About Us

The sport of disc dogs traces its roots to 1974, when Irv Lander, Director of the International Frisbee Association, witnessed Alex Stein and Ashley Whippet perform and was inspired to formalize it into organized competition. Alex Stein won the first World Championship, with Ashley Whippet going on to become the sport’s first three-time World Champion. Alex and fellow early competitor Eldon McIntire and his dog Hyper Hank went on to promote the sport at venues around the country — including performances at the White House for Amy Carter and at the 1978 Super Bowl. Alex and Eldon also became long-time judges and ambassadors for the sport. Peter and Jeff came of age in that tradition before going on to help shape the sport’s next chapter through Skyhoundz and Hyperflite.

When Skyhoundz launched in 1996, Peter and Jeff began immediately working to grow the sport — developing new divisions, new formats, and new educational resources. Peter’s involvement in the sport’s leadership goes back even further — he served as Director of AWI from 1985 to 1998, the organization that Irv Lander had gone on to lead as Executive Director, and it was during that time that he approached Wham-O about improving the Fastback Frisbee, the official disc of competition. The response was largely indifference — an experience that ultimately led to the creation of Hyperflite. By 2000, the foundation Peter and Jeff had been building since 1996 was strong enough to support the first organized Skyhoundz World Championship, which has grown every year since.

Skyhoundz created new divisions — MicroDog, Youth, and Pairs Freestyle — and developed entirely new competition formats including DiscDogathon and Xtreme Distance, all of which lead to free World Championship opportunities. Peter and Jeff published multiple books on the sport, including two earlier editions under the “Frisbee Dogs” title and the current “Disc Dogs: The Complete Guide.” They produced the “Disc Dogs: Training DVD” and “Disc Dogs Rock!,” a free training guide now available in seven languages. They have traveled to Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Spain to give seminars, clinics, and judging support, asking only that their expenses be covered.

Over nearly thirty years, Skyhoundz and Hyperflite have invested an extraordinary amount of time, effort, and money in this sport — not as a business strategy, but because they believe in it. The sport looks quite different today than it did when they started, and Skyhoundz and Hyperflite are proud to have played a role in that.

Other companies are welcome to benefit from the community Skyhoundz events help bring together. What is concerning is when that benefit flows almost entirely in one direction — when manufacturers contribute little to the sport’s underlying infrastructure beyond offering free product to individual competitors, many of whom first earned their recognition through success at Skyhoundz events.

At all Skyhoundz events, competitors are required to use Hyperflite discs. This isn’t a revenue play — it’s a straightforward exchange: none of what Skyhoundz and Hyperflite have built over nearly thirty years happens without support. If competitors are willing to support Hyperflite with even a modest purchase, Hyperflite and Skyhoundz will continue supporting them — and everyone else in this sport — through everything they do. That’s a reasonable ask.

Hyperflite and Skyhoundz have also made a deliberate choice not to sponsor individual competitors. It’s not only a matter of resources — it’s a matter of integrity. Selecting individual athletes to sponsor while excluding others could call into question the impartiality of Skyhoundz judges and suggest a corporate bias in favor of sponsored competitors. Sponsoring individuals who compete in Skyhoundz events would create a potential conflict of interest that Hyperflite is simply not willing to introduce into the sport. The best way to give back is to invest in the sport itself — in the events, the education, and the community that makes it all possible.

The people behind Skyhoundz and Hyperflite are not a mystery. Hyperflite is an American-owned company that has manufactured its discs in the United States since day one. The principals are accessible, the history is documented, and that transparency is intentional. It reflects how Skyhoundz and Hyperflite have always tried to operate.