Footbag club development/activities

[jsbeeson]

Hello all. My name is Jordan and I'm a high school teacher. I've just started teaching at a new school, and once my students found out that I am decent at foot bag, they spearheaded the concept of having a school sponsored "hacky sack" club with me as the sponsor. This club has been fairly successful thus far in its infancy. We have about a dozen students that show up with a core of about seven, developed meeting times, as well as club rules, (i.e. 20 pushups for punting the hack, 5 for using hands, and 10 for self-serving, etc).

Aside from just circle hack and freestyle, what are some other activities that you guys would suggest to develop that is also school appropriate? I'm open to both foot bag and nonfootbag related activities. Ultimately, I would like to keep things "fresh" with the club, and would love to see how far we can take it.

Thank you for the responses in advance!
Cheers,

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Hey! Thanks for posting here I can really get behind you on this idea. I wish you were my gym teacher back in school. Anyway, I would have them try "footbag 4 square" (just google it and you'll find instructions). That game will teach them the basics of kicks, while also providing a fun game that they can progress in.

I must know where in the world this school is located. State and city? There could be a professional nearby who would he willing to help you teach them. Your students would love a guest appearance by a professional, I'm sure. There are intermediate to high level footbaggers all over the world, so chances are good that you have someone close enough to do a guest appearance.

I really like your hack club idea, because I started my own hack club in highschool, as well as one in college (which turned into a freestyle club)

[boyle]

Four square is a great game, as is footbag golf. I think little comps each week or so to see who can do the most kicks in, for example, one minute, is a great idea. Sounds like you've got a good turnout so far. Good luck with it all, having the club set up within the school should make it stronger as well.

[jsbeeson]

I appreciate the enthusiasm, guys. I love the fact that when I tell other adults about it, they always start off with "I wish my school had that when i went there." I believe it is a valuable club activity.

I'll look into the foursquare game, as well as some other types of games to develop fundamentals and push them to get better. Maybe have more structure in the activities. My school is a small 4A located right in the middle of Kansas, about an hour north of Wichita.

[Asmus]

Hi jsbeeson

Here are some ressources about Foursquare: http://www.footbag.org/reference/-/Footbag_Four-Square
And here is a great video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Oh1Cf3mfvo

All the best,
A

[jsbeeson]

Thank you for the links. I'll show them at our next meet up.

-JB

[PrunusAberration]

This is such an awesome idea! I second the envy of desiring a hack club in school. That would have been groovy. I highly recommend 4square. Heck, I got to play it again for the first time in 8 years. Memories. Could you get funding for field trips to some of our events? New Year Jams or East Coast would have been awesome!

[jsbeeson]

I would love to do that, but that would probably come from our own personal fundraising events. This club does have a decent following considering it has been just word of mouth thus far. Maybe after a few semesters we would be able to make it to an actual event. For now I'm just focused on maintaining variety in the club. I do believe it has already improved class attendance, however. (Which is enough to validate the clubs existence, in my opinion.)