The Footbag World Championships are already 30 years old and counting. Here's how it all began and how the championships developed. The first Footbag Championships, at the time merely a national event, were held in Oregon ( United States ) in 1980. In 1983, the competition moved to Boulder, Colorado for two years until 1985, when the championships began a nine-year stint in Golden, Colorado. In this suburb of Denver , several unforgettable pages of Footbag history were written, including the first official World Footbag Championships, held in 1986.

Under player pressure, the Championships eventually moved to San Francisco for 1994 and 1995, and in 1996, it left U.S. soil for the first time, bestowing Montreal with the honor as its host. The year was to become a landmark year in the sport's history: for the first time, a Canadian, Sebastien Verdy , secured a title in the open (and strongest) category, winning Net singles and doubles, with Emmanuel Bouchard .

In 1997, the competition returned to the game's roots in Portland , Oregon , where a record 212 players registered for the event , a number unsurpassed until 2003. In addition to the great sums of players, the level of talent made an immense jump from previous years, with top players receiving much attention. The Championships were held in conjunction with a huge music festival, which attracted 200,000 spectators to the site every day.

In 1998, the World Championships returned to Montreal , and once again the event was an enormous success. The players greatly enjoyed Montreal , and tens of thousands of spectators witnessed the Footbag Net finals at La Ronde. The year was especially memorable for Emmanuel Bouchard , All delivered exhilarating performances, pushing the level of play to unprecedented heights. Bouchard has since defended his singles world champion title five times, and remained unbeaten in his last 30 tournament.

Destiny brought the Championships to the Windy City , Chicago in 1999.

2001 brought the Championships back to San Francisco , where Emmanuel Bouchard won singles Net once again.

In 2002, again in San Francisco , the sport of Footbag saw a new era in its evolution. On the courts, Bouchard dominated once again in singles, while the players from the U.S.A reclaimed the doubles crown.

Footbag took another grand, evolutionary leap in 2003, when the World Championships touched down outside North America for the first time, gracing Prague , Czech Republic as its host, and drawing a record number of 215 competitors from 21 countries. Vasek Klouda and Emmanuel Bouchard continued to rule their respective events, and Europe saw a thrilling display of athleticism they will not soon forget.

Worlds 2004 were hosted in Montreal , Canada . The audience had a chance to witness the dream match in singles net finals when Emmanuel Bouchard and the legendary Kenny Shults finally faced each other over the net. Emmanuel managed to turn this thriller into a victory and at the same time ensured his place as the worlds best net player.

The 26 th World Footbag Championships were held in Finland . At the Helsinki Sports house (Urheilutalo) a hugh crowd witnessed Emmanuel Bouchard winning the World Footbag Championship in open singles net for the eighth year in a row. In doubles Net he completed his title collection for 2005 when he and his partner JF Lemieux , also from Quebec Canada , won the battle against Florian Goetze from Frankfurt and Patrick Schrickel from Berlin . This was the first time a European Net Team advanced into the final of the World Footbag Championships ever.

Who claims victory in 2010 is uncertain, but the world will feel the presence of Footbag like never before, and the sport will undoubtedly reach a new chapter in growth and expansion of talent.