HOW do WE spread our sport to a different COUNTRY??

The Energizer Benny · Post by **The Energizer Benny** » 06 Dec 2006 07:32

Hi everyone.
I am moving to ISrael and part of my dream there is to bring over footbag, with force. I want to play in EVERY park, square, but mostly, I hope to have similar luck to my friend and fellow New Yorker, Ken. I wish to get to sort of sponsorship, do some sort of commercial. Get it seen by the whole country.

A website seems a neccesity. I don't have one yet. Please,
all a yall, let me know what I am missing. How DO we spread this sport to places that have never seen it.

keep in mind, I want to succeed. Not that I plan on making any living through footbag, but... okay, I want to make a living through footbag.

so what's the deal.

B-dog

The Energizer Benny · Post by **The Energizer Benny** » 06 Dec 2006 10:50

I recieved a message from someone reminding me taht eve the World Champions have great difficulty trying to make a living from footbag. But it is not the greatest players that have the done the most that has potential for success. It is the promoters who will bring this game to a place where money can be made. Scott Davidson, going on TV, doing countless tournaments and promotions. Steve Goldberg for .org and so many other energies. Somolinos for taking the time and energy in Japan.

This is what is possible. What Ken did in Japan and even more. Halftimes at football (soccer) games worldwide. TV. commercials. especially in Europe and Europe-influenced areas, like Israel.

What it will take is more people dedicating portions of their lives to promotion and coaching new players.

personally, I can't wait.

Moxie · Post by **Moxie** » 06 Dec 2006 11:58

[Moved to General Footbag]

Oroza · Post by **Oroza** » 06 Dec 2006 12:07

note that soccer is huge everywhere except the US. hit up the soccer/sports clubs, schools, youth rec center type things, maybe religious youth groups. give away bags and contact info.

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 06 Dec 2006 14:54

Jeremy O'Wheel makes lots of money off footbag, from busking, doing demos... I think he tapped into the street performer scene to get contacts and whatnot, but not entirely sure. I'm sure if you shot him an email he would be happy to help.

His email on his profile is beast9 (at) gmail (dot) com

Although I'm not sure if he uses it... there's another he's posted a couple of times to contact him on but I kind find where, sorry! Anyway, it's possible he still uses that one

cd · Post by cd » 06 Dec 2006 15:01

Benny, you're one of the most talented performers in the world of footbag. I'm sure if you are committed to getting footbag going in Israel, you can.

One of the most important steps to gaining a foothold in a footbag-free region is finding/creating other players. Start a scene and build upon that.

Concerning making a living off of footbag, I think the most down-to-earth way of doing that is with busking. Someone with your abilities could definitely make $10-20/hour in the right environment. But it's kind of a dead-end. Sponsorships and paid gigs are harder to come by but they are way more pro and are much better for exposure. Look into groups/events that would like what you do. Jugglers and soccer players would be a great start.

dyalander · Post by **dyalander** » 06 Dec 2006 16:09

I asked Ken why he thinks he's been so successful in starting scenes - not only in Japan, but also in the US. Wherever he goes he starts a circle if there wasn't already one. He said that one of the most important things is finding a regular spot with plenty of exposure, and shredding there at a regular time. That way people will see you at the same spot and at the same time, and even if they don't stop the first time they see you they'll eventually stop and want to find out about footbag. I think the regulaity is the key. Also incorporate four-square into your sessions as soon as you have enough people- maybe as a way of cooling off after a session - it keeps beginners interested, and allows them to hang out with their friends even if their friends as aren't interested in taking up freestyle footbag.

You're right a website will help - it can be a base for finding gigs like school workshops, halftime shows, corporate gigs, etc.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 06 Dec 2006 17:16

james_dean wrote:Jeremy O'Wheel makes lots of money off footbag, from busking, doing demos... I think he tapped into the street performer scene to get contacts and whatnot, but not entirely sure. I'm sure if you shot him an email he would be happy to help.

His email on his profile is beast9 (at) gmail (dot) com

Although I'm not sure if he uses it... there's another he's posted a couple of times to contact him on but I kind find where, sorry! Anyway, it's possible he still uses that one

That email is correct.

I find making money from footbag not very hard at all. These days I don't busk very much because I work almost full time and also on the side reviewing bars, so money isn't much of an issue for me and I would rather play how I want to play, rather than to impress the most amount of people. According to the records I keep, I've made a little over $3000 usd this year - which is not bad considering I've had no major demos. It's not enough to live off, but it supplements my income well - especially earlier in the year when I was working a lot less. It's also paid for my trip to both tournaments this year (Australian Champs 2006 and the Sydney Jam) as well as a few other perks like buying lavers for the guys I play with. Busking is good, and easy money. I can make $100+ an hour busking without any effort beyond playing footbag. I think if you want to really promote footbag, you need to get good at busking, even if you don't actually busk.

The keys to busking are:

1. Have ok footbag skills
2. Don't drop (30+ tiltless runs with the odd crowd pleasing move or combo every time)
3. Look like you're having fun.
4. Music.

Those are all vital, you can't really do well at busking unless you have all 4.

Once you feel confident performing like that in front of people, I'd advise organising an event of some kind in your local town, or going to an event. Either is good. Now call up your local newspaper and tv station and tell them what you're doing. I have never done this and not got a positive response. When they interview you, make sure you sell footbag as well as you can and also make sure you mention that you also do demos. From there, you're bound to get a couple of enquiries. Start with offering a small price for the demos (but try to evaluate what they'll be willing to pay as well) and also try to make as good an impression as possible. If you over charge, you might get money soon, but you won't be able to sustain a relationship with these people. From here it's just a matter of continuing to be impressive and doing a good job. You might want to get an agent to help get you demos (I have one) and you need to constantly think that you're selling footbag - not just playing footbag. Your aim is to build up a relationship with these people. The vast majority of my footbag demos come from contacts I've made at other demos.

All this leads to giving footbag some kind of profile. I can't really go into bars these days in Hobart without some random person talking to me about "hacky sack" - while this can be very tedious, I always feel it's important to be friendly and appreciative - not only have I got demos from these discussions, but there's a chance the person will take up the sport if you sell it well enough.

Getting people to play is maybe a harder thing, or at least I've not had such good success. While there are more than 10 people in Hobart now who freestyle, none of them do it with remotely the keenness that I have. It's definitely still great to have lots of players, even if they don't show up much, and I've made a lot of good friends through the Hobart footbag scene, it would be nice to get people with the same passion that I have. I'm not sure if it's a matter of luck, or a matter of selling footbag better. I suspect it's that latter, but I don't really have any tips apart from playing regularly in the one spot (like once a week) and having fun.

Good luck

The Energizer Benny · Post by **The Energizer Benny** » 06 Dec 2006 17:48

Concerning making a living off of footbag, I think the most down-to-earth way of doing that is with busking.

The Energizer Benny · Post by **The Energizer Benny** » 06 Dec 2006 17:55

oops. I meant to quote that Chris Dean's last post. (new at this thing),.

So here is the key problem that puts all of the last posts in a heap in the corner of useless for me. Autralia is known to me and to my friends who are into street performance as a capital of street performance. I have heard that not only is it looked more highly upon than on the streets of NY, but it is a part of the culture. People are happy to throw a (australian coin) for a cool skill.

Are you ready for the second half of this problem. It is illegal to put a hat out in Israel. Street performance for dough is not allowed. Keep in mind, for very good reason such as the safety of citizens, there are soldiers and police all over the place in Israel. This makes it even less attractive to do something attention grabbing like footbagging in a park.

I know I will be grabbing a lot of attention. But I cannot put out a hat. I need to use the attention to get young players into the sport and get some crazy Prague-3-5 years-ago hotspot action. I'm talking shredding all afternoon. many hours. many dexes.

Can you tell I'm excited?

sniper4life · Post by **sniper4life** » 06 Dec 2006 19:45

hey, according to .org there is an israel footbag club already. You should try and contact them.

gMoney · Post by **gMoney** » 06 Dec 2006 19:49

damn no money making doing street performances in Israel? that blows. uh maybe if you could find some cheap bags (but nothing low-quality) and sell them to people on the street that are interested in buying a bag after seeing you perform? would that be illegal? i dont know much about Israel or street performing, so i cant be much help.

uh maybe if you took videos of yourself shredding and having huge crowds around you, you could submit the video to the news and they might think you're hot stuff because so many people are watching you

those are all my ideas. im idea'd out.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 07 Dec 2006 04:03

The Energizer Benny wrote: So here is the key problem that puts all of the last posts in a heap in the corner of useless for me. Autralia is known to me and to my friends who are into street performance as a capital of street performance. I have heard that not only is it looked more highly upon than on the streets of NY, but it is a part of the culture. People are happy to throw a (australian coin) for a cool skill.

Interesting impression, while I agree some what - I know that most street performers that I talk to prefer Europe in the Northern Hemisphere to North America, Australia is definitely much more "performance" based - while as Europe is much more skilled based - the street performers that do the best at the festivals I've attended are the ones that are the funniest and have the best talk. Street performers that come to Australia from Europe are always much more trick based, and usually more skilled, but don't do so well because they're not engaging with the audience. Of course that's a generalisations, there are plenty of exceptions, but that's my impression. Street performing in Australia is definitely a strongly supported profession in any event.

Anyway, that sucks that you can't busk in Israel. I think your idea of playing a lot in public is the best one. Generating media attention will also really help a lot I'm sure.

Best of luck.

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 07 Dec 2006 08:24

Yeah, so, I was really waiting to hear Ken's answer to this question, and I guess I can accept Chris Dean's post as representing some of what Ken has to say on the matter.

chris dean wrote:I asked Ken why he thinks he's been so successful in starting scenes - not only in Japan, but also in the US. Wherever he goes he starts a circle if there wasn't already one. He said that one of the most important things is finding a regular spot with plenty of exposure, and shredding there at a regular time. That way people will see you at the same spot and at the same time, and even if they don't stop the first time they see you they'll eventually stop and want to find out about footbag. I think the regulaity is the key. Also incorporate four-square into your sessions as soon as you have enough people- maybe as a way of cooling off after a session - it keeps beginners interested,

I can't claim any real success in starting scenes up everywhere I've gone like our esteemed ambassador to Japan, but I suppose I could attribute my shortcomings specifically to failing to follow the above advice. And that advice is strikingly similar, in fact, to what I've both heard and seen from another famous ambassador, The Goldberg. He plays with his club EVERY Tuesday afternoon on the campus of Stanford University. He told me recently that he has rarely missed a session in over a decade and that he plans his travels around that schedule. I've gone to kick with him and his posse at Stanford twice now, and there were always several other kickers there with him. Last time I went, most of those present were not actually Stanford students, or even old enough to be in college yet. But it has something to do with that regularity of time and place: kids from the area who are interested in the game to varing degrees at least know exactly where and when to find some footbag when they want to. And we all know that Goldberg can mostly be found in the Foursquare... Plus, I've heard he also has a nice web-site.

So there it is: two people know for their success in promoting footbag domestically and abroad both agree - play in the same place at the same time as dependably as possible so potentially interested newbies know where to come back for more, and give your kickers something besides just Shred to do, 'cause that might not offer enough actual fun for those new players who don't instantly feel a strange obsession to juggle with their feet despite having never done so before.

Personally, I have a certain faith that a little bit of literature (basically, I'm talking about a business card with your name and web-site on it) and some very inexpensive but freestyle-worthy bags on hand to sell for cheap could also help alot. They say that its an old and proven technique of the professional salesman to put something into the hands of their mark quickly as they make their pitch, and business cards can be had for free from some places on-line.
I've heard of the WFA "sponsoring" certain promoters by offering Sandmaster bags to them in bulk orders at a very low cost-per-bag. Like a hundred bags for a hundred bucks. Don't quote me to them on that though. But imagine how useful it could be to have a large supply of beginner bags available for sale to interested newbies at a price that almost nobody would balk at. Maybe the makers of the Freedom Footbags could offer you a similar "promotional" deal, though I'd never ask him to go as low as one dollar per bag for his excellent product. That just wouldn't seem quite right to me.

Anyway, you know, Benny, that I'll come to the very first tournament you host over there.

Oroza · Post by **Oroza** » 10 Dec 2006 03:34

I was born at stanford

PegLegHolly · Post by **PegLegHolly** » 10 Dec 2006 10:23

if you do that routine that you did at midwesterns, youll get tons of people interested. you have no problem getting strangers to like your personality, so recruiting new players shouldnt be a problem for you. that little hop thing you did where you made the bag jump to the other foot, that was genius. so was footbagging with that soccer ball! good luck over there! (come back for worlds 07 and visit!)

...off topic, tell your gf i say hi!