Whittington & Associates, LLC

Water's Edge Magazine (Nov. 2008)
National Frisbee Champion Boasts First Coast is "Fris-Beach"

By R.P. Whittington

For Paul Kenny, the beach represents more than sand and surf enjoyed by locals and visitors.

"It's the wind that makes it challenging," says Kenny, an International Frisbee Champion with five major awards and four Freestyle Players Association ( FPA) World Titles under his belt.

He points to the ocean from the patio of his condo on Jacksonville Beach.

"You get white caps at about 15 miles-per-hour," he says matter-of-factly, sounding more like a meteorologist than a Frisbee enthusiast. "Anywhere from 10 to 15 miles per hour, and when the winds are coming are coming east from the ocean, those are the best conditions. When the tide is out, that's when you'll see me out there practicing."

Like many people of his generation, Kenny had thrown the plastic disc in high school and college in the '70's and early '80's. But it was at age 32 that he "got the fever."

"I was eating lunch with my wife, Cheryl, at the old Crab Pot on First Street in Jacksonville Beach, this was back in 1990," he said. "The Crab Pot was located near the lifeguard station and we used to joke that the restaurant was the melting pot of the rich and the homeless. We're sitting there relaxing and a group of guys were throwing Frisbees on the beach, doing tricks and everything. We went out to talk with them, and I joined them for a while and really enjoyed myself. It wasn't long before I said to Cheryl 'I think I can do this. Will you give me a year to work on this?'"

That's when Paul began a regiment that continues today – practicing on the beach in front of the condo for a few hours nearly every day when the wind, weather and tides allow. And on days when Mother Nature dictates, Paul is either biking between the condo and the couple's other home in Ponte Vedra or practicing muscle-bearing yoga.

Now approaching 50, Paul says he also does light stretching every day. Watching some video of his team competition in April 2007 in Rimini, Italy (visit http://youtube.com/watch?v=XOUnQQh_Gcw) and there's no doubt why he has to stay flexible and in top shape to stay competitive.

"I design my job and my chores around the required exercise and training I do," said Paul, who is also a Lead Materials Engineer at NAS Jacksonville.

Other than the period when he was attending MIT in Boston in the mid-80's, where he met and married Cheryl, Paul has always lived near the coast – growing up in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and St. Petersburg before leaving for MIT.

"I love the beach and I missed it a lot then," he said. "I made very clear when I met Cheryl that I was moving back to Florida at the first opportunity. I wasn't sitting through one more winter in Boston than I had to."

When the couple moved to Jacksonville in 1988 they bought a house in Ponte Vedra. In 1997, the year Paul won his first competition on the FPA US Tour, the couple bought their beachside condo at Seaspray -- where Paul, along with other members of his local team of players host a FPA-sanctioned competition each summer.

"With freestyle, you compete with teams of two and three," he said. "Frisbee players are predominantly men, but there are many women who compete."

Paul notes that while Frisbee freestyle playing has waned in America over the last 10 years, more Europeans are getting involved with the sport and represent "the new blood" in the FPA. And, for those interested in the sport, he encourages them to visit the FPA website at http://freestyledisc.org.

And he certainly has the chance to compete with and against the Europeans. Paul's involvement as a player, and as executive director of the FPA in 2002, has allowed him to travel from Boston to Berlin.

So with all the world travel, and all the beaches to choose from, why is Jacksonville Beach his home?

"On the best days, the winds provide the right buoyancy for the disc, the hard packed sand gives you a true footing and we have warm weather most of the year," Paul said. "Like we say during our annual competition here, this is 'Fris-Beach!'"

Media Contact: Ron Whittington (904-563-0402)