By Parker Ruth

If you’ve walked around Collegiate’s campus over the last few weeks, you may have seen pods of students playing a game that, while created in 1972, has made a rapid comeback. The game I am referring to is, of course, hacky sack.

Playing hacky sack while watching the 8th Grade boys lacrosse team. Photo credit: @CollegiateSack via instagram.

Hacky sack is a game of foot-eye coordination, and the main rule is that the sack can not touch your hands or the ground. It is a free-flowing game that allows you to be creative in how you hit the sack. It’s usually played with one’s feet, like juggling a soccer ball, but some people catch it on their neck or their chest. Some of these tricks are called stalls. A stall is when the sack comes to a complete stop on your body and are some of the things that make the game exciting and innovative. The game’s last peak was in the 1980’s and 90’s, and it has suddenly made its way into 2026. 

The last week of April is when the trend really began to take off around Collegiate. The main reason for this, unsurprisingly, is social media. Social media plays a role in the lives of about 70 percent of the world’s population, and about 95 percent of all teenagers use social media too. Because of this, trends catch on fast.

In recent weeks, before school, during breaks, free periods, or even after school, you can find a copious amount of students playing with their friends outside of the Sharp Academic Commons area, in the Christian Family Plaza, and other outdoor spaces. This trend has caught fire nationwide. My brother Bayler (‘25), a rising sophomore at the University of Alabama, told me that his friends at Alabama and other colleges are playing the game too. 

The instagram account @CollegiateSack posts Rally Of The Day (ROTD) videos showing the greatest hacky sack rally that has happened that day, and it’s compiled a list of the top 20 sackers at Collegiate. The ranking was originally created by a few students, and as they talked with their peers, they started to change and extend the list, leaving them with the top 20 Collegiate hacky sack players. 19 of the 20 students on the list are Seniors. While the list is, of course, subjective, I believe that they have the majority of the list correct. 

Playing hacky sack before sports practice. Photo credit: Parker Ruth.

I asked two avid hacky sack players, Henry Brost (‘26) and Stuart Baxter (‘27), what they thought of the game, since they are ranked number one and number four at Collegiate. When asked how long he has been playing hacky sack, Brost responded, “I have been sacking for about four days and have picked it up pretty quickly.” 

Stuart said, “I have just started playing hacky sack this past week. When I was younger, I played soccer and was always particularly good at juggling the ball.” Next, I asked Brost what made the game so interesting to him, and he replied, “Learning new tricks and spending quality time with my friends, because it is something to get us off of our screens and enjoy something other than sitting in the cafe.” 

I agree with Brost. Before the game started trending, I would walk around the school during my free period and lunch and see almost everybody sitting down on their computers. Now, it is normal to see students interacting with each other without technology. 

While hacky sack to most seems like just a social media trend that will end soon, my friends and I believe that this game will last longer, and even if it doesn’t last long, we haven’t been bored a minute playing and plan to keep it going.