Kickin’ It: Hacky Sack is Back

If you’ve ever spent time in the halls or hanging out by the ‘E’, chances are you’ve noticed a circle of students with a small beanbag, or hacky sack, being kicked around. It’s everywhere. Ever since the beginning of this school year, hacky sack circles seem to dominate any possible square footage on the East campus. Whether it's in the student parking lot or right outside the ‘E’, this classic pastime is being revived by our student body.

Hacky sack, which is actually a brand name for a “footbag”, is a small, less than fist-sized cloth sack that is typically filled with pellets or sand. The objective of the game is to keep the sack off the ground using any part of your body other than your hands and arms. According to Wham-O, a toy company that owns the rights to the Hacky Sack brand, the sacks were invented in 1972 as a tool to aid in co-inventor John Stalberger’s recent knee injury recovery process. Wham-O’s website explains that “[Stalberger and his friend] had become masters of the game. Everywhere they went, people stopped to watch. Curiosity turned into crowds. A sport was born.”

The sport continued to grow as Stalberger introduced the game to schools and crowds all over Oregon. The game has such a deep rooted history in the state that Joshua Zurbrick, a schoolteacher from Oregon, has started a movement to recognize hacky sack as the Oregon state sport. In an NPR interview conducted in February 2025, Zurbrick explained, “...I just kind of discovered that Oregon doesn't have a state sport, and, you know, why not? It seems like an interesting opportunity to kind of remember a cool piece of Oregon history.”

Throughout the interview, Zurbrick referred to the community aspect of the game and its ability to easily bring people together. This sentiment is shared by pioneers of the hacky sack resurgence at East, such as East Yard Games Club Co-President Finley Miller who says that hacky sack is “not something where you can limit the amount of people that are playing” and “it’s a good way to get people together to play yard games. It’s fun to get a group together to do it.” Miller feels that the rise in popularity of hacky sack is thanks in part to the inviting nature of the game, such as how “it’s inviting when you see a group playing and people get curious and want to join.” 

Students playing hacky sack in the South Courtyard (Photo credit/Kyle Nguyen)

The East Hacky Sack Club, co-presidented by Sam Milliken and Mac Shaw, is another club started at the beginning of this year that aims to spread hacky sack around the school. Milliken stated he originally got the idea to start a hacky sack club from some of his friends at another Denver high school, George Washington High School. Milliken says that he honestly doesn’t know why hacky sack exploded in popularity, but that he “[created] a space for everyone to come together and have fun,” and for “as many [students] as possible to be participating.”

To a large extent, the visions shared by Miller and Milliken have come to fruition. No matter where you are in the East campus, you’re bound to run into a group playing the game. Unfortunately, as many of us have experienced, any kind of congregation in the middle of the hallway leads to disruptions, and groups of sackers are no exception to this scrutiny.

Hacky sack circles often block parking lot lanes and fill up hallways, making it a chore for passers-by to avoid the flying footbags. Students also like to skip classes and step outside to get a hacky sack fix in. In fact, during my interview with Miller, a group of students playing down the hall were asked to go back into their classrooms. The club presidents don’t condone students skipping to play, with Milliken stating, “I think [skipping is] a bad thing because you shouldn't be sacrificing your education for a game.”

Students playing hacky sack in the end of a hallway (Photo credit/Kyle Nguyen)

Even though hacky sack is a pretty universal game, sackers in the school have to be careful and mindful of the spaces that they take up around them. However, no matter why hacky sack got so popular, it seems like the activity is here to stay for at least a little while. Miller says, "It's a great alternative to using your phone. It's bonding.” 

East Hacky Sack Club meets every Friday during lunch on the South Lawn, and East Yard Games Club meets every Thursday during lunch in the Ceramics room.