Flying Disc Championships to End Sunday in La Mirada

Self-caught flight and double disc court competition are the two main events scheduled today in the fifth day of the 17th annual U.S. Open Flying Disc Championships.

An estimated 20,000 spectators are expected to attend the weeklong competition that began June 24 and will end Sunday. All of the events are free, and most are at La Mirada Regional Park, 15501 Alicante Road.

The outdoor championships will include disc golf, disc-a-thon, freestyle, distance competition, double disc court, self-caught flight, accuracy and throw-run-catch competitions, Frisbee-catching dogs and Ultimate and Guts game demonstrations.

In the self-caught flight event, a player has to catch his own disc with one hand. Scoring is based on how long the disc is airborne. The double disc court event involves two teams of two players each with two discs in play. The goal is to get both discs in the opponents’ court at the same time. It is played on grass courts 13 meters square and 17 meters apart.

Each day’s activities start at 8 a.m., but today’s two events have gotten so big that they cannot be contained in La Mirada Regional Park, sponsors said. They are being held at Imperial Field, Imperial Highway and Idaho Street, La Habra.

Two popular spectator events on the final day Sunday will be the Big Throw and Frisbee-catching dogs. In the Big Throw at 12:30 p.m., all spectators in a large grassy area will be asked to throw their own discs simultaneously in an attempt to break the Guinness world record of 1,903 discs in the air at one time.

The finals of the Frisbee-catching dog event, beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, will involve the top four or five teams, based on eliminations earlier in the week. Most competitors do a four- or five-minute routine to music.

Event sponsors encourage spectators to bring video cameras in the hope that some of the unusual competitions will be recorded for submission to “America’s Funniest Home Videos” television show. All entries will be reviewed and eligible for a $10,000 grand prize.