I Love Chile Sports Editor Takes Silver in Colombia

I Love Chile Sports Editor Daniel Boyle returned from the South American Footbag Championships with a haul of two silver medals and a bronze.

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA — Participating in his first South American Footbag Championship, Daniel Boyle impressed in the competitions, taking a total of three medals. The sport, often known as “hacky sack”, consists of two disciplines, net and freestyle.

Boyle opened his campaign with his first ever match of footbag net. Not surprisingly, the Australian went out of the net competition without winning a match.

“This was a great opportunity to try out something new within the sport.  Almost all of the freestyle players are involved, and in such a small sport we need to have as much participation as possible,” Boyle said to I Love Chile.

Daniel Boyle and Brayan Stiven Bosa at the South American Footbag Championships. Photo: Francisca Borquez

The tournament was held in the Colombian city of Medellin, inside the sports complex used to hold the South American Games in 2010. Santiago will host the South American Games in 2014 and Boyle hopes to use some of the facilities in a similar manner.

“In Chile there are many major sporting events up ahead including the South American Games and Copa America. It would be great to get involved with these events and help promote the sport.”

Wednesday December 19 was the key day for Boyle, with all freestyle events taking place on the same day. Facing a tough pool in the circle contest, Boyle was disappointed with his performance.

“I was not happy with how I played in the circle. It was a hard pool, but I didn’t play to the best of my ability,” he said to I Love Chile.

Things improved in the next events though, managing to hit four out of his five attempts in the Big One contest. Only one trick was needed for victory and when Brayan Stiven Bosa hit the extremely difficult nuclear torque in his final trick, Boyle’s hopes for victory were dashed.

“Brayan is an extremely talented player. He could go a long way at Worlds,” Boyle said, adding that he hopes to create a South American team to travel to the World Championships. While no venue has been announced, the likely location is Montreal.

The star of Colombia Tiene Talento, the Bogota player took almost every event in the freestyle competition.

After a lunch break, the Australian performed a routine to the music of his countrymen AC/DC, performing stalls, spins and ducks to the tune of “Back in Black”, before achieving personal bests in both the Sick 3 and Shred 30 events.

Tournament Director Bernard Fakoly told I Love Chile, “It was great to have representatives from Chile here. This is the sixth tournament and it is mostly players from Colombia and Venezuela. I hope to see the sport grow in the rest of South America.”

The event received coverage on television and in the newspapers. 2013′s event will be hosted in Caracas, Venezuela, with Chile hoping to host in 2014.

With South America’s world-renowned football obsession, Boyle hopes he can use that passion to inspire growth in his chosen sport. For more information about footbag in Chile, visit the Footbag Chile website.