Anyone walking around the quad over the last month has undoubtedly seen groups of students standing in circles and kicking a small sack to each other. Hacky Sack, one of the hottest trends in high schools across the country, has made its way onto campus.
John Thorn 26’ said, “We have been seeing a ton of hacky sack on campus. It has really taken over, and everyone loves it.”
The game originated in 1972 in Oregon, and took college campuses by storm over the following decades. However, the game experienced a significant decline in the 21st century, and has been largely outside of the public conscience for the last twenty years.
Yet, in the last month, the game has experienced an explosive resurgence.
Zach Gothelf 26’ said, “Hacky sack is probably the fastest growing fad at our school right now, and a bunch of others. It became popular so quickly, and kind of out of nowhere.”
However, Gothelf, who is the captain of the baseball team, has been playing the game longer than most. He said, “Hacky sack has been a thing in the baseball world for a while. If you go to a college baseball game, you will always see pitchers playing hacky sacks in the bullpen. But it’s only become mainstream very recently.”
One of the main reasons the sport has blown up on such a large inter-school scale is because of social media. Campuses across the country are playing Hacky Sack and uploading videos on social media. With a quick search on Instagram, one can find a Hacky Sack account for almost every high school in New York. These accounts post short video clips of hacky sack gameplay, or Rally’s of the Day (ROTDs), some of which gain a lot of traction, amassing thousands of likes. In addition to school specific accounts, larger accounts post rankings on a weekly basis, in which the school instagram posts are ranked, either on a statewide level or based on existing athletic conferences. These posts gain even more traction than school wide ones, with posts from Inside Sack Preps (ISPreps) gaining as many as one hundred thousand views.
Another reason why the trend has caught on is the inclusive and supportive experience hacky sack circles strive to cultivate, which helps players learn quickly and stick with the game. Thorn, who started playing hacky sack just a few short weeks ago, said, “Its pretty easy to get started, and then you can keep on getting better and better, because everyone is very supportive. A phrase that people say when someone messes up and says ‘sorry’ is ‘no sorry sacks’, which basically means that you shouldn’t say sorry, and always keep a positive vibe.”
