World record holder footbag kicker, Andy Linder, to walk Homestead Festival Parade

Andy Linder was big into soccer as a kid growing up in Geneva, Ill. and could juggle a soccer ball better than anyone else around.

He dreamed of setting world records.

However, he developed chondromalacia, damage under the kneecap, as a senior in high school and the weight of a soccer ball proved too painful on his knees.

His high school biology teacher in Geneva introduced him to footbag (hackey sack), allowing the class to kick his footbag around if they got their work done. Linder loved footbag right away, because he was passionate about soccer already and the skills transferred right over to foot bag, he said, which was lighter and easier on his knees.

“When the soccer door closed, the foot bag door opened,” he said.

So good that Linder became a world record holder in footbag.

Linder will be bringing his bag of tricks to the Homestead Festival in Princeton on Saturday, Sept. 11. He will walk the parade and perform along the way, inviting others to join in.

Linder, 56, set his first record in singles consecutive kicks at 17,872 in 1983 when he was 18, using similar patterns he had from kicking soccer balls.

He broke the record five times, the last time with 36,230 single continuous kicks, which took six hours to do, but has since been broken.

“That was a dream I had when I was 13 years old when I first saw the soccer record in the Guinness Book of Records. Yes, it’s very special to accomplish that goal,” he said.

However, his single continuous records are not even his career highlight, he says. His personal highlight is his record for speed kicking, having kicked more than 1,000 times (1,019) in five minutes, alternating using his right and left feet, for an amazing 3.4 kicks per second. If you drop the footbag, you’re done.

“It continues to be special to me, especially because I’m the only one to have done it,” he said.

“You always feel some (pressure). You feel the adrenaline and the excitement and the desire to do well.”

Linder also holds the doubles world record for the most continuous passes, pairing up with Ted Martin for 27,956 passes.

Linder, who is a counselor, is excited to come to Princeton, a town he has visited several times before, and has college friends here, including Dan Gerber, his doubles tennis partner at Trinity College.

He said he will walk the parade route, kicking as he moves forward, stopping on occasion to do tricks, and interact with the audience as much as he can. Linder, who is being sponsored by Second Story, will put on a kicking display at parade’s end.

“I’m looking forward to it. It looks like a great parade,” he said.

For more insights on Linder, visit his video profile at https://worldfootbag.com/andy-linder-profile/.