Solo Footbag Club (Idea)

sen · Post by **sen** » 25 Nov 2007 09:09

A while ago I started a footblog for solo players. It was pretty good for a while, but then I stopped playing and therefore posting and it seems like everyone else faded out of the blog.

I'm thinking it would be better to do it as a club. Make a webpage. It would be encouraging to all of us who have no shred partners. If you play solo, let me know if you like the idea. If people like I'll be looking for a lot of help in setting up the site. I don't have anytime anymore. We could have profile pages and stuff and post video's on it. Bring us together.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 25 Nov 2007 09:42

I like that idea.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 25 Nov 2007 09:52

Man, fuck. JUST GET PEOPLE TO PLAY FOOTBAG WITH YOU!!!

I was a solo shredder and I was sad. Then I realized that if you're keen and encouraging footbag clubs will explode around you wherever you go.

I don't think this is the right way to spend your footbag related energy and efforts. Just use this amount of keen-ness to go and find friends that used to like to hack and then teach them to toe stall then they're hooked and wa-bam, you have a sweet group of friends learning this great sport all together.

And then you won't feel like you are some footbag island, you will be connected to the mainland.

Also, having other friends working and pushing to learn tricks really helps to motivate you to keep going.

On that note, I have to go get ready for footbag club.

Sorry if I came across a little harsh, I just think it's a more fun direction to take.

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 25 Nov 2007 16:41

I like playing solo better than I like being the guy that's trying to grow a club. I've done both a lot and I'm just not interested in having to teach a new player anymore.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 25 Nov 2007 17:09

Yeah, after I brought the topic up with the guys at footbag club they made some really good counterpoints.

I guess I feel kinda bad for coming across harsh, but I don't like to go back and change my posts so I will leave it.

I should just be more accepting that not everyone is in as favorable life position to put as much effort into promoting as me. Also, like Bob pointed out, not everyone wants what I want.

Also, I am getting pretty tired of being the sole motivator for my club. I am looking forward to moving to a city with a pre-existing shred scene. That said, I still bet I will find it hard to resist encouraging new players as much as I can.

Solo shredders do need support, sorry for shooting you down Sen.

Grade Zero · Post by **Grade Zero** » 25 Nov 2007 22:09

Bringerofpie wrote:I like that idea.

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 26 Nov 2007 06:34

Good post Tom, it's really cool that you can see both sides of it. I used to have an insatiable need to promote and teach. So I promoted and taught so much. But life circumstances change, or interests change, so I agree that support for solo shredders is a fun idea.

edit: I remember one time when I was really growing Philly Footworks and I said something about "the team" to this player Mark George. Mark was the nicest guy ever, but he was like "Bob, I don't give a fuck about the team, I just want to play some footbag and hang around sometimes. Lay off me". Now, I still think Mark's a super nice guy, but I guess that was the day my perspective started to change. (and then countless thankless footbag event director experiences sealed the deal)

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 26 Nov 2007 14:17

Haha there is a bunch I would like to say and there is some stuff that Andrew Grant wanted to reply but I think we are veering off from the topic of solo shredding and onto who sticks around and why.

He basically deduced, and I agreed, that the people that stick around in footbag clubs are the ones that find their way to footbag, not the other way around.

Though what I added was that in every shred scene there must always be at least one person that steps up and finds a place to play and arranges times to meet and whatever. Lots of scenes just flounder because there is no alpha(s) making shit actually happen.

Also, I am (I guess) fine with the fact that my shred has suffered for spending so much of my time being mister coach guy. But I find it very hard to resist giving people tips when I see that they need it.

Anyways, I could blabber on forever.

All I really want to know on the topic of solo shredders is this... Are the solo shredders actively seeking other players to play with? And, do they even want other players to play with?

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 26 Nov 2007 14:24

I want a few other people to play with, but I'm not good enough to teach. Also, people don't see a dazzling display of footbag when they look at me (yet), so they're not overly inspired. I have been trying to make arrangements with a member of this site for some time though.

HG · Post by HG » 26 Nov 2007 14:26

I enjoyed having Mike Hansen around for a few months, and went up 30 minutes to play with him on several occasions.

On the flip side, I have tried to teach several people. Complete failure

I can honestly say, I will never try to recruit anyone again. If they want to learn, I'll play with them. Im not going to waste my time trying to get someone interested, when after a few months of not progressing as fast as they'd like (i wonder why? maybe not playing more than once every two weeks) they quit.

i'm fine playing solo. My two tournaments a year keep me going.

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 26 Nov 2007 16:42

If you have time to do an afterschool footbag program at any of your nearby middle schools/high schools, it might be a good way to get people interested.

although with my experiences, they're more about 4-square than freestyle

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 29 Nov 2007 21:35

HG wrote:I enjoyed having Mike Hansen around for a few months, and went up 30 minutes to play with him on several occasions.

On the flip side, I have tried to teach several people. Complete failure

I can honestly say, I will never try to recruit anyone again. If they want to learn, I'll play with them. Im not going to waste my time trying to get someone interested, when after a few months of not progressing as fast as they'd like (i wonder why? maybe not playing more than once every two weeks) they quit.

i'm fine playing solo. My two tournaments a year keep me going.

But Henry ... I thought you had a club? Didn't you get into a few fights with them before?

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 30 Nov 2007 01:41

mosher wrote:Man, fuck. JUST GET PEOPLE TO PLAY FOOTBAG WITH YOU!!!

I was a solo shredder and I was sad. Then I realized that if you're keen and encouraging footbag clubs will explode around you wherever you go.

Not to keep pushing the 'ol tangent train down the line, but I'm always surprised at how big of a scene Kingston has, especially given your remark about starting solo. Props!

slapdash21 · Post by **slapdash21** » 30 Nov 2007 04:33

as far as i knew for the first year i was freestyling i was the only one in boston. im not much of a teaching type. but i played outside in public almost everyday for months on end, at school, on college campuses, etc. doing that, without pushing anyone too hard, brought people who already had some interest to begin with but seeing me kick all the time and hearing me say how it wasnt actually as hard as it seems just basically made a scene slowly grow around me kind of. i dont really take credit for getting most of the boston crew into footbag, but certainly a couple of them.

i say all this because i think its important to note you dont have to be the biggest like teacher/alpha footbagger/organizer to get people into footbag. just play hard in front of people and make sure they know that anyone can get at least pretty damn good, if they make any kind of legit effort.

haha this thread has turned into "tips for avoiding playing solo" instead of being about a club for solo shredders. i dont think that idea is a bad one in the least, and obviously only the baggers that wanted to be involved would have to be so whats the big deal?

sen · Post by **sen** » 30 Nov 2007 07:04

Let meknow if anyone wants to form a club.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 30 Nov 2007 07:53

There's a footbag crew that I meet with every other weekend but they're about circle hacking rather than freestyle, so I think that makes me pretty solo, and I'd join the solo club!

RawSko · Post by **RawSko** » 01 Dec 2007 12:12

I actually hate it when people aproach me while I play and they're like "Hey! That's crazy! Can I try??" It's probably bad for my hopes of starting at least a bit of a scene in Orillia, but I get so sick of people thinking it's funny that they can't shred. The whole "I can do that. Watch!" Kick>drop> "HAHAHAHAHA" is NOT funny anymore. I can't remember whether I laughed the first time, but if you could eat a person's soul with your eyes, that's the look I would give them now. I think that, more than anything else, I'm just sick of the hischool scene. I've tried pushing for a scene, but all that happens is i get pissed. I'd rather spend my time training for myself. I don't like waiting in big circles anyway.

I'll just keep practising.
I don't know about the soloer's club idea. Wouldn't it be kind of like a version of modified that's exclusively for people that can't be bothered to start a scene? I liked the idea at first, but under closer examination, I'm not sure. Sorry. Maybe I don't understand

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 01 Dec 2007 12:41

While I don't know what functions a solo club would perform, I can imagine that it would at least give the participants a sense of belonging to a unique subset of footbag ("I'm not just a footbagger, I'm also a member of this and that club". If it works in online games with clans, why can't it work here!). Plus, if I go to worlds next year I'd like to be a little more than a complete john doe.

The second thing I see something like this providing is the closer association between a small number of people, in relation to footbag experiences. It probably helps to keep practicing and trying new things when you have a bunch of people to share the little stories that make up the footbag journey, and at least for me the solution of writing a generalized version of them for an unknown crowd via a footblog isn't very appealing.

sen · Post by **sen** » 01 Dec 2007 20:26

InfecedTofu wrote:
The second thing I see something like this providing is the closer association between a small number of people, in relation to footbag experiences. It probably helps to keep practicing and trying new things when you have a bunch of people to share the little stories that make up the footbag journey, and at least for me the solution of writing a generalized version of them for an unknown crowd via a footblog isn't very appealing.

That is pretty much what I was thinking. Have a site that we can basically post what we would, and possibly still will in our footblogs and then have a group of people in similar situations as us read about them and relate.

I keep reading peoples blogs and seeing them get excited about other peoples tricks. It's not just thier own success. So with the Solo idea, we could be a bit more tight-knit.

I dunno. Maybe it is a dumb idea. How about if five other people will do it and someone will set up a site, we'll go ahead with it.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 01 Dec 2007 20:42

I'll definitely do it, but I can't set up the site.