Valeria Davidson
Year Nominee Started Playing: 1989
Footbag History / Significiant Leadership: Valeria Davidson has been a Player and Contributor in the sport of Footbag since 1989.
As a Contributor to the sport, she was the Co-Director of the Midwest Regional Footbag Championships for 15 consecutive years… the premier annual event for the Midwest. Her enthusiasm and professionalism combined to attain excellent sponsors, media coverage for the sport and her focus on the player experience made her events a destination for the players and provided excellent exposure for the sponsors! Her passion and commitment to the sport of Footbag in her community is unparalleled in the midwest. She has supported her husband, Scott Davidson for over 35 years and has made it possible for him to continue to be a force in the world of Footbag. He was the Singles Freestyle World Champion in 1999 and inducted into the Footbag Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2023 he became the current World Champion in Doubles Freestyle. along with his partner Tuan Vu.
Valeria was a top competitor in women’s competitions and dominated in the Midwest. And while she never won a world championship title, She has competed at World Footbag Championships over 15 times since her first Worlds in 1989 in Golden, Colorado. Her best finish was Mixed Doubles Freestyle 2nd Place 1995 in Menlo Park, CA. See attached pictures of awards. She traveled to, and competed at over a dozen East Coast Championships in Hershey, PA… along with many other tournaments over the years.
She is a Certified Footbag Instructor, committed to engaging with youth which included outreach programs for Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America and several church groups. She organized a successful Guinness World Record attempt for the “Largest Hacky Sack Circle in the World” at St. Joseph’s preparatory high school in Chicago, which was televised on WGN via a helicopter on the WGN channel 9 morning. She was instrumental in organizing the venues, sponsors and personnel for the many different successful attempts of Ted Martin and Andy Linder’s World Record kicks for Guinness World Records at Mt. Prospects’ Sports Plex. She also counted for those Footbag consecutive world record events. She was in charge of organizing the One Pass World Record for Ted Martin and Andy Linder. She was the co-director of Kick for Health, a not-for-profit that promoted footbag as a tool to reduce childhood diabetes through passive exercise in the form of sports that involve moving your legs. Additionally, she was instrumental in coordinating 9 years of our Back-To-School Event with WGN-TV where we spent the day challenging kids to try footbag as well as coordinating our sponsors to provide Footbags to give away. At the 1999 World Footbag Championships, she was the Freestyle Stage Manager for Finals at Skyline Stage on Navy Pier in Chicago while her 1 year old son was in a stroller next to her.
Tournaments Completed: Incomplete Summary of Player Accomplishments:
1991 and 1992 Midwest Regionals - 2nd Place - Women’s Singles Freestyle
1993 Mike Marshall Award Winner for Excellence in Event Management (in conjunction with Scott Davidson)
1994 Ozark’s Open - 3rd Place - Women’s Singles Footbag Net
1995 World Footbag Championships - 2nd Place - Mixed Doubles Freestyle
1998 World Footbag Championships - 3rd Place - Women’s Footbag Golf
1999 World Footbag Championships - 3rd Place - Women’s Footbag Golf
2001 World Footbag Championships - 3rd Place - Mixed Doubles Freestyle
2004 World Footbag Championships - 2nd Place - Mixed Doubles Freestyle
2004 World Footbag Championships - 5th Place - Women’s Singles Freestyle
Newspaper Articles:
See attached images for a sampling.
TV Appearances:
Energy Express TV Show 1997
WGN-TV News on multiple occasions
Club Affiliation: As an organizer of the Midwest Regional Footbag Championships, she was instrumental in introducing the world of Footbag to some of its best players to come out of the Midwest:
Chaos - PT Lovern, John Leyes (indirectly)
Alpha Schwa Omega - Scot Hansen, Joe Marschall, Patrick Kelly
About the Club:
Is this club still active?: No
Touring Team: Valeria was part of the team doing demonstrations at the National Sporting Goods Association in 1996 and 1997, the 1996 Olympics for Adidas in Atlanta, and the 1997 National Soccer Coaches Convention in Nashville. John Stalberger invited her to represent Footbag to Olympic athletes at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics on behalf of Adidas. She appeared on stage for Adidas and met Alexi Lalos as she was given the chance to hold the actual “World Cup.” Valeria was also part of the group of footbag athletes invited to participate in the Footbag events by IDig held in Central Park in New York City.
Training Camp Experience: Summary:
Valeria has had an extensive career in the the world of Footbag that has spanned over 30 :years. Her undying love for the sport has launched many countless players and organizers in the sport. She continues to preach the benefits of being active as a part of a healthy lifestyle, promoting Footbag as an easy way to maintain a person’s wellbeing. She has been an advocate for individual sports and team sports which include team freestyle and singles net and singles freestyle and doubles net. She has dedicated her life to the promotion of Footbag on the grander scale. She has honed her pursuit of media to promote the sport at any given opportunity. Using her language skills , she has sought out media outlets in many countries to introduce the sport of Footbag and to expose the sport to people who are amiable to all kinds of foot sports.
Valeria’s Future in Footbag;
Valeria believes that she has a unique position to continue to promote her love of the sport through her and her husband’s given talents. They continue to travel and expose the sport to many people. They utilize their skills in engaging people of all ages and skill levels to try to “Keep it Up” no matter where they go.
Make no mistake, she was not an innovator of the sport, but there was no one who could surpass her in her dedication to promoting the sport wherever and whenever she could. She has made it her life’s mission to show the young people of the world that they all share a common goal of cooperation for the betterment of our society as a whole through our love of our sport FOOTBAG !!
Coaching Experience:
Sources: Newspaper clippings, trophies and personal experience.
