Name: Ryan Richardson
Location: Melbourne, Australia

ME!!! Aus Nationals

The Australian Footbag scene has had its own share of booms and recessions, which one can say are not entirely in sync with the rest of the world. A recent article on the progress of Footbag popularity brought the fact that Australia, in my opinion, has barely followed this trend. While Europe and North America had been experiencing the ‘new millenium boom’, the increase/decrease of Australian footbaggers hasn’t drastically changed. Since 2008, we have only replaced some of our best competitors with a couple new ones, with a lot of players reluctant to stay on after achieving a certain point in their game. With the loss of players, who have learnt the fundamentals at a level comparable to the bigger stages overseas, it does make it difficult to receive on-the-spot tips that could possibly ensure not only a future’s involvement in the sport but also the quality of the players. Frustration from poor technique seems to be a huge factor currently for new players quitting after barely starting the spot. However, in saying that, there are still players who have been playing for 5 or more years and are still currently active in promoting Footbag in Australia and provide expert advice to ‘us’ newbies.

courtesy of Francisca Borquez

Looking at this years Australian National Championships, I could probably say that there will be a bit more to expect from Australia in this decade. The enthusiasm from all players, whether seasoned veteran or newly acquainted, was amazing considering the turn-out was apparently lacking in some numbers. We even vaguely considered what we would have to do in order to hold ‘the Worlds’ in Australia. At the moment we are updating the information for the weekly shreds in various cities, which will be extremely helpful for  new players. I can say that last year in Melbourne, not once did we kick at our ‘regular spot’, also we never had a set time or day to have a shred. I know that over the past few years we have probably lost a handful of players who were just starting because  of the fact that we weren’t holding regular kicks or giving out the correct information.  Getting this back up and running will be a good start for the intake of newer players. Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart will all be hosting regular kicks for most of the year.

The videos and photos from this years nationals should be up soon, feel free to check them out on the ausfootbag site(link below). The circle final as well as the best place routines have been uploaded already so you can watch them if you want.

http://www.ausfootbag.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&itemid=68&Itemid=68