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When John moved in the discussion quickly turned to how to develop this
game. The conclusion was to teach it through the school system. The idea
of trying to get support for the schools led us to getting a booth at the
Oregon State Fair. It turned out to be a good decision because we got the
endorsement from the state school superintendent to teach the game in
Oregon’s school system.
Since that time I have done school demos in Oregon, Washington, California
and Arizona, along with numerous shows, halftimes of soccer and the NBA. I
was Co-founder of the National Hacky Sack Association. When we first
started promoting the game we originally had the idea that the net game
would be played over an 8 foot net just like volleyball (too high). Then
we experimented with a 3 foot net like tennis (too low), finally we
decided on the 5 foot high net (just right). This was the period of time
that I helped develop training exercises that were used to teach PE
classes by the Hacky Sack Touring Teams. I spent 13 weeks in Haiti setting
up the first Hacky Sack factory. I helped form the first official footbag
club the Footbag Pioneers Club. I was the first WFA sponsored tour member
to teach a soccer club and promote the game of footbag in Paris, France.
From 1979 until around 1986 I averaged 2 tournaments a month. I don’t
remember which events I won but I won my share. I would go to these
tournaments to play with someone new and had the opportunity to teach the
game of footbag to so many people. My particular passion was the back
kick. To me it was the ultimate in balance, coordination, flexibility,
grace and form. So the honor of being called “Captain Back Kick” was
one of the highest praises I could receive.
As the years added up on my body I realized that there was a great need
for a person to be Tournament Director so for many years I filled that
role which included the World Championships held in Portland, Or. To this
day I would still fill that role if the occasion arose.
I have a tour story that I hope will help any new player wanting to become
a better player. After footbag got the endorsement from the State School
Superintendent a tour team went to the coast to demo Hacky Sack and teach
in the PE classes. I had only been kicking about two months and basically
had a left inside and an occasional right outside. So here I am in front
of 400 students to show the game of footbag. I remember I was doing a
doubles demo with Guy McGee and every time he kicked it to me I missed the
footbag. This didn’t detour me but drove me to learn this game and find
an easy way to teach this game to all newcomers. So the moral of the story
is, don’t give up if it is difficult at first because eventually the joy
of controlling a footbag will bring you great joy.”
The sports future: I see this sport becoming a worldwide sport due to the
fact that the rest of the world is more accustom to games using their
feet. I think the only thing holding back footbag is sponsorship.
Email Garwin: Gbruce@ccwebster.net
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