The Hat Trick Challenge, Win $50!

Introducing our first Video Challenge, The Hat trick.

First I will show you a quick sample of myself performing The Hat Trick

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The Hat Trick Challenge!

OBJECTIVE: The object is to kick or toss the Turkey Ball with your feet/foot (No Hands!), and have it land tail side down on your head. The ball must stall on your head for at least 3-5 seconds, (It must be a solid stall, refer to the video sample.)

FORMAT: Feel free to use whatever format you like, and also being creative with your videos is encouraged, yet optional. As long as you are able to get that video before our eyes, the prize is yours.

Please send all videos to EPScomps@gmail.com

Use www.mailbigfile.com if your video is too large to be attached. If you have another way of hosting your video, email the details to EPScomps@gmail.com

PRIZE: Every person to submit a video of themselves performing The Hat Trick, will receive $50.00 USD. Payments will be made via PayPal preferably, if you don't have it we will work something else out.

Pretty simple eh? I'm looking forward to everyone's submission. Have fun!

P.S - If you are looking to order a Turkey Ball, either PM me with your order, visit the EPS Market thread, or order via Paypal off of our website: http://www.enterplaysports.com/Our_Products/Birdballs/Turkey_Ball.htm

Read more: http://enterplaysports.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=videocontests&action=display&thread=14#ixzz1gjcsuONp

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Turkey Ball Promo

New Turkey Ball Promo video!

Enjoy.


Enter Play Sports - Turkey Ball Promo from Enter Play Sports on Vimeo.

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New Video - Defining new sports

Check out our newest and latest Birdball video!

What do you think about this new sport?  

Are you interested in playing Birdball?

Leave your comments, ideas, and suggestions below!  Or use the Contact Us button to ask us anything about Birdball.

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Enter Birdball: Part II

Part II:

The Birdhouse is Enter Play Sports’ headquarters and home of the Birdball.  It’s a 100 year old grain mill that Brad Jamison, Inventor and Creator of Birdball and also Terri’s husband, had renovated over the years.  The Birdhouse is located in Warrensburg, New York.  After about a week of exchanging emails and chat messages with Terri, I finally had the means and time to make a trip out to The Birdhouse and play this new sport.

I was in total awe at my first impression of The Birdhouse.  Nice wooden beams, high ceilings, and very well lit too.  I am a sucker for nice woodwork and old renovations.

When I walked into The Birdhouse I met Brad Jamison.  He was the man behind this whole venture.  I shook his hand firmly, and introduced myself.  He first showed me around a little bit, including his workshop where he made all the Bird balls himself.

Birdball’s are almost like large badmintons, the tails are made out of woven fabric.  The head is made out of a semi-soft foam type material.  There are two sizes; the Bird Ball is medium sized and approximately 5x the size of a badminton ball, and the Turkey Ball, which is about twice the size of a Bird Ball.

After a short tour we quickly jumped into a game of Birdball.  We began to volley the Birdball back and forth, using our hands casually at first while I began to figure out the physics of the game.  We decided to play without keeping score, at least for the first few sessions we had.  He explained the way the rules worked and the circles that each player would stand in for a real match.  Basic rules applied, if you land the ball in the other players circle, you are awarded 2 points.  If you hit it out of bounds, the opposing player is awarded 1 point.  You must score within one hit of the ball for it to be worth any points.

We didn’t go into the rules much; I was more focused on learning how to play and how to strike the Birdball.  I felt that I did pretty well for my first session, after some practice I began using my feet as well.  My freestyle footbag instincts were setting in, and I quickly realized how important it was to use both sides of your body and also all four limbs when playing Birdball.  I was used to using both of my legs because of footbag, but my left arm could definitely use some work.

After about 2 – 3 hours of playing Birdball and kicking around the larger Turkey ball, my body was shot, especially my legs.  I hadn’t felt this kind of workout in a long time, since I had been training footbag for the World Championships.  I knew right then and there that I wanted to conquer this sport.  If Birdball was intense enough to leave me with this sensation, the sensation of completely exerting all of my energy until I couldn’t anymore, then Birdball was the sport I wanted to be playing.

The most fascinating thing about Birdball is that it tests and challenges several of your senses and muscles, rather than a select few.  Birdball requires Strength, Speed, Accuracy, Timing, Reflexes and Technique; it also makes use of your Arms, Hands, Elbows, Knees, Feet, and Head.  

Birdball has a martial arts like sense of decorum, almost as if we were in the dojo practicing our fighting styles.  I began to find myself using front kicks, spin kicks, and palm thrusts to return the Birdball during our sessions.  Birdball is also very Zen like, in the way that it is peaceful.  It is a passive way to practice martial arts techniques, get in shape, and also have a lot of fun doing it.  Birdball is a massively rewarding sport in many ways.

Brad gave me a couple Birdballs to train with at home.  I worked on the biggest kicks and trickiest returns I could think of, something that might impress.  I continued to drive out to The Birdhouse for practice sessions, improving my skills and stepping it up a notch every time I went back.

Eventually Brad and Terri had hired me to promote and play Birdball full time, as a representative for Enter Play Sports.  I brought as much energy and as many ideas to the table as I could.  Soon I began ramping up their social media’s, Facebook, twitter, etc. in order to get the word out to new potential players and friends/family.  I made a new Birdball video from some of the footage we had shot over the past few sessions.

This was really a dream come true, I had always wanted to support myself from the use of my talents.  Not to mention my passion for new and underground sports was so immense that I would stop at nothing to make a scene for Birdball.

Now this brings me up to my current position in life.  Here I am, living in Lake George, New York promoting Birdball and Enter Play Sports.  Life couldn’t be better, and Birdball is on the rise.  If you think you’d like to play Birdball, or have what it takes to beat the Birdball Champion, contact me or leave a comment.  We are always looking for serious players to train and sponsor.

Will Digges

@Enter Play Sports

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Enter Birdball: Part I

Part I:

After a few years in my freestyle footbag lull, I was desperately craving a new outlet for my creativity and physical energy.  I contemplated going back into hardcore training mode with footbag, but every time I tried, it just didn’t feel the same.  I was still seeking for that next best thing.

For the time being I kept occupied by working for my father, he is a contractor.  We installed windows and occasionally doors/French doors in residential houses and sometimes schools/other larger scale buildings.

On October 24^th, 2011, I was working on a school up in New Lebanon, New York with my father and brother, Darrow School.  We were installing storm windows on the inside of the buildings because these were old historical shaker buildings, the outsides had to be untouched.  It seemed like any normal day on the job, things were running smoothly, we were moving along in a quick and organized fashion.

And then it happened, my new calling had arrived.  It came in the form of an email.  This email would soon prove to change my whole life as I knew it.  I remember this moment very well.  

This email was sent from a Terri Lynn Jamison at Enter Play Sports.

“We have a new sport called Birdball that uses some skills that are akin to those in Hacky Sack, martial arts and kickboxing. We have been presently working with some hacky sack players in NYC (Matthew Cross & Company) but were hoping to find some players closer to home to help us promote the sport and create videos. Please let us know if you would like more info. We are located in the Lake George/Warrensburg area. “

After reading this, my eyes lit up.  

 I was always excited to read about someone contacting me via my freestyle footbag portfolio.  Especially contacting me to promote/play a new sport they have created.  This opportunity was straight up my alley, and exactly the kind of thing I was interested in doing with my life.  I sent back a response almost immediately, as fast as my fingers could type on my phone.

I responded:

“Hello Terri,

I am very interested in helping you promote this new sport.  Matthew Cross is a very good friend of mine.  I live in Ballston Lake, NY which is near Saratoga/Clifton Park.

I’d love some more information on the subject.  Let me know what you had in mind.  I also know some other players in the area that may be interested.

Hope to speak with you soon.

Will”

I noticed they had already been working with several other footbaggers from the NYC area, including one of my very good friends who I’ve known since the beginning of my footbag career, Matt Cross.  I gave my friend Matt Cross a call, looking to gather up some more information about the sport since he had been working with this company already.  It was quite early when I called him so he groggily responded to my excitement with a, “Go for it!”

I couldn’t wait to be done with work, go home, and hop on my computer to see what kind of video’s and information I could rummage up on Birdball.  I remember watching the videos and thinking about all the different kind of kicks and returns I could perform, it felt like footbag did when I first started.  Using my instincts, I immediately wanted to play this new sport.

To be continued... 

Will Digges
@Enter Play Sports

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Pursuit of the Underground: Part II

Part II:

This new sport was so fascinating to me that I immediately began attempts to imitate the tricks they were performing on that video.  My brother and I began to find more examples; we surfed online communities, forums, and watched a plethora of videos posted online from people all over the world.  I practiced tricks over and over, studying with massive persistence and dedication.  I was determined to conquer the sport.  I was so into freestyle footbag that I almost stopped skateboarding altogether.   I had replaced my previous fascination with something even greater, something new.

So every day, during school, after school, on the weekends, I would eat, sleep, play, and dream footbag.  Eventually I began going to tournaments almost on a monthly or bi monthly basis.  I traveled to Philadelphia, Montreal, Toronto, Rochester, New York City, Portland, Maryland, New Jersey and Orlando from my small hometown in upstate NY.  I began attending these tournaments year after year, going to the same places, meeting the same people, being a part of a modest and awesome underground community.  Footbag was big enough to travel all over the world, yet small enough to the point where everyone knew each others names and where we were all from.  On occasion communication had its barriers, but we all had a common language; footbag.

After about a year or two, I quickly rose to the top of the Intermediate division and began competing at a professional level.  Then it was 2005-2006 East Coast Championships, 2006 US Open Championships in Portland, Oregon, and finally the 2007 World Championships in Orlando, Florida.  I felt such an amazing sense of accomplishment after I had won 1st place for Sick 3 at the 2007 World Championships.  To me that felt like I had done it, I had finally conquered the sport.  Those memories will live forever with me, and were some of the highest points in my life.  It was a time in my life when I had absolutely no regrets.

Through this sport I met the most interesting people and made some of the best friends anyone could ask for.  Of course there were new tricks to be hit, and more tournaments to go to, but I began to taper off from freestyle footbag.  I had put so much time and energy into the sport, but now I felt like I needed something new again.  This chapter in my life was coming towards an end, and it was time to begin a whole new chapter.  I still play footbag casually, but my competitive training attitude had ceased to be. 

Freestyle footbag had many subcultures associated with it.  Through footbag I have learned to juggle, play guitar, edit videos, and more.  Juggling was one that I had gotten into the most once I had hung my footbagging shoes on the wall, so to speak.  That kept me satisfied for a time, knowing that I was doing something creative, but it wasn't the same as footbag.  I continued searching for my next footbag, the next and potentially even greater chapter in my story.

Little did I know my next interest would find me, and that interest was Birdball.  But this story will have to be told another day… 

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Pursuit of the Underground: Part I

Part I:

I would like to share with the world, my experiences, thoughts, and endeavors as I strive to make my dreams come true.  Life to me has been a wild journey so far.  And it continues to grow and become more exciting every day that I live it.  

This is my story.

Growing up I was one of those kids in school that didn't really enjoy going to class.  Instead I would be daydreaming about new tricks on my skateboard, or playing hacky sack in the halls.  The two classes I could stand going to was Art and Gym, as they were also a creative and physical outlet for me just like the sports I was into.  To me school was just a way of facilitating the things I loved to do.  It may not have been the typical description of what school is supposed to be, or what my parents and teachers had in mind, but what better way to spend time at school than simply learning to do the things you love?

From when I was about 11 years old, I have been into all kinds of what can be described as “extreme”, but at the same time underground sports.  My first taste of this was with skateboarding, and snowboarding.  I was fascinated by the way I was able to manipulate the boards with my feet, play around with the physics, and feel the effects of gravity.  The kin-esthetic and spontaneous nature of these sports stimulated me in a way nothing had before. I usually got very good in the end, but I always began not knowing exactly what I was doing.  All I really knew was the amazing feeling it gave me.  It was the feeling of being on top of the world when I landed a new trick that kept me going. It was the best thing ever, and it was always a competition against myself.  In essence I was the only thing ever holding me back.  The questions to be answered were always; how much better could I be than myself five minutes ago, ten, an hour?  How much higher and farther could I Ollie since my last attempt?  How many runs would it take me to hit this new and amazing trick?  When I finally did, there was an addictive quality to the achievement.  I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.

After doing this for a few years with skateboarding I wanted to spread out my interests into new areas.  I never stopped searching for new outlets to test my talents and abilities.  I got into juggling, Ultimate Frisbee, even Rubik’s cube.  What I eventually found was a crazy little sport that ended up influencing me more than anything, really, in my life.  That was freestyle footbag.  It’s basically like the skateboarding of hacky sack.  My brother had gotten me into this in December, 2003.  I remember it vividly; he bought a VHS tape for us of the 2003 Footbag European Championships called Buda's Best.  The 2003 Euro’s taking place in… Budapest.  It was truly remarkable, and not just for the competition.  It came with a culture; the music, the setting, the various participants.  They were from all over the world, so talented, and competing in something so fresh.  It was almost surreal, and I wanted more than anything to be a part of it.

To be continued…

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