We march closer to the official start of the 2019 disc golf season, we’re excited to announce the contract extension for one of the longest service members of Team Discmania. Leo Piironen’s contract now runs through 2020 which will mark ten years with Discmania.
Discmania CEO Jussi Meresmaa holds Piironen in high esteem, "Leo Piironen might not be the most recognized Finnish Disc golfer, but in my books he is the perfect member for our team. Leo is the perfect prototype of a young and calm pro who can handle every situation. He is not the European and Finnish Champion by accident. We at Discmania are extremely happy to continue our relationship with Leo and offer him a contract that enables him to concentrate to disc golf as his profession."
When talking with Piironen about this extension, he had a lot to reflect on and look forward to. We found it important to not edit this at all. Read Piironen’s thoughts below and realize how this partnership is very important to Piironen’s future.
I’m very happy to announce that I’ve signed a new two-year contract with Discmania. All of you may not remember the fact that we already had signed a two-year contract back in 2017 which would have ended after this season. However we wanted to do an extension before the previous contract would have expired so we came out with the new deal. This kind of action from a sponsor is really something else and it gains my respect.
2020 will be a ten year anniversary for me and Discmania. Our history goes back to 2010 when I started playing in Discmania’s Junior Team. I had just won my first Finnish Nationals title in Juniors-16 and Under division in 2009 and I managed to get a sponsorship with Discmania for the season 2010. I ended up winning the Juniors-19 and Under division and after that I naturally moved to play in the Open division. The cooperation between Discmania and I has continued since then. As you all may have seen and read it’s very rare to see such a long teamwork between a player and a company in these days.
At the age of 25 I have already played a pretty long time (at least from my opinion). I started playing disc golf back in the 2006 when I was still in primary school. My friends and I started competing in 2008 by joining the PDGA and playing competitions all around Finland. I think it has always been clear and somehow expected from me to win something big sooner or later. After countless of hours of training and during these 13 years of playing disc golf I have raised my hands in the air three times as a Finnish Champion (2012, 2016, and 2018) and one time as a European Champion (2016). Every single of them I’ve done carrying the Shield on my chest.
My future plans are written with disc golf. I will keep competing and playing disc golf from the bottom of my heart, but I’m also going to be involved with developing the sport. I want to coach and train upcoming new players and give them the same joy I have got from playing disc golf and it’s nice to know that Discmania will be there with me while I’m reaching these goals and dreams.
-Leo
The man with the shield
We are certainly excited to see what Piironen will have for us in 2019 and beyond.