The 15,000-plus fans at this year’s Warp Tour Concert Aug. 5 will be treated to more then just their music, as Xtreme Footbag makes its debut. The brainchild of Kenny Schuyler of Ken Kick Productions and Concerts East Inc., this action-packed demonstration will consist of several "kicking" stunts and tricks using an obstacle course designed to test the control of talented East Coast "kickers." (Kicking — or hacking, as it’s called — involves using every body part except the hands to keep a miniature soccer ball in the air.)
Events of Xtreme Footbag include kicking through a street obstacle course consisting of stairs, street curbs and a picnic table, as well as jumping over a 44-inch fence and off a 5-foot drop, to name a few. Other possible future events are Drag Racing, in which two kickers race head to head down 40 to 60 stairs; and Fastest 100, where the person who kicks the footbag using alternate feet 100 times in the fastest time without dropping it, wins. Winning time will be under 35 seconds.
"Kicking, also known as hacking, isn’t just standing in a circle anymore," explains founder Kenny Schuyler. "I want to do for footbag what has been done for skateboarding, inline skating and all other action sports."
To help bring his dream to reality, Schuyler has enlisted the support of Concerts East and other corporate sponsors who are using the Warp Tour event to gauge audience interest and participation in this new competition.
"I need talented local kickers to see if they have what it takes to cut it as an Xtreme kicker," says Schuyler. "This demonstration is a showcase for potential corporate sponsors, so I need to find the best athletes." For more information on this event, e-mail Kenny Schuyler at [email protected]. A video as well as photos and descriptions of the course are available upon request.