World Footbag Championships

Perceptible to the casual onlooker is the graceful and tantalizing rhythm of footbag freestyle. Tap, tap, tap, the sack drums a gentle beat through the air as a lone disciple floats a few basic kicks. This seemingly pedestrian exercise accompanies the building of expectations; lights slowly brighten. New faces in the crowd have no idea what they are about to see. The crowd recognizes a spot-lit figure, and as he pauses a roar erupts throughout the building. The dance begins. What follows is a dazzling sequence of showmanship, of accuracy, agility and balance, centered around thirty-eight grams of cloth, string, and plastic. Cameras flash unceasingly for two full minutes as the covers of magazines, websites and T-shirts are all made for the next year. We've seen this before; for five-time World Singles Freestyle Champion Peter Irish is no stranger to this rapt attention. Each year, his performances make the faint hearted quake. Every year, judges sweat at the prospect of keeping track of this man. The only question that remains is, how will he stymie the audience and surpass his competition this time? What unheard-of task will he set before himself? At the final rounds of the World Freestyle Championships 2002, at the prestigious Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, someone is going to forget to breathe.