Around the checkered floor that lines the hallways of Big Sky, groups of students stand in circles. Students from all walks of life, upperclassmen and lower, athletes, and 4.0 students, all focused on one thing and one thing only: a small bag being kicked, chest bumped, and head tapped. That small bag is a hacky sack. 

Hacky sack has made a nationwide return in 2026. From shortages across websites and warehouses, to social media clips getting hundreds of thousands of views, no one can get enough. Big Sky High School is a part of the trend, with students across grade levels and social circles taking part in the past time. 

“It’s good exercise and it brings people together,” said Isaac Thorne, a Big Sky junior and hacky sack fan.

Hacky sack seems to just bring happiness to students, yet the administration wants to shut it down.

On Friday, May 15, 2026, Christine Hiller-Claridge — better known as HC — Big Sky’s assistant principal, delivered a shocking message over the loudspeakers only two minutes from the end of the period. She told everyone playing hacky sack to get back to class, stating that if she sees people playing ‘sack,’ they will be spending lunch in detention with her. 

“I don’t see why anyone would want to get rid of it,” said Darren Mitchell, a Big Sky senior who has been playing since a young age, and has played with members of school faculty, including HC.

“They’re disappointed we can do it better than they could,” said Mitchell. “They like to think their prime was the best any human can be, but they see us, and we’re just better.”

Hacky sack and its derivatives do have some history. Dating back to the Han Dynasty of ancient China, a game similar to hacky sack was formed. Jianzi is a competitive game still popular today where members kick a little ball with feathers on the end and try to keep it up.

In traditional North American indigenous culture, a similar game also exists. It varies, but mostly consists of people trying to kick a small ball as many times as possible before it hits the ground. In the 70s, footbag took on massive popularity after two friends, John Stallberger and Mike Marshall, created and produced what they called the hacky sack.

Throughout time and culture, these games have persisted and stayed relevant. Now, we’re seeing a new wave of  hacky sack, as young people everywhere take advantage of its popularity and use it to exercise, work on coordination, and come up with new and creative tricks. 

Aaron Fortner, a Big Sky teacher, was previously top of the top for hacky sack. “I was national team hacky sack good,” Fortner boasted.  

Fortner feels conflicted about the ban, stating, “I’d rather have students play hacky sack than stare mindlessly at their phones.”

It’s important to note that once this interview concluded, a poster with a quote attributed to George Orwell from his 1949 book, 1984, was hand delivered to me in journalism class by a whistleblower we will refer to as Fiddling Fortnite. 

The poster read: “The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture it torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand what happens when they take our hacky sacks?”

The incoming student body president, Bo Morrison, is on a quest to support democracy and bring back hacky sack, with a meeting set up with HC for sometime in the coming weeks.

The Big Sky Sun Journal tracked down HC for answers as well. In an exclusive interview, HC explained the hacky sack ban.

“We had video cameras pulled up, and there were pockets all around the building of groups playing hacky sack during class time,” HC said. 

HC isn’t against hacky sack itself, it’s that it makes it harder for people to get through the hallways, and takes advantage of teachers who put work into lesson times. 

“I think that if teachers allow it in the classroom after all the work is done, that’s one thing. But if you get a big circle of hacky sack, it gets hard for kids to pass by,” HC explained. 

Although hacky sack may still be allowed in some contexts, after the ban, it has been lost in the eye of most students. Many are wondering where it has gone. Hallways once crowded with conversations and creativity now lie barren.  

Will hacky sack make a return at Big Sky? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, we can still enjoy its presence wherever we find it.