Emma Llamas | Writer
May 26, 2026
Hacky Sacking first became mainstream in the 1990s among grunge and other counter culture groups. However, the game is now now making a massive comeback, primarily among high school and college students. Around SCHS’s campus, especially during breaks and lunch, students can be seen in circles, finding elaborate ways to keep the hacky sack from hitting the ground with the occasional small crowd of spectators. These students can be seen diving to the ground, gyrating, and competitively increasing the difficulty of their trick shots. And, interestingly enough, it seems that many of these dedicated players are also beginners.
The exploding popularity of the game primarily resurfaced because of its rising presence on social media platforms like Tiktok and Instagram. On these platforms, accounts such as @MIAAhackeysack and @ISPreps share rivalries and publish weekly “power rankings” that keep audiences invested in the care-free sports tournaments. This has created a domino effect of schools nationwide beginning their own leagues and teams. A lot of the attention it has garnered online is also credited to the unseriousness of these teams’ styles of playing. In many instances, tournaments are composed of team members flipping around on the floor and comedic, elaborate trick shots. For this same reason, masses of beginners started and ended up actually enjoying the games.
Despite its attention online, it has, of course, also encouraged many to be offline. The growing popularity of this game seems to be increasing hand-in-hand with young people wanting to spend more time off their phones and to find hobbies as far away from the digital world as possible. Being a game of the ’90s, it could also be directly correlated to Gen Z’s long lasting revival of that era. The game’s simplicity and cost efficiency has also made it an accessible and inviting pastime for students of all grades at SCHS.
Senior Cole Fuller noted that he “got into playing hacky sack after playing it in Mr. Smith’s class” and “what got [him] hooked was being able to play it with whoever and wherever.”
SCHS has its iconic hacky sack club, run by math teacher and hacky sack connoisseur, Mr. Smith. The club and game itself seems to be a unifier among those who play it, and, because of its low-pressure environment, it lets students relax and socialize amidst the difficulty of school days.
The consensus around the sport seems to be that it, because of its simultaneous demand for precision and care-free attitude, lets students turn off their brains for a little while, especially as AP/IB testing is ending and as finals are coming around the corner.
When asked why he thinks a new wave of students are beginning to love the sport’s revival, Mr. Smith said that “the hack is irresistible.”
His take on this does not seem to be too far off from the truth. Students are flocking to the activity not only as a social media trend, but as a way to connect with their friends and to make new ones.
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