Seemingly overnight, there has been an epidemic of the game hacky sack, or better yet, a takeover. 

This activity, commonly played in college, involves a very small beanbag of sand that is passed around a group using any part of the body, except hands or arms. The goal is to get as many touches as possible, without the beanbag touching the ground.

Freshman Bryan Dominique-Pineda, the self-proclaimed leader of his hacky sack group, says, “I’ve been playing since 8th grade. It feels good seeing people come together.” Although the activity has taken over lunch just over this past month, sophomore Henry Uhlendorf said his group has “been playing for just over a year together, and we play every day at lunch, no exceptions…We play every chance we get.” 

Uhlendorf claims that his group was the first to start playing, and he believes they are the best out of the rest of the hacky sack groups. He said, “It’s cool how everyone started playing. I’d like to think my friends and I had something to do with that.” Additionally, he has strong opinions about how to start a game. “No chest serves, only knee serves, and get real sacks, the woven ones are bad.” 

Comparatively, freshman Lilly Maurer has only been playing one day with her sack circle since being interviewed. She said, “I love that everyone wants to play now. Everyone is working together, and we’re getting better by the day.” They have even started an Instagram account, which is a common trend with the other sackers.

However, this love is not shared by all students. An anonymous freshman told us, “I don’t like hacky sack. I’ve almost gotten hit multiple times.” Since the game is being played both inside and outside now, some students are finding it hard to have a peaceful lunch while feeling anxious about getting hit with a beanbag. This student also believes that “It’s not a real sport, just embarrassing and performative. I think it’s dumb.  It’s just a bag of sand that has people hooked.”

The sudden appeal of hacky sack can possibly be attributed to the cell phone ban, as students are not able to use their phones at lunch, so they look for other distractions. For example, in the form of a social game where friends have to work together to succeed.

Whether students see the game’s attraction or just see it as an eyesore, all students can agree that the school has been overwhelmed with this activity. •