Crowd Scene

This gives you a sense of the energy at the event -- crowds surrounded the finals court and fans cheered on during the matches. At several points, the crowd actually did "the wave" all the way around the court. Even innocent bystanders who had no idea what footbag was were sucked in by the energy of the event.

Mixed Doubles Final

Brent Welch (left) and Kenny Shults (right) in air-to-air combat as Jody Welch (background) prepares to dig whatever comes down. Shults and partner Tricia George succumbed to the finely-tuned Welch partnership in 3 games. The Welches have rarely lost a world championship.

Open Doubles Semifinals

The open doubles semifinals saw many-time world champions Randy Mulder (left foreground) and Kenny Shults (right foreground) defend their title against the underdog team of Chris "Gator" Routh (left background) and his partner Dave "Dr. Fly High" Bernard (flying high).

Dr. Fly-High

Dave Bernard (far side, in the air) makes no bones about his commitment to eliminating the "contact rule" that precludes contact over the plane of the net. In footbag, players may cross the plane to spike or block the bag, but are not allowed to touch the player on the far side of the court (nor the net) at any time.

Out of Nowhere

Dave Bernard (Portland, Oregon) flies over the net in an attempt to hit an "ayatollah" out from the clutches of Kenny Shults' (left) deadly sole dink.

Flying Over Portland

It may look like he's about to miss, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Kenny Shults' insane sweeping smash is only milliseconds away from driving the bag hard and fast into his waiting opponents' court.

Kenny Shults

This is the classic form of Kenny's punching sole sweep, where he appears to be going for an inside sweep only to pass the bag and PUNCH it with his sole... This move can be entirely unpredictable, and is one of the reasons Kenny has rarely lost a final match once he's made it to the arena. Kenny retired this year from singles net after a hard-fought match with long-time friend and opponent Randy Mulder.

Open Singles Final

In one of the most exciting and best attended final in the sport, Kenny Shults (shown here doing a flying "Kenny" outside scuff) attempted to grab the singles title from the clutches of rival Randy Mulder. His attempts, though exciting and meritorious, were no match for the sheer power and persistence of Mulder. In three games, with some amazing plays along the way, Mulder took the championship title, and Shults announced his retirement.