Peter Irish
Peter Irish is considered one of the greatest footbag players of all time.
Beginning footbag in Virginia Beach in the late 1980s, Peter quickly rose to prominence with his smooth style of play. He entered freestyle footbag during a time of great technical expansion, with the jump from tiltless combinations (two ADD moves and above) to guiltless (three ADD moves and above). Along with fellow freestylers Kenny Shults, Rick Reese, Tuan Vu, Tim Kelly, and many more, Peter helped cross this threshold and brought freestyle into the modern era. Many consider Irish’s style to be the smoothest of all time; a fluid and effortless style that exerted little energy, allowing him to flow through long combos with ease. Even for the top players that followed, this style was difficult to emulate. Millennial player James Risden and most famously multi-world champion Vasek Klouda were successful in incorporated elements of Peter’s style into their own games.
Peter Irish won numerous footbag tournaments in his long run in freestyle. These are just a few of his accomplishments;
-World Freestyle Footbag Champion - 1991
-World Freestyle Footbag Champion - 1992
-World Freestyle Footbag Champion - 1993
-World Freestyle Footbag Champion - 1995
-World Freestyle Footbag Champion - 1997
-Doubles Freestyle World Champion (partner Eric Wulff) - 1997
-Multiple time Western Regionals Champion (Stanford, California)
-Multiple time East Coast Champion
-Multiple time Funtastik Summer Classic Champion
Peter also consistently placed in the top 8 in many tournaments during his long run in freestyle.
In the mid-90s, Irish moved from the East Coast to San Francisco, California, joining the Bay Area Footbag League (BAFL) which included well-known footbag figures Eric Wulff, Tim Kelly, Sam Conlon, Tu Vu, Lisa Monte, Tuan Vu, Lisa McDaniel, Dennis Jones, Carol Wedemeyer, Sunil Jani, Ryan Mulroney, Red Husted, and many more. He was also a part of the renowned First Family, a group of players that moved to San Francisco from the East Coast and other areas.
Peter invented a number of footbag moves in his long run in freestyle, including Irish Creme, a trick few players could execute.
Irish is also an accomplished performer and juggler. He has traveled the world performing juggling and footbag shows, and regularly performed in well-known locations such as Pier 39 in San Francisco, California, and Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado. He was one half of the Fair Weather Jugglers, in which he performed with Tim Kelly. Peter inspired many performers in the footbag community, including fellow Hall of Famer Alex Zerbe and Matt Baker.
Peter is one of the original members of the Big Add Posse, a group of the greatest footbag players in the world. This original group from 1992 included Irish, Kenny Shults, Rick Reese, Tim Kelly, Dennis Jones, Dimitri Kavouras, and Joey Schaeffer. His BAP nickname was ‘The Executioner’, for his flawless execution of combinations. His own influences were freestyle icons Rick Reese and Kenny Shults, to name a few.
Peter was a dominant players in the 90s and 2000s, taking the lead in the guiltless charge in perhaps his most influential year, 1995. During this time, Irish traveled the country performing footbag shows for schools and events. This culminated with his victory at the 1995 World Footbag Championships. His shaved head, beard, and golden trunks became iconic in the footbag scene. It also set a trend of freestyle footbag players shaving their hair short when they were schooling hard. Though not as prominent today as in days past, the trend perseveres thanks to his monumental achievements.
Irish’s run as a top player in freestyle footbag was one of the longest in the sport; spanning from the early 90s to the mid-2000s. He played alongside four generations, including the 80s, 90s, and 2000s players. Peter inspired countless freestylers, including fellow Hall of Famers and successors Ryan Mulroney and Vasek Klouda. An iconic moment was caught on video in 2004 at the World Footbag Championships in Montreal where Irish played in a circle with the then-reigning champion, Vasek Klouda. He kept pace with the two-generations-younger footbag star, showing his resilience through the ages. Peter competed until 2006, making finals in every open routines event he entered. He continues to perform footbag in his shows to this day.
Peter is also widely known for advancing footbag-juggling, which involves juggling objects between one’s hands and feet. This inspired other renown players such as BAP member Jorden Moir to develop their own skills with the discipline.
Irish was highlighted in many videos, news segments, and articles. He appeared in the now-classic Raw Shred: Tales of the Big Add Posse by Paul Munger, and Fourkast, a video documenting North American freestylers, in which he was featured in three separate sections. He also was highlighted in Tricks of the Trade 2 by Kenny Shults, a monumental tutorial video and follow up to Tricks of the Trade. He worked on the film You Don’t Mess with the Zohan staring Adam Sandler in 2007. Peter was featured on the cover of the Footbag World Magazine, Vol. 13 No. 1 in 1995. In a career highlight, Irish performed on stage with the popular music band Blues Traveler in front of thousands of spectators.
Peter directed the Footbag Hall of Fame during the mid-2000s, carrying the torch of the illustrious group started by John Stalberger, Ted Huff, and Bruce Guettich, to name a few. He also acted as MC for many footbag events over years, announcing the sport to on looking crowds. With his public-speaking skills, Irish presided over multiple Big Add Posse inductions as well.
For his massive contributions to the sport, Peter Irish was inducted into the Footbag Hall of Fame in the early 2000s. His influence as a pioneer of modern freestyle and one of the greatest footbag players of all time continues until this day.
Peter Irish video by Flipsider
Peter Irish