Cass shreds - Spring Training 2024

[Cass]

That last blog page was pretty damn epic. This next one promises to be good too.



I had to take the last two days off shred because I did some heavy lifting early in the week that kinda screwed with my lower back. Yesterday I did some yoga and got a professional massage at the campus health centre which helped the situation.

Today I took advantage of the perfect weather with an outdoor solo sesh. Really pushing that flip clipper to try and get it up to speed. It gets sore easily but I’m making good progress with that.


There have been slight improvements on spinning and flip ducking things.

Spinning Clipper>Ducking Clipper rpt. bs
Ducking Clipper x11
Gyro Clipper>ss Clipper rpt. 20 contacts



I’m really stoked that I still have so many events to look forward to this summer! I’ve already been to a record number

Let’s see; Juliette QC Jam at the end of the month, My birthday jam in Toronto two weeks after that, two weeks later is the Paris ON jam at Johnny’s, then a few more weeks until East Coasts in NYC! Crazy! Luckily these should all be nice and cheap aside from ECFC. If you are reading this right now you are required to make it to at least one of these events

<3

[boyle]

I don't think I will be making it to any of those events...maybe something next year (I certainly hope so!)

A good addition to that spinning/ducking drill is to add a diving clipper to it. Hope to see some more awesome collections of photos etc from the next jams. Don't know if it's of any interest for you, and have really looked in to it. But Canada is holding the under 20 women's world cup, that's coming soon, then the women's world cup (both for soccer) is next year - don't know if there's any opportunity to do demos etc or be somehow involved, could work well?

[Cass]

That's a good idea Dan! I would have no idea how to get involved in something like that though..


Last night my mom dreamed that she won the lottery. I dreamed that I met Peter Irish.

Priorities


Leaving for Toronto shortly. Yay FAT!!

I have no footbag plans next weekend Does your footbag crew live within a 6 hour drive of toronto and want to have a session? Convince me why I should visit you


I realised recently that these are the times of my life that I will look back on as the 'glory days'. I'm really making an effort to appreciate this and take advantage of it while I can. I feel so lucky!


I was thoroughly amused by this car when I visited State College.

'Merica.



<3

[Outsider]

I have no doubt that you and Peter would get along famously!

As for all this soccer/football business, that is indeed a terrific suggestion, Dan.

I would suggest that step one is to see if you can determine WHERE the games will be played, especially the games nearest you, and plan on going and playing there. Step two could be to find out of FIFA or any local soccer organizations are planning any events to promote their games and/or to use the events to promote healthy exercise, etc., and then contact those promoters to see if they are interested in footbaggers like you (or me) participating by doing demos/lessons.

I may be imagining it, but I kind of felt like I had been getting a little more attention and interest from people when I play in public lately, and I had this feeling that it may have been because of the World Cup.

[Cass]

Thanks for the suggestions Jon! I will look into that..


Session today with Adam, Erik, Camille, and JJ. It was a pretty fun time although I was pretty sore today. About two hours into the session some sketchy, angry dudes were yelling at eachother. Camille had to leave but she suggested we change location just to be safe.

Smoke>handcatch> other side

We moved to a school across from Christie Pits to play. Within a few minutes I started to feel really itchy! Like the time before when I thought I got heat stroke or something. I was pretty much done playing anyways so I decided to just leave in case there was a weird allergen in the area. I said goodbye to the guys and headed toward my car hoping the situation would improve.

It didn’t.

I changed my route from homeward to the hospital.

I didn’t make it.

The reaction became more severe and I got lightheaded and came close to passing out behind the wheel. I pulled over near Queens Park, like two minutes from the hospital and called 911.

The paramedic was kind of a huge douche so I’m not upset that I vomited on the floor of the ambulance.

They put an IV in at the hospital and I was able to rest. By the time a doctor saw me the reaction had subsided so he couldn’t really tell what it is. He prescribed me an epi pen and recommended that I see an allergist.

When they released me I spent a very upset 45 minutes making phone calls and trying to figure out where my car was before I learned that they hadn’t towed it and it was still sitting on Queens Park W. At least I don’t have to pay the impound fees.

This whole situation has been rather exhausting and unnerving. What if this had happened on a trip to the states? It’s scary to think of..

I really want to know what caused that. Not cool body. Not cool.

This reminded me of this song:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwi6aEgKXpU[/youtube]

[Muffinman]

D:
I'm glad you're okay and that you didn't pass out while driving!! I didn't realize it was so serious. Go see that allergist... Any common denominators from the two times it happened?

[Muffinman]

Anaphylaxis triggered by exercise is not common and varies from person to person. In some people, aerobic activity, such as jogging, triggers anaphylaxis. In others, less intense physical activity, such as walking, can trigger a reaction. Eating certain foods before exercise or exercising when the weather is hot, cold or humid also has been linked to anaphylaxis in some people. Talk with your doctor about any precautions you should take when exercising.

D:

[Cass]

Yeah..

The fist time was a completely different situation where I was about to go for dinner so I hadn't eaten and it was hot so I think it might have been heat triggered. But I didn't exercise at all. This time may have been excercise/food triggered. I did eat cornbread muffins which was out of the ordinary. Who knows..

The only common denominator between the two times that I went to a new environment outside. They were two completely different places but maybe it's some pollen or fungi or something?

[Cass]

Today I had a little 30 minute session. My lower back is still sore on the left side and I’m also still sort of recovering from a bad weekend but I just had to play!

I took it really easy with low impact stuff and not many dexes. I spend a lot of time doing floppy toe stalls. Eventually I will master them to the point of being able to do 2 and 3 bag juggling with both feet. Soon..

I did lots of rakes today and also worked on spinning a bit more. Watching brianbear in his recent Spinning Osis video really helped me understand Gyro Clipper and Spinning Osis better and that helped a lot. I think I will be able to get Spinning Osis b2b soon.



<3

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

edit: inappropriate content

[Cass]

I love footbag.

[Cass]

Bitch

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Sv-DSGCss[/youtube]

[Cass]

So I feel kinda bad for what I posted yesterday. Nick, you are a super passionate person and we all know you have made very important contributions to the community. But it’s true, the minute you stop pouring all your energy into helping new people in the community, someone else is bound to take your place. Maybe not with quite the same zest and enthusiasm, but it will happen nonetheless. Don't stress so much, I don't want to see you burn out prematurely.

What I hate to see (and maybe I am guilty of this myself in recent posts) is all the pessimism about footbag and the community. How footbag is ‘dying’ and nobody cares about new players etc. etc. I don’t think this is true at all and the more people complain about the community the less appealing it becomes. Don’t you see that? I think we need to have a more positive attitude in order to attract the right people to footbag and make them want to stay.

I think I’ve discussed this before and I will be the first to admit that training new players is low on my list of priorities at this point in my footbag career. This is for a number of reasons. Specifically, I have decided that pushing my own game is more important right now. Maybe that’s a little selfish, but I also feel that it is my responsibility as one of the only open female freestylers to push the sport for our gender. Women can be as skilled as men at this sport. So why is it so rare? Maybe because there are so few role models. Anyways for this and other reasons I am more focused on pushing my own game than promoting.

I also feel that there are a lot of other equally important ways to contribute to the community. These may include;

-Holding events & Jams
-Convincing players to attend events
-Providing transportation to events
-Getting established players stoked about the sport again
-Editing cool videos
-Posting positive messages online about health, wellbeing, and good practices in footbag
-Providing useful/interesting resources for players
-Discussing exciting ideas and concepts about footbag
-Doing event writeups
-Having a positive attitude

Anyways I’m not sure where I’m going with this other than to say that I love the community and I don’t want any hard feelings. I feel so much positivity and love when I go to jams, why can’t it be the same online? Yeah I may not be the best with giving props for highlights or whatever, or the best person to ask for help with some concept, but if you specifically asked me for help with anything I’m always more than willing to help to the best of my ability or at least refer you to somebody more qualified.

<3

[Asmus]

I really agree with everything in above post!

Another important thing is that passion is something that comes and goes and sometimes it even shifts to other places. That's just the way the world turns. Nothing to feel bad about.

In the past I've had passion to help new players out with trips and connections. Now I don't. I still have passion for footbag I just put it in other places.

Here is some football event inspiration with the one and only Ryan Mulroney:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beqWRW_-BkQ[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvTKw-SYtSc[/youtube]

[Cass]

Cool videos, thanks for sharing Asmus!


Had another short, zero impact session this afternoon. It's really cool spending time working on a concept during a session and then coming back to it another day and seeing noticeable improvement. This happened for me with rakes. I got around 10-12 contacts pretty easily on a few different drills such as

xbdy Rake>ss xbdy Rake rpt.
Butter>far xbdy Rake rpt.
ss Butter>ss xbdy Rake rpt.

So that was fun. Other than that I just worked on spinning a little more. It's coming along.

I wish I had a footbag event to go to this weekend

<3

[boyle]

-Getting established players stoked about the sport again

I think this is a really interesting one, and is potentially more beneficial than getting new players into the sport. Not on an overall level, but on an individual level. In reality if someone has been out of the game a bit, they're probably got a pair of Lavers in the cupboard, they know all the tricks (they're just lacking in fitness and skill compared to their "golden era".)

It's all a part of the cycle really, and like you said, a positive attitude is going to be a lot more attractive for the sport than people complaining that the sport is dying.

I have been saying this over and over again lately, but I really feel that the sport is far from dying. There have been a huge amount of events lately, but the "image problem" does seem to be at the top level. There's not enough people going to the top tier events (Worlds, Euros, US Open), and that's where the key difficulties are coming in.

People blame a lack of prize money, but prize money is only going to go to one or two people, so I think that's not the exact problem. I don't know really what it is, as I haven't been able to go to any competition in years, but my guess is people are a bit bored of the format, and prefer jams.

If each player helps the whole cycle along the way in some small (or big) effort, the sport is going to be better. There are plenty of people doing good things in footbag now and in the last few years, it's just that all the complaining and pessimism is drowning things out a little.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Edit

[Derek]

Well, see ya ECFC. Props on the 38 Guiltless with variety. Very jealous of the rate you've been going to events. That Idiopathic shizz sounds intense, if that's what's happening.

[Max Power]

Totally scary stuff, especially cause there doesn't seem to have any consistent reason for it. It seems like it could just happen at anytime. I've had only one sever allergic reaction in my life and it was really scary but it was easy to figure out what caused it. I hope you get it figured out and it never happens again.

[Cass]

Thanks for the responses guys! This community never ceases to make me feel loved.

Dan I think what it comes down to is most people aren't willing to travel far for events so most of them end up just being smaller jams and stuff. Some of the best events I've been to have been small jams so I can't complain


So I received a very long, bitter and detailed message today that was essentially slut shaming.

I also heard these people's opinions of you and most are not the greatest. I don't want to tell you what people said because I don't want to hurt your feelings… What I do want you to do is change… not just for the community, so they feel more comfortable with you, but for yourself.

I have very much love for people in the community and that manifests itself in various ways. I'm a very open and honest person and I don't play games.

It's not up to you to decide what type of relationship I have with anyone in the community. You do not get to decide what my values are. I'm a big girl and I make my own decisions. As does anybody that I choose to have any sort of relationship with. That is NOT up to you!

If anyone else has a problem with the way I am they can take that up with me on a case by case basis.

You do not have the right to try to make me feel bad about myself or my choices because I [rightfully] called you a silly name and hurt your feelings. Oh the community didn't pat you on the back enough for caring so much? Boo freaking hoo.


YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TRY TO CHANGE WHO I AM.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSHnnPunShg[/youtube]