There are few images that are more classic Californian than that of a couple throwing a disc on the beach. On any given weekend, OBecians Dave and Amy Schiller are wowing passersby with their freestyle disc playing. He spins the disc towards her and she keeps it flying and orbiting around herself, dancing with it until she spins it back toward him for his turn of playing. Then the two of them come closer together for a show-stopping combination trick. The Schillers are world-class disc players. Together, they have earned seven world titles in the mixed pairs division of the world championship. “To win, you need to know how to plan and choreograph, have high difficulty, practice with your partner and have complete solid execution during the competitive rounds. Sometimes it works out,” said Amy, who had started playing in the mid-1980s with College Ultimate.
In August, Amy won the Women’s Division title at FPA World Championship in flying disc freestyle in Brooklyn, N.Y. She has won the world champion title 14 times. In competition, disc players do three to five minute routines to music with one or two partners. Judges are looking for a variety of tricks, evaluating the difficulty, considering artistic interpretation, and how well the tricks are executed. “It’s a sport and an art,” said Dave. The dance-type moves that he and Amy make during a free-styling session is calling “jamming,” a type of improvisation. The dance with the disc involves much more than tossing and spinning it to each other. “I can get a little vertigo when I play on the beach because of the way the water is moving on the sand, and so I have to take that into consideration when I play,” she said. “And any sand on the disc causes friction, which will slow the disc down,” said Dave, who started freestyle disc playing in 1980 in Dallas. He had learned the sport from a friend in high school. “We played music together, but when I saw him play Frisbee, I knew that was something I really wanted to do,” he said.
Amy and Dave met for the first time at the U.S. Open tournament in La Mirada. She was a top overall player, playing all the disc sports, while he was an aspiring freestyle specialist. “We got serious about competing together in 1994. Shortly after we got serious about a lot more,” she said, smiling.
It was 1981 at the Texas State Championship when Dave began competing. Since then, he has won a total of 20 world titles. The Schillers thrive on the interaction of the disc community, as they call it. Ultimate and golf Frisbee have grown significantly in the number of players and venues, with freestyle shrinking in the United States but growing in Europe.
“It’s been amazing to travel to Italy, Sweden, Norway and Germany to play and compete and meet younger players who are into it. We call ourselves ‘The Jammily’ because we are a diverse bunch and we take care of each other and adore one another just like family,” said Amy. “We love to play and we play as often as possible,” Amy said. Beach Stylers What: the ninth annual Beach Stylers event takes place Oct. 15 and 16.
Where: The Schillers perform on the sand at the foot of Saratoga Park in Ocean Beach. There will be other players from Southern California joining in on the classic beach sport.