Player Bio

Michele was the perfect compliment for her partner Cynthia (Cyndi) Birch when they began competing at Frisbee tournaments in 1977. Her equally graceful approach, long elegant lines, strong athleticism and remarkable timing were exemplary. Keep in mind that during this time, the Women’s Division was newly formed. The pair of Michele and Cynthia created a standard that other women immediately fixated on and used as an example of success. Their influence on those early days of Women’s Freestyle play cannot be over stated.
Michele began playing in 1976 as an active member of the United Flyers of Sonoma (UFOS). Her early influences of John Bird, Don Vaughn and Buddy Steele created a strong foundation for her game to blossom. And blossom it did. She quickly took the elements of all of their games and reinvented it on her terms. With the new alliance of her partnership with Cynthia Birch, everything began to orbit around the sun of that creative spark. Playing with an almost lyrical application of their skills, they used the wind as no other woman had ever used it before. They also took the speedflow game and added their own twist to it. Instead of speedflow being an explosive punctuation of moves, they would gracefully flow from catch to throw, from catch to throw, looking effortless in their play. Another element that they brought was the use of space. Since they were both enormously gifted athletes, it made sense for them to run, jump and pursue the disc.

Also of note was Michele’s influence on complete Disc Play. She was one of the original organizers of Women’s Ultimate, helping to craft a plan that initiated the Women’s Division for the very first time. She was also the original team captain of the Condor Women’s team, a team that would create the gold standard of play for a number of years and who’s success would be copied far into the future.

Career Highlights

• 1977 Santa Barbara NAS Freestyle Open 6th place (note: this was the first time a women’s team had made the Open Finals of an NAS event. There was a very large number of teams competing.)
• 1977 Seattle NAS 1st place Women’s Freestyle
• 1977 Boulder NAS 1st place Women’s Freestyle
• 1978 Santa Barbara NAS 1st place Women’s Freestyle
• 1978 Seattle NAS 1st place Women’s Freestyle
• 1978 Vancouver NAS 1st place Women’s Freestyle

How I Started

First Tournament: 1976 Santa Barbara NAS