Hacky sack runs in family for Gayhart father, daughter
To Josh Gayhart of Butler, hacky sack is more than a fun recess activity — it’s serious business.
For years, Gayhart has traveled up and down the country participating in competitive hacky sack events. He has racked up an impressive resume of results, including first place in the “open freestyle battle” section of the 2025 East Coast Footbag Championships, held last August in Brooklyn, N.Y.
According to his daughter, Riley, Josh has been a keen footbagger for decades.
“Hacky sack was just such a big thing in the 90s,” Riley said. “I guess he really took some interest in it and decided to start playing it professionally.”
For the past two years, Riley has followed in her father’s footbag-steps. Her personal Facebook account is a highlight reel of hacky sack tricks.
The Gayharts gave a demonstration of hacky sack at the Playthings Etc. toy store in Clay Township in May. They will show off their skills together once again at an event in Ohio during the first weekend of October.
While her father performs in competitive events, Riley prefers to just showcase her skills on video.
“I don’t do anything competitive,” Riley said. “I’m not as good as him.”
Recently, Riley entered a video contest held on social media and hosted by a prominent member of the hacky sack community under the handle of “@hackysack.official.”
“Basically, all you have to do is, you can be on TikTok or Instagram and you submit a video playing hacky sack. It doesn’t matter how good you are,” Gayhart said. “You just submit a video of you playing, and if it receives the most amount of views, you get a prize of $5,000 and you can also win 10 custom hacky sacks.”
