The Footbag Cycle

[Sidi||TOFU]

It’s a normal Saturday in Ottawa for Ryan Seath, 23, who has just hopped on the 95 westbound to meet a new recruit. He has his Rod Laver tennis shoes, lots of water and six tiny circular bags filled with sand. The new recruit, Cory Shep, 16, contacted him over the internet through an online community called Modified. They have scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. and Seath only knows that Shep has a mohawk.
Seath gets to his destination, the War Memorial, and starts to change into his shorts, t-shirt and Lavers. After having stretched for a bit, Seath proceeds to dance in harmony with his tiny sandbag ensuring it does not meet the ground. Soon after, Shep arrives, mohawkless, but he knows it is Seath. Shep does not bother to ask for he is in awe of the spectacle before him. Shep aspires to one day be filling the Lavers of Seath.
For Ottawa, this encounter is one of few but it is still one for the worldwide footbag community.
Footbag is a sport that has perpetuated itself through online communities over the internet. It is played in many countries and its popularity is continuing to skyrocket. Footbag is a simple game taken to complex levels. For Seath, it’s a dynamic way of being artistic.
“Footbag is a unique athletic way of expressing yourself. It's artistic and physically challenging,” says Seath. “You can express yourself through your repertoire of moves and you can explore creative ideas through combining certain movements together. It's a pure expression of creativity that requires stamina, speed, and accuracy.”
Footbag originated in the early 70's in Oregon by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Stalberger had recently had knee surgery and was looking for a way to keep his legs in shape and flexible. Marshall had a product that he was hoping to market, and with their feet, the two of them would keep-up this crotchet-knit bag. They decided to call the game “hack-the-sack” and footbag was born. The product they created was called a hackysack but the misconception began there since what they had called footbag adopted the name of its product. Footbaggers continued to keep the original name and it has developed into a game with rarely any hacking and with more of a free flowing dance concept.
Footbag has come a long way from Oregon and through the efforts of one man, Seath, this sport has touched down in Ottawa. This is not atypical of how the sport is spread. Seath, like many others scattered throughout the world, first glimpsed the sport from his computer chair.
In Sept. 2003, he sat down in that chair and had become a fiend for hacky sack. He was interested in learning some fancy tricks since he had become the best regular amongst his friends’ circle. After typing “hacky sack tricks” into Google, he opened the world of footbag that would change his life forever.
“I was directed to footbag.org and my whole view of my skill level was crushed,” says Seath with a smile. “I learned there was so much out there to learn and I sort of got deflated for a bit, but I still really enjoyed learning about it.”
For the next three months, he went to footbag websites discovering all he could about it. He found out about the history, tournaments and the countless amounts of tricks.
“It was December when I decided to go for it and teach myself freestyle footbag,” says Seath. “And I ordered a pair of Lavers and some footbags.”
From there, Seath started playing everyday for up to three hours a day. At first, he told himself he would not try any tricks until he could do ten consecutive toe stalls in a row. A toe stall is done by catching the footbag with precision, while using the supporting leg to absorb the shock of the bag. This slows the bag down enough for it not to fall off the foot.
All footbag tricks are done while keeping this main concept in mind. Absorbing the shock is just important as the dexterities of the leg that performs the trick around the bag. Combining multiple dexterities while consistently absorbing the shock of the bag allows a footbagger to precisely time and execute each consecutive move.
Seath began practicing tricks he would find on the internet and asked fellow footbaggers over Modified when he needed some encouragement. He was a lone footbagger in a city of around one million who knew nothing about footbag; if they did Seath knew him. One thing, which kept him interested, was the international community that shared his passion for footbag.
In 2004, he learned that the World Footbag Championships were to be held, of all places, in Montreal. It would be the first time that he had met friends he had made online through Modified and would be his first live viewing of other footbaggers.
That is where he met Tom Mosher.
Mosher, a Kingston native, was tree planting in the summer of 2003 when he saw someone doing some hacky sack tricks. He too was compelled to go on his computer and much like Seath fell in love with footbag. They both started learning at around the same time and this would be both of their first major tournaments.
In Montreal, they both discovered footbags tight-knit community and its overwhelmingly supportive nature no matter what their skill level. They also met footbaggers from all over the world. They had traveled from Australia, Japan, Czech Republic and from all over the USA to name a few of the many countries which partook in the event.
Seath and Mosher also met Matt Cross from Rochester, New York, who had been playing footbag for many years. After the tournament, Mosher and Cross would frequently visit each other to play footbag and attend tournaments with fellow footbaggers.
Cross has always been very encouraging of the community which shares his passion for footbag. He believes it is the one thing that gets newcomers to start seriously pursuing footbag. When he first started playing he met one of the “legendary early freestylers” Eric Wulff.
“He (Wulff) was super nice to me and told me that he was happy someone liked his style,” remembers Cross. “He’s always been very nice to me and that is the kind of attitude that really characterizes how the community treated me and how I think it treats most beginning players with enthusiasm.”
“I would definitely say the community encouraged me (from the beginning),” says Cross. “The support I get from them still continues to encourage me to improve my skills.”
In New York, Cross is getting ready for GRASS, a tournament being held in Rochester. Josiah Digges and his brother Will, have known Cross for several years and will also be at GRASS.
Josiah enjoys the community aspect of footbag as well and always looks forward when he hears about a tournament coming up.
“I’ve met tons of awesome people through footbag,” says Digges. “The number one reason I go to tournaments is the community.”
Amicable relationships, which are formed through a shared bond for developing similar skills, are just one of the many reasons Digges enjoys this underground sport.
“Everyone wants everyone else to bust huge and to be everyone else’s friend,” says Digges. “You don’t see such harsh competitiveness you see in other sports.”
Since the community is small, it is not unlikely for a footbagger to run into his favourite player or someone who he has a style he aspires to acquire. This appeals to many footbaggers because it makes advice from others easily accessible.
“Another thing about footbag is that you really can meet your hero instead of idolizing some pro-baseball player you'll never meet.” says Digges.
Last Canada Day, Seath hosted Ottawa’s first tournament. It was highly successful and footbaggers from all over North America played at the War Memorial. Mosher, Cross and the Digges brothers were all there. Where footbag goes, the community goes and a different city acts as a temporary village for footbaggers to transcend upon.
The War Memorial, the same place where Seath meets Shep, is where the second annual Canada Day tournament will be held.
Shep has already progressed and can do ten toe stalls after putting on the Lavers that Seath brought for him. They talk about school, music taste and Seath teaches him some basic moves. Seath remembers the support he has received over the last three years and makes a point not to pass any judgment when Shep drops the footbag.
“Take as many turns as you need to feel comfortable stalling the bag,” says Seath with a smile.
Any footbagger will tell you the moment they discovered footbag. They will know the exhilaration the first time they hit their first trick. They also know the journey that awaits Shep. This Canada Day there will be an additional footbagger.

[Seath]

I love you Riaz, awesome article.

Cant wait for the summer for mad shreddage in Ottawa. :D:D

[Iron Clad Ben]

Has anyone else read this? Awesome article. Nice job

[Drew360]

WOW VERY GOOD writeup!!! PROPS...

[sniper4life]

That was a great article. Everything you said about how Seath found footbag sounds exactly like me. I even started in December and thats when I ordered my first pair of lavers