Chaos in the ISTAF Takraw Super Series in Palembang, Indonesia!

Back in July 2011 the USA sent a team to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to play against the best teams in the world at the ISTAF Sepak Takraw World Cup.  They managed to finish in the top 12, securing a spot in the elite ISTAF Super Series.  In the fall of 2011, PT, Jeremy and Jack of Chaos were invited to play on the USA team in the Super Series event in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  We trained hard with USA team captain Tony Ontam, only to have the event canceled at the last minute.  The invitation was extended for the three of us to play in the next Super Series event in Palembang, Indonesia.  Unfortunately PT had a scheduling conflict, but Jack and Jeremy accepted and plowed ahead with the training schedule. 

It’s now down to the wire: The tournament runs February 23-26.  Ranked literally at the bottom of the field (and comprising the only non-Asian team in the top 12), we have an extremely tough tournament ahead of us.  This is compounded by the fact that with no substitute players we have no room for injuries.  Nonetheless, we are extremely honored to get a chance to play against the best and intend to leave it all on the court in Palembang.  Thanks to Tony for believing in us and spending the time to coach and encourage us to play our best.  Thanks also to PT and the rest of the Chaos footbag crew for sacrificing gym time to support team USA. 

Current ISTAF Rankings:
1. Thailand
2. Malaysia
3. Indonesia
4. Burma (Myanmar)
5. Korea
6. Singapore
7. Phillipines
8. India
9. Japan
10. Brunei
11. Laos
12. USA

For more information, check out:
ISTAF—International Sepak Takraw Federation
Takraw USA

South American Killers -- SURA 2009

Here, finally, is some video footage of SURA 2009 in Bogota, Colombia.

The future of footbag net is in South America!
I encourage everyone to think about attending SURA 2010 in Caracas, Venezuela.  Venezuela is home to some of the world’s finest beaches and coral reefs, as well as the world’s tallest waterfall.  Venezuela would like to remind you that they win a disproportionate number of beauty pageants, too.  Early December, warm and dry, is an ideal time of year to visit…

Chaos Approved
In 2007 PT, Eric and Patti attended the 1st South American Footbag Championships in Medellin, Colombia.  Their mission: To develop a relationship with the growing footbag net scene in South America.  They provided coaching and participated in various exhibitions to promote the sport, but did not compete because of the wide disparity in skill levels.

In 2008, Jack and Jeremy of Chaos joined Yves Archambault of Pro-Kicker to continue that mission in San Cristobal, Venezuela.  This time, perhaps prematurely, the norteamericanos entered the tournament.  The energy and style of the South American players was easy to appreciate, however, there was too much focus on offense--with plenty of injuries and fouls--and not enough on basics and defense.  That said, a few of the players could legitimately have competed internationally at the open level.

This past December, Jeremy and Jack returned for the 3rd South American Footbag Championships in Bogota, Colombia.  Things have changed.  Several of the South American players are now clearly ready for international competition (you will get to meet a few of them at the 31st IFPA World Championships in Oakland), however, most of these guys are quite young, and though their fortunes may rise with Venezuela’s and Colombia’s, for now it is prohibitively expensive for them to travel abroad.  In the short term, the goal is to get enough North American and European players to attend next year’s tournament to raise SURA 2010 to level 3.  Think about it…

Sura '08 MIX I

2008 South American Footbag Net Championship
(Campeanato Sudamericano)
Open doubles net quarterfinal
Jack Harris & Jeremy Mirken (Chaos) vs. Roberto ‘Portu’ Abel & Oscar Loreto (Venezuela)

Filmed by Jack Harris and Miguel ‘Pepe’
Edited by Jack Harris
Music: Control Machete—‘Me Comprendes Mendes’

Notes:
This is the first video I posted back in January. Facebook removed it, so now it’s on YouTube, in “HD” (not really HD). Enjoy!
Special thanks to Miguel ‘Pepe’ (does anyone know his full name?). 

Sura '08 Mix II

2008 South American Footbag Net Championship
(Campeanato Sudamericano)
Open doubles video mix

Filmed by Jack Harris and Miguel ‘Pepe’
Edited by Jack Harris

In December 2008 Jack and Jeremy of Chaos traveled to Venezuela for the 2nd South American Footbag Net Championship.  This video features some of the best South American footbag net players.

Notes:
Facebook took down my other Sura ‘08 video because of alleged copyright violations.  This time I posted to YouTube with higher definition.  I’ll repost (and re-link) the original video soon.

World Footbag Championships 2007 - Open Doubles Net Bronze Match in HD

High Definition Video of Footbag Net

All 3 games of the third place match are now available.  Click on the images to view a low-resolution sample.  Click here to see all of my videos on Vuze that can be downloaded via your bittorrent client.

Sorry about the delay for games 2 and 3.  I had to switch to using an older version of Premiere.  As a result the quality is not as good for these games.

I used the MPEG2 encoder for game 2.  Unfortunately the file is much bigger (1.9GB) and the quality seems worse than the Quicktime files.

I went back to the Quicktime (H.264) encoder for game 3.  I managed to get the file back to a reasonable size, but the quality is not very good.

Click HD to see all listings of High Definition Videos.  Click video to see all postings with video footage, high def or not.

World Footbag Championships 2007 - Open Doubles Net Final in HD

High Definition Video of Footbag Net

All 3 games from the open doubles final are now available on Vuze (Azureus 3.0).  Click on the images below.  You’ll have to use a bittorrent client (see Wikipedia page) to download the file.  If you don’t already have a client installed, Azureus is easy (and safe) to install. 
Note:  These videos are in 720p (1280x720).  You will need a reasonably fast computer to watch them.  If you’re computer is more than 2 years old, it’s probably not worth the time and effort.

I posted Game 2 Wednesday morning.  Some people had difficulty viewing the first game.  I changed to 24 fps for this video.  Based on feedback, I don’t think this made any improvement. 

I posted Game 3 Friday morning.  Once the image displays below, you should be able to download it.  Thanks for the feedback.  I went back to 29.97 fps.