The history of Hacky Sack

The footbag, or “Hacky Sack,” has cultural origins from nearly every country, including China, Thailand and Native America. The modern sport was invented in 1972 by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Marshall had made a small bean bag and was kicking it around while Stalberger was recovering from knee surgery. Recognizing a new way to exercise his knee, Stalberger joined in on kicking the bag and invented a game they called “Hackin’ the Sack,” and eventually marketed the product under the name “Hacky Sack.”
When Marshall suffered a fatal heart attack in 1975, Stalberger took over the business and started the National Hacky Sack Association. Stalberger later sold the rights to Wham-O, Inc. to produce the footbag.
Since the games invention, various different versions have come about including “Footbag Net” with a similar style to volleyball, and the more commonly played “Freestyle Footbag” where players do tricks while passing the bag around in a circle without using their hands and not allowing the bag to touch the ground.