Chris Ott
Hello, I am Chris Ott, from Santa Rosa, California, USA.
My footbag history includes:
Founding IFPA Director of Marketing, Director of Operations for Fancy Footwork Productions, Inc.
I have been involved in all working footbag committees developing rules and ethics for footbag competitions.
I am a proud Member of the Footbag Hall of Fame.
I am also a Mike Marshall Award Winner as the world's top promoter.
I have won over 30 Open net titles including the World WFA Double Net Championship.
I have directed many footbag events over the years including several IFPA World Championships.
FANCY FOOTWORK
Fancy Footwork was a footbag sports performance group who played for thousands of people over a 15 year period. We would make each performance a practice period while entertaining our audience with an athletic show that left them in amazement.
We performed at professional baseball, basketball and soccer games as well as many college and community outings and festivals. We had a show at the World Cup Soccer game where we won the approval of Pele himself.
Fancy Footwork was the most talented group of Footbag athletes ever assembled. Our members included Chris Ott, Brent Welch, Jody Welch, Julie Simons, Lisa McDaniels, Bill Langbehn, Etienne and Constance Constable, Sam Conlon, Steve Goldberg, Brent Stewart, Eric Thompson-Green, Johnny Leys, Tuan Vu and Lisa Monte to name a few.
This intense playing schedule lead most of us to world titles and Hall of Fame inductions. Playing in Fancy Footwork events was the most rewarding period of time in my footbag career because of the intense competition, wonderful friendships and the travel we shared across the world to compete together.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
My educational background includes a BA in Physics from Sonoma State University with a minor in Recording Technology. I currently own a Residential Design Studio in Santa Rosa, California.
Footbag has been a large part of my life since 1977. The enjoyment and physical challenge of footbag sports has kept me interested over all this time.
I began my footbag career with a Haiti made Hacky Sack and time to spare. Soon I was kicking with all my friends. Footbags fit in your pocket so nice, they went everywhere with me. We became attached. Little did I know the footbag adventure that awaited me as I met and entered the world of competitive footbag. It was as if my athletic past had only prepared me for the competitive nature of Footbag Net.
Once I learned all my kicks, my natural athletic abilities kicked in and competitive footbag came alive. I found myself riding the wave of development as the sport of footbag grow around me. To be on the cutting edge of something like this was a true pleasure.
From tournament to tournament our abilities grew and the sports athletic envelop grow and grow. As the offense developed new shots, the defense would have to adjust, which in turn, made the offense adjust and so on... What a gas.
Today I am helping the IFPA set up a marketing plan and direction for footbag sports to follow worldwide into the future. My dreams include Club competition at high school and college levels as well as professional level tours, television and lots of excitement.
I am also the creator of the Foot-c Junior Footbag Net Game. Foot-c gives young footbagers the chance to play footbag net and development into our future footbag athletes. Foot-c has turned into quite an adult sport and enjoyed by thousands worldwide.
I am also the author of the GSM Footbag net Scoring system. My years of playing net sports and my architectural skills have lead me to create a balanced scoring system designed to create more pressure points and more excitement for all.
Footbag has made a huge impact in my life, giving me the confidence to succeed and challenge life to its fullest. I recommend kicking this habit completely.
Chris Ott