FRISBEE : Practice Is Passion for Junior Champion

Wendy Dushman did not become one of the nation’s best junior Frisbee players by toying around.

The Canoga Park teen-ager takes Frisbee tossing seriously enough to win the World Junior Frisbee Championships last October in Orlando, Fla., and set a junior distance record (more than 90 yards) in the process.

This week, she is back in competition against the world’s top-ranked Frisbee players at the U.S. Open Frisbee Disc Championships at La Mirada Regional Park.

The 16-year-old Canoga Park High student will compete in distance, accuracy, maximum time aloft, Frisbee golf and freestyle competition. Considering her world-record toss last year, Dushman’s best event is distance throwing.

“To be an overall player, you have to be good at everything,” she said. “I get a lot of fun out of it because it’s a really good sport. But it takes a lot of hours to get good at it.”

Dushman’s stepbrother, Aaron Litwin, who also qualified for last year’s World Championships, introduced her to the sport three years ago. They share a passion for Frisbee throwing. Daily practice sessions last nearly 90 minutes and their bedrooms look like Frisbee factories.

Litwin’s father, Bob, is involved in planning Wendy and Aaron’s workouts. He coordinates their Frisbee throwing with such exercises as sit-ups, push-ups, jogging, weight training, and swimming workouts to strenthen their arms and shoulders.

Dushman also gets help from her boyfriend who is interested in the aerodynamics of the sport.

“He’s a pilot so he always tries to tell me how it flies,” she said.

Dushman, 16, who is in her last year of junior eligibility, expects a difficult transition to the adult ranks.

“It’s a lot more difficult because you are going against people who have been playing for five or six more years than me and they’re a lot older,” she said.

Dushman enjoys competing in a variety of Frisbee games such as Frisbee golf and Ultimate Frisbee, which is a game similar to soccer. She ranks among the best players in the San Fernando Valley with her stepbrother, Courtland Hitz of Woodland Hills, and Jon Slater and Kevin Wynn of Burbank.

Dushman has won more than $1,250 in savings bonds from Frisbee championships. There is more than $40,000 available at this week’s championships in La Mirada. Canine disc-catching routines will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday along with the finals in all events.

The Department of Recreation and Parks offers an Ultimate Frisbee summer league beginning in July. Eight teams, comprised primarily of college-aged players, competed last summer in the two-year league.

Information: 818-344-8915 or 818-785-4111.