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Every sport has one. Or, more accurately, every sport that hopes to survive has one. [No, not a multi-million dollar commercial endorsement contract with Nike, but you've got a pretty scary point there.] You might call it an "altruistic underground," but not unless you use the same thesaurus software I do. More meaningfully though, I'd describe it as an infrastructure of big-hearted, faithful contributors who offer something to a sport that is equal, if not greater in value than the crowd-drawing flash provided by its top players. Service. These largely unsung heroes and heroines pour their hearts into the game they love, giving both time and energy till it hurts. Although such people can never receive ample praise for their devotion, most organizations and institutions offer a token of their gratitude to these selfless champions. In the world of footbag, this token is known as the Mike Marshall Award and, to those who truly hope to see our sport realize its potential some day, there is no honor more esteemed or coveted.
In its infancy, the Mike Marshall award was known as the Kenncorp award, named for the company that originally held the Hacky Sack® patent and lead footbag's first promotional efforts. However, Kenncorp President and co-founder/inventor of the Hacky Sack footbag, John Stalberger, decided to rename the award in 1990, initiating the Mike Marshall Award in tribute to his dear friend and the sport's co-founder who had died several years earlier at the age of 28. In doing so, Stalberger enabled Marshall's tireless energy and absolute devotion to footbag's survival and growth. In every year since, with the award's presentation during the World Footbag Championship finals, Stalberger reminds the footbag community of his friend who made it all possible and rewards a deserving individual or individuals who best embodied Marshall's infamous spirit during that year.
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The nomination and selection process is fairly simple. As the global hub of
footbag activity, the World Footbag Association is responsible for compiling a
list of worthy candidates and providing it to Stalberger who weighs the nominees
accomplishments against the award's intent. In an exceptionally positive
reflection on the state of footbag today, there were seven nominees for the 1997
Mike Marshall award. Although regrettable that six of them would only receive an
honorable mention despite there monumental efforts, nobody could deny center
stage to the Bay Area's Steve Goldberg, now the only two-time recipient.
While it surely didn't hurt to be founder of the Stanford University Footbag Club, President of the non-profit World-Wide Footbag Foundation, and director of countless tournaments including the Western Regional Footbag Championships and the '94 and '95 World Championships. Goldberg's most significant contribution to the sport in the last year came from his technical know-how. He has almost single-handedly established the sport of footbag on the World Wide Web. Building the site Footbag Worldwide (www.footbag.org) from scratch, it currently offers the surfing public the most comprehensive introduction to and coverage of the sport found anywhere in the world. Loaded with interactivity, Footbag Worldwide offers an assortment of features ranging from FAQs and discussion groups to tournament results, multimedia and an automated club listing service. Did I mention that he also built and maintains the World Footbag Association and Footbag World sites? I hear that he even gets to kick every so often too!
Long live Steve Goldberg and all the past and future recipients of the Mike
Marshall Award. Without them, footbag would surely take a dismal place on
history's scrap heap, nestled cozily between the Pogo Stick and Space Invaders.
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