I am planning to do a couple of segments that pick up some of the clips that go across the social media networks and might not get seen by the rest of the community. The first one of these will be from Instagram.
I’ve been trying to put up a clip daily on there and I find it a really good format. There are quite a few footbag players on there but there’s always room for more!
I’m just going to take about 10 clips from recent times that have impressed me.
It’ll be mainly freestyle footbag clips, as there is minimal footbag net on Instagram. However I’m opening up with this one, which is actually a set of pictures.
The crew in Medellin, Colombia have had some high profile net players visiting. Walt Houston and Francois Pelletier have made the journey down to South America and seem to be having a great time. I have fond memories of my own visit to Medellin, so no surprises there.
Brayan “Bracho” Stiven
Sticking in Colombia, this one is from a couple of months ago, but shows a cool street show from Brayan Stiven. Hopefully one day we will see him compete at Worlds.
Keeping on the Spanish language theme, Paloma has been doing awesome things with both footbag and freestyle football. This particular post had more than 1000 views.
We don’t see too much of Honza Weber on the competitive scene these days, but he is still doing a lot of performances and you see some of the behind the scenes vision on his Instagram.
While everyone is always looking for the ideal shoe, he has made use of the Adidas Tango 18.1 model – they seem to do the job!
Nick Landes has recently been active on Instagram and his clips have not disappointed. This one is a gym clip using a really large orange show bag – he still shows great control.
This one brings the level of shred down, but that’s what it’s all about – having fun kicking a bag around. I don’t know anything about these guys, but they look to be having a great time.
Each of the vlogs is just about some general life stuff, so there’s pretty much always footbag inside. Sometimes they are about music, travel, the fortunes and misfortunes of the Canberra Raiders or going on bushwalks around the local Canberra area.
Vlog 20 – Sydney Visit
This was a great chance to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while, as well as to catch a ferry in Sydney. There’s actually fairly minimal footbag in this one.
Vlog 21 – New Shoes – Quantums
This one has plenty of footbag, it’s about receiving some new pairs of Quantums. The Swiss crew were getting rid of their final stock, so I got a few pairs at a pretty good price. With a little Swiss chocolate inside the box as well.
Vlog 22 – Out Past The Airport
This is from a bike ride around the Canberra area. Had a few stops for footbag along the way and brought a picnic.
Vlog 23 – Skating With Ferrit
This was a bit of a blast from the past, hanging out with a good friend of mine. We visited four skateparks in the one day and that was pretty tiring. There is a bit of footbag in here through the course of the video.
Vlog 24 – Down the Coast
This was a trip where I took Nico with me to visit my parents. We had a good time at the Pambula Rivermouth as well as the skatepark nearby.
Vlog 25 – Road to Melbourne
We went down for a visit to Melbourne a little while ago, this is from the trip down and then I made a follow up for the action inside Melbourne itself. A few stops for footbag, some with a background of a big waterfall near Beechworth.
Vlog 26 – Melbourne
This has some definite footbag action, got to catch up with Albert Hua from Vietnam and we had a fun footbag and freestyle football session. This was great as I didn’t even know he played footbag.
Vlog 27 – Culburra Callala
This was an express daytrip down to the coast, visiting areas I hadn’t been to since I was a teenager. I wouldn’t mind to go to that area again and spend a bit more time there, pretty amazing views.
Vlog 28 – Shepherd’s Lookout
This one is a bushwalking vlog and didn’t start out great with the footbag, I dropped the bag into a very difficult to reach location. It improved though, I was able to retrieve the bag without falling off a cliff and then got some cool footage near the river.
Vlog 29 – Return to Mt Painter
A few of the recent vlogs have been returns to places I went in the early days of the vlog. The last time I visited this area I was caught in a storm and got soaked. This time was not so bad. I actually went up to the top twice.
Vlog 30 – Mt Ainslie Ride
Another hill in the local area and this one I was on my bike. It was actually the first time I rode up Mt Ainslie. At the top I went straight into footbag and got some good runs.
Lately I have been trying to put a post up on Instagram of me playing #footbag – some have been better than others, but I have been quite consistent about it, posting every day now for about a month.
So there are just a few, you can see a few more on my Instagram account.
It has been a really good motivation to do some footbag each day, and also to try and do some different tricks from time to time. A few of the places are regular spots, like the tennis courts near where I drop off Nico for daycare, while I have been able to get some good backgrounds with rivers or beaches.
I’m going to put together anything I come across from Worlds. A lot of this is shared on the Freestyle Footbaggers page but not everything. It’s also nice to have access to it in the future once it drops off the Facebook page.
Official Worlds website – http://www.footbag.org/worlds2017/
Vasek routine (dropless) –
Nick Landes routine – https://www.facebook.com/josieann.kohler/posts/1525324194201525
TJ also went dropless though haven’t seen any footage of that yet. I believe Ivan will have comp footage up by tomorrow.
“On The Go With Joe” – http://www.kptv.com/story/36087636/on-the-go-with-joe-at-world-footbag-championships
Featuring Jim Penske.
Kickin’ it with 6x US Footbag Champ Jim Penske. He’s trying to win his first World Title in Portland this week. GO JIM! USA! USA! USA! pic.twitter.com/2o2gxacBaD
Oregon Live – 9 Things to do in Portland – http://www.oregonlive.com/events/index.ssf/2017/08/9_things_to_do_in_portland_in_the_week_ahead_1.html
Bits and Pieces from Portland Live – http://portlandtribune.com/pt/11-features/368208-249991-bits-and-pieces
Japanese article about Taishi – https://www.soccer-king.jp/news/japan/20170807/623489.html
Here’s a preview article I wrote on my Sport/Life site. http://sportslashlife.com/portland-prepares-world-footbag-championships/
Circle Contest Results – https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B86rdRJQKGcOb0wtczJHZ3ZwRFU/edit?filetype=msexcel
TJ Boutorwick, Nathan Bonslaver, Mark Monistere, Cass Taylor and Adam Keith through to main round of 16. Cass also beat Caroline Birch in Women’s Circle Contest, though I think there is a final still to come. The top 11 players had a bye.
Pool A
Top 4 players advance:
Rank Player Score
1 Nick Landes 4.9368
2 Aleksi Airinen 3.8123
3 Wiktor Debski 3.3537
4 Daryl Genz 2.3263
5 Larry Workman 21 2.2512
6 Justin Blotsky 20 1.4416
Pool B
1 Ken Somolinos 4.2573
2 Gordon Bevier 3.2979
3 Nathan Bonslaver 2.9972
4 Cassandra Taylor 2.8940
5 Khoa Nguyen 19 2.8614
6 Bruce Li 22 2.8478
Top 4 players advance:
Rank Player Score
1 Jim Penske 4.6400
2 Taishi Ishida 4.1885
3 Pawel Nowak 2.9886
4 Peter Bowler 2.9264
5 Dante Diotallevi 18 2.4133
Pool D
1 Václav Klouda 4.9508
2 Juho Marjo 3.9925
3 T.J. Boutorwick 3.7913
4 Brian Sherrill 2.5936
5 Kevin Hogan 16 0.1021
There is a conference – the ESA conference next door and they have been posting a bunch of stuff on Twitter. I have a feeling this won’t work so well but you can click the links and see the Tweets themselves.
Added bonus at #ESA2017 in Portland. If the scale of the meeting gets to you, the world footbag championships are on next door. pic.twitter.com/vYhDrnpZBA
Since the start of the year I have been making a vlog. I had it running once a week for quite a while, but I got a bit busy doing my final teaching prac. I have just recently passed the 20 vlog mark, which I’m pretty pleased about. I will update this post each time I make a new one and also give a little description of what they are all about.
There is a varying level of footbag in each one. It has been a fun little project to start doing this year. One of my goals at the start of the year was to do either a vlog, zine or podcast and these has been the vehicle and a few people seem to enjoy them, so that’s just great.
Vlog 20 – Sydney Visit
Got to catch up with my friend Kelly who has been overseas for ages and leaves again soon. Very limited footbag in this one, just one run. It rained a lot of the time and I had some battery troubles.
Vlog 19 – Goorooyarroo 5
A bushwalking vlog, with plenty of footbag for good measure. I had a couple of mandarins with me to snack on and managed a couple of juggling tricks with them and a footbag. Kicked on top of each of the five hills within a nature reserve that’s not so far away.
Vlog 18 – Finishing Up Uni
This one is really just a collection of some stuff I had over a few weeks. Includes a bit of footbag, mainly from some very late night sessions in the garage as well as some scenic sunset shots making my way back home from the prac.
Vlog 17 – Mt Majura
Bushwalking vlog from the closest hill to here. Did some good footbag with hiking shoes as well, including a mirage race style kind of thing. Actually filmed this early on when I started making the vlogs but didn’t get around to putting it together until much later.
Vlog 16 – Free Ice Cream
Considering it’s already over a month since we received the free box of ice cream and it’s still going, that was a good pickup. Plenty of footbag in this one from the Westside complex, which was in the process of closing down. Also Nico riding his bike around at the National Museum.
Vlog 15 – Back to the Beach
Filmed from our trip to Racecourse Beach. Some footbag around, some beach views, kangaroos, jumping cushion and actually took my GoPro into the waves for the first time.
Vlog 14 – Easter at the Beach
Spent Easter with my parents down the coast. Got some good scenic shots and a fair bit of footbag in here too.
Vlog 13 – You Are Here Festival
There was a performance at the hostel I work at, part of an arts festival, bands playing on the rooftop, which was a fun event. Also looks like I had a clean shave at this time by the youthful cover photo.
Vlog 12 – A Rainy Ride
Went for a ride on what started out a nice day. Stopped a few times to do some footbag. By the end of the journey I was completely soaked, mud splattered all over me and shoes full of water.
Vlog 11 – Mt Painter in the Rain
Another one where I got caught out in the rain. The day hadn’t started out as promising but I ended up completely soaked on this one too. Still got a little bit of footbag in.
Vlog 10 – Raiders Early Rounds
A bit of a mix of things, some bits and pieces of concert footage, the Raiders getting thrashed by the Sharks when my friend came to visit, some outdoor stuff around the area and a Raiders victory.
Vlog 9 – Bridge to Nowhere
This is a place I’ve visited a couple of times now, Butters Bridge. It’s this enormous pedestrian bridge in the absolute middle of nowhere. As it’s miles away from anywhere, it’s quite a good space to kick a footbag around.
Vlog 8 – Killswitch Engage
A mix of Killswitch Engage clips from their Alive or Just Breathing 15 year tour, combined with some thoughts on the walk back to the city after some cold beverages.
Vlog 7 – Canberra Raiders Trial
The Raiders played a trial match in Queanbeyan at Seiffert Oval, the place where the club started out. It was a disaster, with the Green Machine being thrashed.
Vlog 6 – An International Guest
This one is pretty much all about footbag. Another goal at the start of the year was to meet up with an international footbag player, so when Janis from Germany got in touch I was happy to host him for a couple of nights. Was glad to get in a shred at Copey’s place as well.
Vlog 5 – Mt Ainslie
I think this was the first bushwalking one I did, with probably the most common hiking trip in Canberra, as it’s quite easy to see from most parts of the city, also quite easy to access from my house.
Vlog 4 – Express Trip to Bega
A friend of mine, Joe, was passing through the Bega area so I went down and back in the day to meet up with him. Got a bit of footbag in along the way, as well as some rock jumping.
Vlog 3 – Glacier Perito Moreno
Basically an extension to the first vlog, focusing on our quick visit to Argentina. Was able to get in a little bit of footbag with some views to the glacier as well.
Vlog 2 – Sydney Weekend – Alexisonfire and Nick Cave
It was convenient that when I started doing the vlogs, we had an action packed weekend of concerts, I also had a kick with Dyalan and Ryan which was good too.
Vlog 1 – Trip to Patagonia
The debut. Most of the scenery on this one speaks for itself and makes it a pretty good video overall, probably better than some of the ones later in the piece.
So I have finished university. Last week I did my final prac and then during the week I went in and handed in my paperwork.
I made a vlog, which has quite a bit of footbag content.
It also has a couple of nice touches of sunsets by the lake and that kind of thing, which I saw quite a few of as I was returning from the school to home.
The next step is to get registered and get a job, but it seems to be a bit of a slower process than I was hoping for. It seems the process to just starting doing casual teaching through the Catholic education system might be a bit quicker, so I may try my luck there.
I mentioned in the last post that I ordered some Quantum shoes and a few other things from Planetfootbag. I got an email a few days ago that it has been shipped, although of course that will take a fair while to reach here. Really looking forward to getting them.
I played yesterday, had one run of about 26 contacts. I have been playing reasonably regularly, but haven’t had any real breakthrough sessions.
Kicking in the cold in the middle of winter has been a big part of my game over the last couple years. I have a space in the garage that allows to play pretty much anytime, though maybe it would be worth putting a little heater in there to warm it up before going in there.
Today I had a short session, about 30 mins. By the time I finished I had a few good little tricks ticked off. I was particularly happy with parkwalk swirl, which I have hit before, but not for a long time. On my first attempts I was nowhere near, but in time I got there.
New trick for the session, or at least I don’t think I’ve hit it before. Flipside spinning ducking legover.
The Swiss Planetfootbag are shutting up shop and they put some Quantums online for sale. I don’t really know if they’ll fit me, they might be slightly to big, but I order 3 pairs. They are either 12s or 13s and it seems Quantums are one size up on Lavers, so that should be fine, though the 13s might be pushing it. I also got a couple of pairs of shorts and a wallet. If I have to pay the shipping, I may as well stock up.
I’ve been waiting for this for a while. Some people were suggesting the new Quantum models would come out at this Worlds.
Dreaming.
So tomorrow I finish up my practical experience and I finish up my degree. That’s really exciting. I’ve applied for a job that is available at a school just walking distance from here – that would be a pretty amazing start, but we will see how things go. I better get some rest for my last day.
I just realised in the “My Sites” section, you can create multiple sites, so I might just create a few as time goes along. First stop would be some about teaching/education/workshops etc. I have some things, partly advice and some other thoughts on how to set things up and that would be a good platform to put it on, it could then be exported elsewhere if need be.
So speaking of school, I am finished up my third week of prac. Overall it is going well, but it is exhausting. I have been working some days as well, probably this week was the hardest one in terms of balance because I worked on the days there were meetings, so it was pretty full on some of these days, and other days I was just trying to catch up on sleep.
At the school I have had a couple of chances to show some footbag. At the end of yesterday I finished up the lesson about 5 minutes early and took the students outside to show them some footbag. I wasn’t wearing the right shoes or clothes.
Speaking of shred with bushwalking shoes, here is my latest vlog, it’s filmed a while back, when the sun was shining. A couple of good tricks in there considering the equipment.
I purposefully booked tomorrow off to have a bit of relax, and due to that I had a harder week this week, but I’m really looking forward to taking it easy. I was considering going to Sydney but I’m very glad I ticked that off.
I don’t think I mentioned it the other day, but the other day when kicking with Mr Cope I hit another 6>6 (pixie ss motion>locomotion). That takes my collection to 2, which is not particularly large, but something I am working on a little bit.
I have had a couple of sessions in the garage late at night this week. Haven’t really hit anything special, but it’s been good as a bit of a winddown.
I am not a new player, I have been going at this for a while, and you can read all about that here. I’ve got a slow day at work, so I’m going to write a bit of my personal history with footbag in here.
I first started kicking a hacky sack around when I was in early high school, probably 12-13 years old. I didn’t really find out about freestyle until later in high school, so by the time I got to high school, I had a pretty solid kicks base (my record was over 1000 by the time I finished high school).
Eventually I found out about the competition in 2001, it was the first Australasian Championships, held at the “Xtreme Games” in Sydney. The first event of this was consecutive kicks (5 minutes), which I won. I had no drops, and maybe one penalty for not changing feet. Off the top of my head it was just under 500 kicks, maybe 496. I believe the other placegetters in that were Lotus and Matt Baker. The big influence on my early days in freestyle was from Ian Pritchard. He was the same age as me, and just kind of starting out, though he was a fair way ahead of me., as I was just mainly doing kicks and starting with some stalls. Guys like Lynton Stephens and Brendan Erskine were a bit older and much, much better, and that was a bit intimidating for me. Then there were guys like Dan Ednie, very young, and also much better, and I didn’t like that either.
I grew up in a country town and hack circles were pretty popular through school, and from there I really got into trying to beat my personal record. By the end of school there was another competition, by this time I had a few tricks in my bag, but I wasn’t really able to present any of them on the stage. This was at Homebake, which was a big music festival of the time, with all Australian/NZ bands. In the sick 3 you had something like 10 attempts, and I still couldn’t get anything. I don’t remember a routine at all, but I imagine it was pretty bad.
I moved to Sydney the next year and hoped to kick regularly with the scene there, which was pretty active. There was a scene going well at Sydney Uni, but these guys kicked during the week and I was working full time. I kind of disappeared from the scene for a while, probably up until the Nationals of 2005 in Melbourne. It was only this year that I first got a pair of Lavers and a proper bag (up until the first tournament I had used the Guatemalan style, then after that I had used some sandbags.
I actually wrote a big story about my involvement in Australian footbag some years ago, as part of my degree in Writing. Now I am coming to the end of another degree, and hopefully there won’t be any more of them, but in a couple of weeks I will be finished studying as a teacher.
Now I am going to test if you can magically embed a few things like Instagram, Youtube, etc. I just chose a random recent post, but it’s from one of the places I play regularly, which is Glebe Park, just down the road from work. All the main places I play are related to convenience. The tennis court near Nico’s daycare, the uni, though probably won’t be there much any more, this park near work and in the garage at home, which works well for late nights.
Looks like yes. That’s cool. Especially the instagram embed, I have had a lot of problems with that on my site.
I have been doing a vlog this year, up until this past week I have put one out every week, but now that I am on prac, I haven’t been able to get that done, though I have some old footage that I had saved in case, so I may or may not look at that today, but I may just put another post that has all the vlogs in them.
Vimeo works just fine too. That’s nice, this is my video from the Joulukalenteri, which I ran in 2015.
It has taken me a while to come on board to this new format, but hopefully many other players will come on board, especially with the easy embeds. I’m also thinking of setting up some sort of collections that just kind of watch certain things (eg new videos, best stuff from Instagram for the week etc), but I’ll wait a while on that one.
