In collaboration with The Mayor's Cup Soccer Tournament and the Mayors Office of Special Events, the IFL (Illinois Footbag League) is proud to present the 20th edition of the World Footbag Championships, from July 13th to 18th, 1999.

The sport of Footbag, more commonly referred to as Hacky Sack , is without a doubt, part of a new sports generation. The athletic ability necessary to compete in this sport has drawn athletes from around the world to challenge each other for the world titles in singles and doubles versions of footbag freestyle and footbag net. The ever-increasing numbers of athletes and fans around the world prove that footbag is here to stay.

Footbag Net: This event can be thought of as a grueling match of high flying, intensive action, foot volleyball! It is played on a court with the same dimensions as a badminton court with a 5-foot net, either singles or doubles. Players serve, set, spike and dig the footbag with their feet the way they would with their hands in volleyball. It is the only sport in the world that is played exclusively with the feet.

Footbag Freestyle: This is the artistic side of the sport. Singles and doubles routines are judged in a similar way to figure skating or gymnastics routines. Players complete unbelievable sequences of tricks, including spins, stalls (where the footbag is stopped on a different parts of the body), legs circling the footbag and jumps­all choreographed to music. The freestyle shred circles that happen along the sidelines are also spectacles to be seen!

Both disciplines lend themselves to making great video clips for TV, and unique still shots for the print media.

We expect approximately 250 footbag competitors from around the globe to compete for a prize purse of over $15,000. The players will be competing in 9 events, held in three categories over the week long span of the event.

You are invited to come and see the semi-finals as well as the finals for both Net and Freestyle. The best days to see Footbag Net are July 14th, July 17th and 18th (the last two days of the net finals take place at Montrose Harbor, in conjunction with the Mayors Cup Soccer Tournament). The best day to view Footbag Freestyle is at the finals on Navy Pier on July 17th and the ³shred² demonstrations on July 18th at the Mayors Cup.

Satisfaction Guaranteed!

For more information, please contact Scott Davidson, Director of Public Relations using the information listed above. Scott's direct email is: <enlightener@footbag.org>. During the tournament, you can reach Scott by calling the on-site cellphone, 312-446-2234.

A media kit for the 1999 World Footbag Championships can be obtained through the Worlds Media Team, Scott Davidson.

Email Scott Davidson at enlightener@footbag.org
or call him at 773.237.9255

You may also download a printable version of the media kit.
Please be advised that this downloadable media kit is 8 pages at 884k in size.