Footbag Diversity

LittleBoy footbag · Post by **LittleBoy footbag** » 25 Jan 2005 12:04

Ok. Just curious about how footba gis reaching out to all kinds of people/ cultures/ races. I'm Filipino and the best er....ONLY Filipino shredder in my school. WOOT!

PS: I would post a poll but it doesn't seem to work on here.....ERIK! or JEREMY! or THE OTHER MODS WHO I DIDN'T MENTION!!! HELPP!

crazydwarf · Post by **crazydwarf** » 25 Jan 2005 14:54

Just a guess, but footbag seems pretty darn diverse compared to say like basketball, football, baseball, hockey, skateboarding, and a ton of other sports... I mean those are all pretty much just american or if someone wants to play them they move to america... where as footbag has had it's worlds all over the world. Soccer's probably like that too I guess, must have something to do with feet...

LittleBoy footbag · Post by **LittleBoy footbag** » 25 Jan 2005 16:46

hehe. yeah. as it is, footbag's spreading more quickly than basketball because you can be a widely recognized pro everywhere....where is Vasek? Czechosolovakia (please check spelling) and others like Jeremy and most of the modified members here are not one single race.....damn I htink I just answered my own question

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 25 Jan 2005 16:59

The Czech Republic -- Czechoslovakia isn't a country anymore.

Also, I don't necessarily agree with your statement about most people on modified being of more than one race. This sport is predominantly played be caucasians (and males, for that matter).

LittleBoy footbag · Post by **LittleBoy footbag** » 25 Jan 2005 18:05

Sunil? He's not caucasiain...i think.....and there's some de-caucasian players here who shred harder than me......er......ok. not here but I'll find some more......

slapdash21 · Post by **slapdash21** » 25 Jan 2005 18:32

just because someone is technically causasion doesnt mean they arent diverse....like, from other countries. it seems to me that there are TONS of canadians, for example

LittleBoy footbag · Post by **LittleBoy footbag** » 25 Jan 2005 18:57

tell that to Nagasake....

crazydwarf · Post by **crazydwarf** » 25 Jan 2005 21:57

maybe this is just me, but does anyone else find it a little silly when someone is proud of there race and like joins clubs about it... I mean it's all luck, you don't have any choice what race your born, so why should you take pride in it? Isn't pride in your race just a moderate form of racism?

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 25 Jan 2005 23:07

That is true, I do agree with you. There aren't a lot of sports where you can meet people from all over the world (or at least 1st world countries) at one tournament. We are pretty lucky. However, there is a tendency for caucasians to largely inhabit 1st world countries. Of course, there are exceptions, like Japan (using the countries that mainly play footbag). Regardless, though, where are the well known Latin American, Asian, or African clubs? Not to say that there aren't any, but there aren't any players that we constantly watch videos of or talk about inducting into BAP.

As for being proud of your race, there's no point, I agree.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 25 Jan 2005 23:37

In the history of BAP, here are the non-white people who have made it into BAP: Tuan (95), Tu (97), Sunil (99), and Yacine (01). That`s what, 4 out of like 60? 70? Also notice the induction years... nothing recently.

This has been discussed before, you should search the archives. But yeah, I feel like footbag is still predominantly a white sport. Other than Japan, can you name a country which has non-white, thriving footbag scene?

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 26 Jan 2005 00:33

well, ken, come on now, you're only naming inductees, not those invited to join (ie: ken somolinos, of asiatic descent, asked in prauge, 2003). true enough though, there is a serious lack of racial representation in footbag, other than the japanese, and unless the brasilian scene skyrockets in the next few years, i imagine it'll remain the same for some time... and that white, blond haired, blue eyed kid who keeps winning all the comps isn't helping any thing.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 26 Jan 2005 00:41

just a thought, how much do you think footbag interest would increase if a member of a visible minority came out of no where and won worlds this year? i imagine it would be alot. i bet there are alot of people out there who only see white people playing and aren't interested in it because of that. not be be a racist, but just an observation (since i think more then 60% of the NBA is made up of african americans), why do you think african americans seem keen on basket ball? because they see other african americans progressing and acceling at the sport, and there for have a role model to look up to, and can envision them selves doing the same. so they pick up a basket ball/ base ball/ hi-li sling/ etc. i think once there are more top top level minorities doing online move demos and appearing in downloadable footbag vids, we will see the grass roots level of footbag gain more populatiry among different peoples.

LittleBoy footbag · Post by **LittleBoy footbag** » 26 Jan 2005 09:39

that's true. all sports diversity started out with a pioneer. I.E, in baseball, Jackie Robinson.....these guys then whuped some ass and showed their race that this is a posrt that they should play.....

slapdash21 · Post by **slapdash21** » 26 Jan 2005 11:31

well, the NHL isnt a good representation of ANYTHING right now, but i remember when it was all white guys, except for like 1 or 2 black guys. i havent watched in a couple years...dunno how its been.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 09 Feb 2005 18:20

crazydwarf wrote:where as footbag has had it's worlds all over the world. ...

Up until 1996, Footbag Worlds had only been in America. Up until 2003, it had only been held in Canada and America. It`s only been held once outside of North America.

I`d hardly call that `all over the world.`

One of the main problems with this thread was that it was never clarified what was meant by `diversity.` Some people took it to mean racial diversity, others took it to meant geographical diversity. Anyway you look at it, footbag isn`t very diverse yet, though it`s shown improvement in terms of geographical diversity in the last 5 years.

How many people have been inducted into BAP, or are members of BAP?
My guess is its about 50 or 60. Out of those 50 or 60, there`s only one (1!) woman, 4 (out of 50!) non-whites, and only one person who isn`t from North America or Europe.

While BAP isn`t wholly representative of the sport, it still highlights the general demographic trends of footbag.

Nagasake raises a good point too: where are the non-white rising stars in the footbag community? On a similar note, how many non-white players have had sections on major footbag videos in the last 5 years? Sunil... Yacine in the sickening, me on Sick3. But pretty much just Sunil.

Much as some people would like to think otherwise, footbag is still widely perceived by the outside world as a sport that suburban white kids play, and they are for the most part correct.

Going back to the geographic diversity point, I can only think of one (1!) non-white country with a footbag scene: Japan.

Just some thoughts.

LittleBoy footbag · Post by **LittleBoy footbag** » 09 Feb 2005 18:25

uhhhh.........try vietnam...it's not footbag (shuttlecock or soemthing like that) but it's close enough and my cousins in philippines paly takraw which is an older form of footbag. but for footbag, footbag, I guess you're right. I really meant anything. geographically, physically, genderically.......so and so

Krafty · Post by **Krafty** » 09 Feb 2005 18:43

While I do have to agree with Ken that it's mostly whites who play footbag and that there aren't many non-whites who are shredding, I understand what Peter said about the diversity of the footbaggers. Also, I was wondering, did you mean Indian as a Native American or as a person from India? (Because I'm from India, and I am not sure which choice to pick

)

Chris Hanratty · Post by **Chris Hanratty** » 09 Feb 2005 19:08

General discussion?

Also, it's not all of the "white countries" fault that it is so big in those countries. The community is welcoming to everyone, all the time. I'd say that it's most common in all first world countries, which would cut out a lot of people. Other than that I can't explain why footbag is predominantly white (assuming everyone is right, I haven't looked at numbers or anything).

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 09 Feb 2005 19:39

Chris Hanratty wrote: Also, it's not all of the "white countries" fault that it is so big in those countries. .

Did anybody make that claim? I also wouldn`t say that footbag is `big` in any country...

Chris Hanratty wrote: I'd say that it's most common in all first world countries, which would cut out a lot of people. .

1. Footbag isn`t played in `all first world countries.` Not even close.
2. America and Canada are first world countries with very very large numbers of Asian, black, and hispanic peoples. While I don`t know offhand the percent of the American population that is Black and Hispanic, I do know that footbag isn`t even close to representing that. And at the highest levels of the sport, minorities are even harder to come by.

Chris Hanratty · Post by **Chris Hanratty** » 09 Feb 2005 19:44

I certainly didn't mean that it's played in all first world countries. What I meant is that I don't know of any non first world countries that it's played in. I'm not exactly up to par with country status' and all that jazz, it's just what came to mind.

Not arguing, just voicing an opinion based on stuff that I know.

Footbag Diversity

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Footbag Diversity