Joe Rovere

Joe Rovere has been playing disc golf since he found the sport at age 28. A middle school robotics teacher from Colorado, Joe has a practice basket in his classroom and has been known to practice during lunch breaks. He won 1st place at the Colorado DG Hall of Fame Championships in 2021 in the Men’s Open and 1st in the Dynamic Discs Open 2021 in the Pro Masters 40+ divisions. He is the back-to-back 2022 and 2023 MP40 World Champion.

Our Q&A with Joe Rovere:

1. What made you want to become a teacher? What teachers inspired you growing up?
   I never wanted to be a teacher! I went to college for astrophysics and wanted to work at a telescope or do research in some capacity. My roommates from college at the University of Montana were all going to school to be teachers. After college, I moved to the beach in San Diego and surfed for a couple years. My college roommates found teaching jobs in Colorado. Their science teacher got sent to Iraq and they needed a sub for the year, so they called me.   I had no idea I would love teaching until I started doing it. Now I realize it’s my calling and I am somehow meant to do it as a career. Now it helps define who I am in this crazy world.

   Mr Fulton was my 7th grade math teacher. I will never forget the lessons he taught me. I don’t remember him because of the math lessons, I remember him because of the life lessons. Someone had to help me differentiate right and wrong, teach me there is a time and place, and most importantly, learn from my mistakes. He was a no nonsense kind of person when it came to behavior, and that is exactly what I needed. I often think about him and how he is somehow part of me and part of my approach to teaching.

2. What do you like most about being a robotics teacher?
   I think there are problems with our education system in our country, we’re doing it wrong. We focus too much on what the teachers are doing and we need to move that focus to how the kids learn. After 12 years of teaching science, I had to leave the standards based systematic way of teaching. I have now been doing robotics for 8 years in a public school.  The focus is no longer what I am doing but what my kids are doing, I’m just here to support their learning. I love my job because it’s hands on, kids can excel, kids are in charge of their learning, and we never sit down!

5. What do your students think about your disc golf career?
   Students have found me on youtube! They think it’s awesome that their teacher is a professional disc golfer as well. All the ones who play love to come chat. For me, discipline, practice, perseverance, focus, motivation, work ethic, and mindset have a place in the classroom as well as on the course.  I often talk about how I apply my disc golf skills to my teaching skills and encourage my kiddos to see how these characteristics apply in school and to their future.
6. How do you fit disc golf around your teaching schedule?
   Although I train hard in the offseason, I do take a few months off from disc golf in the winter.  Here in Colorado it gets cold and snowy, so me and my kids ski hard! About March I started to ramp up my disc golf reps.  I can get about 20 minutes of throwing before school if there is enough light and I can get about 30 minutes of practice after school before I need to go home and be on daddy duty.  Once the time changes, if I’m not at school or with my kids, I’m throwing in a field or practicing around the green.  I have a hard time not throwing in fact!
7. What lessons/skills can kids gain from learning disc golf?
   Disc golf has taught me so much about myself. I know what makes me happy, I know how to handle my frustrations in a healthy way, I know how my mindset affects my ability to perform, I know when to say no, I know when to say yes, I know how to discipline my mind and body to be my best self, and most importantly, I know how our jobs are only a small part of what makes us who we are.

Read more about Joe’s career as a teacher and disc golfer:

5280 Magazine: How Discs Fly, According to Disc Golf Masters World Champ Joe Rovere

Longmont Leader: Trail Ridge Middle School teacher schools competitors at disc golf