Like many girls her age, Michelle Nava talks fast and laughs easily. She loves to draw, craft, read, and spend time with her friends. A seventh grader at R.A. Brown Middle School in Hillsboro, Nava recently took up volleyball and is looking forward to her 13th birthday in October.
One thing that sets Nava apart from kids her age?
She's a world champion disc golfer.
Earlier this summer, at the PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships in Kansas, Nava placed first in her age group, 40 strokes ahead of the runner-up.
Nava will be competing in the 2013 US Women's Disc Golf Championship Sept. 20-23, which will be held at Pier Park in Portland and Blue Lake Regional Park in Fairview.
The championship will be on Nava's stomping grounds; when she was learning the sport three years ago, her older brothers would take her to Blue Lake's course.
PDGA United States Women's Disc Golf Championship
Blue Lake Regional Park
Sept. 20-22
Admission is free, but there is a $5 vehicle entry fee at the park
The disc golf course at Blue Lake is gold-level, accredited by the Professional Disc Golf Association, based on its combination of length, difficulty, high-level equipment and hole design. It's of a caliber that attracts national competitions, yet is still open and accessible to those just learning the sport.
The par-69 course at Blue Lake was completed in 2012. It's free to play, but vehicle parking at Blue Lake Regional Park costs $5.
From an athlete's standpoint, said Nava, the layout of Blue Lake is amazing.
"My favorite part of Blue Lake is how much land there is, how long each hole is," she said. "It's one of the biggest courses in Oregon."
Nava's father, Luis, said the course at Blue Lake helped his daughter gain the necessary skills to compete at an international level.
Competing in and winning the world championship was the recognition of a dream the young disc golfer has nurtured since learning the sport with her older brothers, one of whom also competed in the championship's advanced men's division, placing 7th.
"At Am World, so many pros gave me so much advice," Nava said. "I was close to crying, because these were the people I saw on YouTube and now they all know me."
To hear Nava talk about her disc golf career, one could easily mistake her for much older than she is. She's articulate, focused, and has a clear grasp of her ability and drive.
In reality, she's a kid who just entered middle school, years younger than most people who are serious in her sport.
Nava said she enjoys the looks on the faces of adults when they realize her skill level.
"They're surprised when I teach them something new and they're learning from a 12-year-old," she said.
Luis Nava has mixed feelings about his daughter competing with grown women.
"She'll be in categories like 'women intermediate, women advanced,'" Luis said. "I don't like too much how she's maturing beyond her age, but on the other hand, she's getting better and better. It's amazing how she's advancing."
Over the summer, the elder Nava would join his daughter at local parks and watch her play. He said he noticed how she would teach other golfers – kids and adults alike.
"I was very excited, doing that with her," Luis said. "She's learning how to do community service, how to do service for other people. It's something that she loves."
Another thing that caught Luis' attention on the disc golf course with his daughter was the amount of families partaking in the sport together.
"I saw entire families playing," Luis said. "That's something you can't do with other sports."
Luis was so compelled by the accessible nature of disc golfing – according to him, it's cheaper, easier to play, and more inclusive than other sports – that he decided to start learning. He borrowed some old discs from his kids and got out on the course.
Nava said she teaches her dad, and that he's doing well for a beginner.
"This is a huge sport. It's growing and growing. We need to do more to promote it as a family sport," said Luis, who plans to meet with his daughter's middle-school principal to propose introducing disc golf as an after-school program.
Nava said she loves taking her friends to the disc golf course, and that she's trying to get more kids from her school to start playing. For kids her age, she said, it's not as popular as some other activities.
"I'm worried about, in the future, I won't have the same opportunities as my friends," Nava said. "They're all doing things like hip-hop and basketball, and I'm practicing disc golf four or five days a week."
But Nava also recognizes that, given her talent and young age, she has a serious shot at a professional future in the sport that she loves.
"I see it being a part of my life forever. I want to go touring. I see my idols winning these big tournaments. I want that to be me one day," Nava said. "If I just keep practicing, I can get there."