Female Shredderz

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 08 Oct 2004 15:50

Um. I'm pretty sure more women play hockey than men. Or are you talking about Ice hockey and not real hockey?

To be honest I think the main reason there aren't many girls playing footbag is because they have (or had) a much better sense of style than guys. Having finally watched tricks of the trade 1 and 2 - it seems fairly obvious why there is a bit of a problem getting people into the sport in the US compared with Europe. Girls saw what footbag was like back then and didn't play. Now they don't play because they don't see other girls playing. I think it will take a long time before there are a good amount of girls playing.

No offence to people who played footbag in the 80s and early 90s - I wish I had have taken up then.

Also regarding footbagger relationships - considering how obsessed I am with the sport - I think it would be very hard to have a strong relationship with anyone who couldn't understand that - either because they were obsessed with footbag as well - or obsessed with something else. Obviously if they were obsessed with something else we wouldn't have much time together so it's hard for me to see myself in a good relationship with a non footbagging girl. But who knows - it's not a huge priority for me at the moment anyway - I'd rather be playing footbag than chasing girls.

edit: oh and I have a certain degree of irrational contempt for people that won't try to play footbag when they have the opportunity.

ashleyd · Post by **ashleyd** » 08 Oct 2004 15:56

maybe i was a little harsh about it, but some girls and guys are like that. they ARE reasons why SOME people wont play. i mean i think another good reason that has been mentioned time and time agian is lack of knowlage.there are probably people out ther who would think that footbag is so great if they heard of it. so if i affended anyone, sorry. but things like people arnt patient enough is a true statement. as we all know it takes mad time to learn and develope your skills as a player. so when i show girls or anyone footbag, and they try, the first thing that they say it that it is hard. true fact. so if your a slacker, and get frustrated real easy. you wont continue footbag. ANYWAYs we can all think of a million reasons why girls dont play footbag, but we cant let that stop us from recruting people.

and lets not get too enraged with what i said...

im not perfect

lightningbolt · Post by **lightningbolt** » 08 Oct 2004 16:03

I always thought ice hockey real hockey. But then again, I a closed mind american.

But whatever, I meant ice hockey.

Atom · Post by **Atom** » 16 Oct 2004 08:08

i have met 5 or 6 women who would possibly want to learn to play, most being women who already play HACK. just last week me and the boys had two girls approach us (we did have shirts on) and one wanted to play. Of course once in the circle she realized this "ain't Hacky Sac". but we offered her a club card and she seemed interested. there was three of us and two girls that walked up.

I think perhaps if trying to convince a girl to play, keep it like one on one so she won't become overwelmed, and she will get to have more time with the footbag.

Mosher made the comment about the "one-more-try" effect which doesn't happen if they don't have the bag!

maybe reverese pshycology(sp?) might work??? no you don't to play, you'll get tired from hours of arobic like exercise, and everybody is so pushy about seeing you progress and getting better.

JFootbagger · Post by **JFootbagger** » 21 Oct 2004 04:07

I think it's a good idea to also have a couple extra bags to hand out. Usually when someone is brand new to the sport, They don't have a bag and has no idea where to get them. So when you're bustin' out flyers and club cards, hand out a free bag (now it doesn't have to be your precious Abshire, Carol, Lonn, Felix, J Bag, etc. bag). Give 'em a sandman to practice with...and also give them freedom's website, so they now where to buy excellent footbags

and for footbag knowledge, tell them to check out footbag.org

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 21 Oct 2004 04:43

yeah that's an excellent idea!!

The only thing that worries me is that there is like a 95% drop out rate from people who see you and are interested. You give them heaps of tips - you even teach them how to do a few tricks - you give them a little flyer and say "go to these websites and email me" and you never hear from them again. I can imagine you could spend a lot of money giving out free footbags for very little return. At the Australian Footbag Champs - we sold like 30 bags and none of those people ever showed up again despite paying money for a bag and being told fairly specific directions on what they should do if they wanted to continue playing (ie meet us every week at very a near by and prominate melbourne landmark at a particular time!)

comastalker · Post by **comastalker** » 21 Oct 2004 09:57

mmmkay...

1st : I don't think, that women aren't willing to do things that involve hard training and a lot of time involved. I also don't think women prefer things that are known to the masses. Look for all those artistic stuff :
- Devil Stick
- Juggling
- these funny balls with ropes you can swirl around
- et cetera

At least here in germany most of the people doing that are female.
Well, there may be the question where exactly the difference(s) lie(s).
I thought about it a long time and think that there are only 2 possibilities :

- they think it doesn't look aesthetic (and would prefer that bloughchi-style, but afaik there aren't many women doing that)
- most artistic stuff does not involve sweating

In any other aspects, they are very equal and, e.g. devil sticks also aren't known to the masses.

Well, then there's the "freethinkers-sub-culture-aspect".
I think that is an important point. Regarding footbaggers in general, I'm very sure it does matter. And the fact, that someone LOOKS normal, or BEHAVES normal is completely irrelevant, as everyone has his own quality of social (or sometimes antisocial-) mimicry.
Here in germany it is quite obvious I think. Though I know, there will be a lot critique about it, I have to mention the pot-smoker-aspect :
Why do you think almost all german footbaggers smoke cannabis ? you can't really say smoking at all can in any way be linked to any sport.
I think there is an anti-normality-factor and taking the german female masses, the majority of them prefer not to do or think anything that is anormal (did you ever think about the question, why there are almost no female anarchists ?). Think a bit about analogies.
And I have to second, "we are not normal".

P.S.:
Most of the people who talk to me while shredding ask me if I often break my bones.
I do not smoke cannabis (I don't think it matters, I just want to prevent these annoying stereotypic questions).
I don't want to bring anyone to smoke cannabis.
I am for an equal trait of all drugs, which practically means to legalize them.
Yes, I am an anarcho-comunist.

max · Post by **max** » 22 Oct 2004 00:17

haha spot the ozzie posting on a canadian forum:

Or are you talking about Ice hockey and not real hockey?

Seath · Post by **Seath** » 22 Oct 2004 11:40

Yea, Ice hockey IS real hockey, it was invented first, field hocky not as intense anyways

:(:( I miss the NHL, BRING IT BACK NHLPA YOU SUCK!

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 22 Oct 2004 13:32

I think we need some terminology clarity.

I think we all agree that girls are capable of working hard at 'something', but we can't seem to pin-point why that something is so rarely footbag.

Maybe one day more girls will do more cool stuff. (I say 'more' because I am fully aware that there are a handfull of interesting girls out there already)

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 22 Oct 2004 19:54

Seath wrote:Yea, Ice hockey IS real hockey, it was invented first, field hocky not as intense anyways :(:( I miss the NHL, BRING IT BACK NHLPA YOU SUCK!

Field hockey and ice hockey both developed independently from an earlier form of the game. In most countries field hockey is the game referred to by the word hockey on its own. Where ice hockey is played more commonly (especially Canada, the USA and Scandinavia), hockey on its own refers to ice hockey. In south European countries (such as Spain, Portugal and Italy and South American countries (mostly Brazil and Argentina) hockey refers to Rink hockey. Field hockey sticks are smaller than ice hockey sticks and have a hook instead of a long blade that can lie flat on the playing surface when the stick is held upright. Rink hockey sticks have a curled "L" shape, and are about the same size of those in field hockey.

from http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/hockey

I agree with Tom

wolfpac444 · Post by **wolfpac444** » 22 Oct 2004 23:56

Actually, it's from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey. The people who put together Wikipedia do not get nearly as much credit / appreciation as they should.

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 26 Oct 2004 15:43

Beatrice from munich footbag has such a nice stepping set...
The way she's asking the bag :" wanna go for a walk",
is just too sweeet !

Hopefully, she will be with shreditas com soon, so that her
skills cease to be our best kept secret...
Check out the streetlife vid from our site ( that one was shot
pre stepping, mind you), and you'll catch my drift.
She started shredding january 04, by the way.

Juana · Post by **Juana** » 31 Oct 2004 21:10

Decided not to be a closet reader finally

So, I think the #1 reason "more girls don't play" is because more girls don't play. That's a tough one to work around...I think the best way to get more dedicated long-term women players is to expose them to other women players. The more women see other women doing it, the more inclined they are to take it up themselves, for whatever sociological/psychological/competitive reason. We all know girls are capable of high-level of play...it's just getting their commited interest. I guess if you don't have women in your circles, then just be extra encouraging and especially welcoming (come on in, just try it, it doesn't matter what level your at, we're all just messin' around, etc.) tell them about shreditas.com or other sites where you know there a lot of women freestylers (footbag.ch is a good one). Or I typically give them a pass back (or two) almost every time if I know they would really like to try a stall or something new (otherwise it's like they get the bag for 2 seconds and then have to wait for it to pass around the circle while each person does a long string, only to get it for another 2 seconds). Tell them to get some lavers and a good bag...tell them how to practice on their own....

of course, if they just want to hack it and don't give a rip about freestylin', then just let them hack it with you anyway -- conseq kicks bs or a cool flyer or neck catch is still worthy of a prop anyway.

ANyway, that's why I started shreditas.com in the first place...because of this idea that the more women are exposed to other women playing, the more women that will play -- that's my theory. I used to surf the web for hours and hours looking for a short clip or even just a photo of other girl footbaggers (probably my competitive side...and curiosity)...nothing! there was nothing out there, until eventually, a couple of the European clubs started putting up pics of Isa and Nadine, and also on the Austrian site, other pics of Claire, Lena, and a few others -- I'm positive that I was not the only girl footbagger trying to find other girl players to see what they were bustin. So far, since I've started Shreditas.com, I've noticed that every time a new vid gets posted of some girl busting a long string or a fat trick, there always seems to be some sort of surge in the other girls' level of play, or new girls entering the scene. it's weird, like clock-work. so far that has been the pattern anyway.

Is it just me or does it seem like the women's scene is not exploding like it was in 2003 (with the exception of a few awesome shreditas pushing their games) Or maybe it just seems that way because I'm sitting here in North America - women's freestyle is raging in Europe...and Beatrice is getting so good!! If you have a clip of her, I'd love to post it on Shreditas.com!! Hmmm...maybe there are more women players in Europe because more women play there, so more new women get into it...it's an exponential thing. and that would further support my theory. It's the same for the men, but there are so many more of you then women that it's more difficult to scrutinize over the numbers.

Somewhere in that mess I just wrote lies a more concise point, but I don't feel like being on modified all night, so sorry I'm not gonna smooth my words out any

Sorry that i haven' been posting much on shreditas.com lately -- to make it worse, I lost my video camera a couple of weeks ago

See ya at SJFF 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeha!

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 31 Oct 2004 21:32

totally off topic...

hockey = ice hockey. people who play field hockey get beaten up and railed along the boards. don't bring your sissy stick to canada jeremy!

BRING BACK THE NHL!

any hoo, winnipeg has finally found it's first serious female player. we are giving her alot of support in hopes that she can one day be busting huge! also we hope this will also bring more females to the sport. either way, there seems to be more and more interest in footbag from females in general.

comastalker · Post by **comastalker** » 01 Nov 2004 01:12

hacksterbator wrote:totally off topic...

then why don't you start another one in the kicking circle ?

I think the best way to get more dedicated long-term women players is to expose them to other women players.

as this sentence almost completely sums up your post (correct me if I'm wrong with this) I only comment this one.

I think it is always good to show some shred outside, and women maybe shall see more women footbagging (why not net).

is it really the biggest problem for shreditas, that they compete with a male majority ? It's hard to see myself in the position of a shredita, but if I do, I'd see the biggest problem in being a footbagger at all; you know, all those ignorant shitheads asking if you can do that with a soccerball or if you won't break your bones...
well I am somehow not normal and maybe, as a shredita, I would start to shred without seeing other women do so....

if you got some time, tell us how you started freestyling jane.
did you have problems with genders at all ?

Juana · Post by **Juana** » 01 Nov 2004 14:26

I got into it after playing organized soccer for about 10 years. I had always hacked, and then my senior year, I dated guy who started getting into net. So, the summer before leaving for college, my friends and I messed around on his net set and freestyled a little. By that point I had seen maybe a couple of tricks - atw, clipper, mirage... I was more intrigued by net though...

So, I left for college in Colorado and it was the first time I wasn't playing an organized sport...so I was looking for something new to get into. My, then, boyfriend sent me an X-mas care package with an 8-panel freestyle footbag. He thought I'd probably just stick it on a bookshelf or something, but instead, I started trying to stall it. Ultimately became obsessed with wanting to stall it more and learn some tricks. I used to take it to parties and go stand in a corner by myself trying to do a heel stall or a wrap around for hours, until my friends would grab me to go home. Anyway, daryl was a student at my school at that time and I used to see him practice on campus. I remember telling my boyfriend about this guy that was insane (like infinities for his warm-up were insane to me then

) -- My boyfriend said I shoudl go kick with him, but I was totally intimidated to approach him for the first time. Finally a friend of mine saw Pete Kindel (sp?) kicking with Daryl on campus...he stopped by her espresso cart for a drink and my friend said "Hey, my girl friend is really into footbag, but doesn't know anyone to kick with" -- Pete told her to tell me about their weekly practice at the fieldhouse. I showed up that week, and he had a copy of Tricks of the Trade for me and the rest is history. I don't think I could ever sit down and watch the entire Tricks of the Trade video...WAY to cheesy!!

Anyway that Spring I went to Western Regional in California and competed at Novice Net. Competed at net from 1993-1995. Then fell out of the scene (publicly at least) until '98. In '98 I moved back up to Seattle and went to a net tourny...met a few local freestylers and for some reason preferred freestyle over net the second time around. I actually kicked during that long break, so I still had some skills, but when I first learned to play, more people played net *and* freestyle...in '98 I kind of felt I had to chose between one or the other to get any good at it since the level of play had gotten so high.

So, there's the extended version of how I got into it.

I think some girls don't have an issue with gender. In fact, most every girl that you know that shreds probably doesn't. And I think a lot of "would be" female footbaggers don't have an issue...it's just an intimidation thing. To be super fascinated by something and wanting to give it a serious try, but just building up the nerve to approach some awesome shredders for the first time. I think a lot of women feel more comfortable approaching or trying if other women are in the circle. then there are shredders that don't care who's in the circle and just hop right in -- just depends.

I wasn't intimidated by the fact that Daryl was a guy...just that he was sooooo damn good and I could barely do a toe stall. It was the fact that people were overly encouraging and welcoming (Pete & my exboyfriend) for me to come try it out and hang with them. Once I got past that first barrier and realized how cool and mellow the footbag community is, it's all I could think about...kicking/learning new tricks. it's a miracle I ever graduated after that!!

I guess what I'm saying is this: Most newbies that want to try it wont approach a high level circle themselves. So whenever you see a bystander, ask them to jump in your circle. If they're interested, they'll most likely try it...just ensure them that it doesn't matter how good they are...it's just about having fun. That and a slightly obsessive mentality will get a lot of new players hooked & skooling.

comastalker · Post by **comastalker** » 02 Nov 2004 01:04

thank you a lot for sharing your history ! I really enjoyed it.
most of the time I play in public, I do it alone, so I cannot ask someone to join the circle seriously

but often, when poeple look like

, I tell them it's far easier, than it looks like

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 02 Nov 2004 05:25

Wow, thanks for that in depth history Jane!

I always find it so interesting finding out how people got into footbag.

On topic: A GIRL WILL BE AT MY NEXT CLUB MEETING!!!

One of the new members has convinced his FEMALE housemate to tag along. AND I just gave my FEMALE friend a Mr. Sandbag as she has been asking for a bag for a while. Cross your fingers.

Atom · Post by **Atom** » 06 Nov 2004 15:54

my fingers are crossed tom

and the girl we gave the card to never got ahold of anyone...i think I will try a more forward approach to getting a woman to play with us.