St. Patrick High School will go down on the Guinness Book of World
Records for breaking the standing recrod for the largest footbag or "Hackey
Sack" circle after a successful attempt Friday, May 3.To kick off the school's year-long 135th anniversary celebration, students gathered at Grant Park on September 7, 1995, for their first attempt at breaking the world record. However, the event was postponed because of cold, rainy weather.
The second attempt started at 9 a.m. in a circle around the school building, with 932 St. Pat's students, staff and faculty participating. At about 10:15 a.m., a new record was made, beating one set in 1986 at Colorado State University with a circle of 862.
"This was a great way to close out the end of the school year as well as celebrate the 135th anniversary of St. Patrick High School," said Dr. Joseph G. Schmidt, St. Patrick High School Principal. "There was a great school spirit generated by the event, and students will remember this as one of the great times they had at St. Pat's."
To officially beat the world record, St. Pat's participants had to remain in a continuous circle, and each person had to kick the footbag at least once. After the attempt was made, each participant had to sign an affadavit. With these requirements met, the World Footbag Association will submit the record to the Guinness Book of World Records, which will verify the information. If all the information is cleared by Guinness, St. Pat's will officially appear in the next publication, which comes out next January.
Most players of the sport are more familiar with the footbag's brand-name, Hacky Sack. The footbag is a small, soft, pellet-filled ball that users play with soccer-like foot moves. Wach time the ball is kicked, it is referred to as a hack, hence the brand name.
For More information on records, see our interview with Scott Davidson and wife Valeria who, among other things, have both recently placed in the top 5 of their categories at the Footbag World Championships in Montreal, Quebec.