - 📹Connor Endy

So, a young, fair-haired, talented disc golfer on team Discmania, winner of the distance showcase at the aforementioned combine and known for trick shot videos? The parallels with Simon Lizotte were obvious, and when asked, Connor was happy to confirm that the German was his primary inspiration. Asked what aspects he tries to bring to his game from other professionals, the answer came quickly. "Eagle (McMahon)'s forehand is arguably the best in the game, and Paul (McBeth) is on another level when it comes to mental strength and focus. When it comes to attitude on the course though, I don’t think you can beat Simon". Clearly, trying to emulate and bring together the best aspects of these pros is working for him, with his PDGA rating rising into the 970s within his first 18 months competing.

When it comes to attitude on the course though, I don’t think you can beat Simon" - Connor Endy

So where will we see Connor going forward? While still in high school, he intends to practice every moment he can to accomplish his goal - to be a top touring pro and compete with the best in the world. He is, however, a realist and is aware that a dream career as a professional disc golfer is still exactly that - and the smart thing to do is to have a back-up plan. Luckily, he is a passionate and talented woodworker as well, and would love to have that as a profession too.

This year, he hopes to travel and play the larger tournaments in the North East (MVP Open at Maple Hill and Green Mountain Championship at Smugglers Notch) if he manages to get places, as well as continuing to play regional tournaments and build his name and image via trick-shot videos!

Connor wanted to conclude the article with a shoutout to his awesome parents, and his sponsors - Discmania and Derek Fell from Birdie. We at Don't Shoot wish him all the best going forward, and we'll be looking out for his name on the leaderboards!

You can follow Connor on Instagram, Youtube and Facebook. Look out for the next instalment of this series when we'll speak to Disc Golf UK's Noah Smithson.