Hacky Sack
Hacky Sack
The Hacky Sack—also known as a "footbag"—became a popular pastime in the 1970s. The sport was invented in Oregon City, Oregon, in 1972 when two friends, John Stalberger and Mike Marshall, began kicking around a small, handmade bean bag. The friends soon developed a game in which they batted the ball back and forth using their legs and feet; they called the game "Hack the Sack." After Marshall died from a heart attack in 1975 at age twenty-eight, Stalberger continued to promote the two friends' creation. Stalberger sold the idea to Wham-O, which brought the "Hacky Sack" to the mass market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Hacky Sack quickly became a fad among teenage boys, who could stand about in a circle and kick their sack back and forth. Most hackers play such informal games. The game has become formalized, however. The International Footbag Committee sanctions competition in "footbag net" (with rules similar to volleyball) and "footbag freestyle," in which single players perform acrobatic moves with their footbag. Perhaps like table tennis and rhythmic gymnastics, Hacky Sack will one day become a sport in the Olympics (see entry under 1900s—Sports and Games in volume 1).
—Tom Pendergast
For More Information
Cassidy, John. Hacky Sack: American Footbag Game. Palo Alto, CA: Klutz Press, 1983.
Footbag Worldwide.http://www.footbag.org/footbag.html (accessed March 27, 2002).