At 5:30 A.M. on a late summer’s morning, senior Charlie Bluestein stops his alarm clock, rolls out of bed, and rushes out of the house to attend the school’s annual Senior Sunrise event. Bluestein, who only decided to show up the night before, came for one sole reason: to play roundnet with his friends.
At Skyline Park, while clusters of Seniors hiked up the long, foggy hill, Bluestein and his friends arrived early to set up the net so the games could begin. An hour of play and endless serves and volleys later, the sun began to shine above the trees.
Bluestein and his friends were among one of many groups of students playing roundnet at Senior Sunrise. In fact, roundnet was the event’s most popular activity, with more than three other friend groups playing for an hour straight.
Roundnet (commonly confused with the company Spikeball) experienced an unexplainable boom in popularity throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s. A unique blend of competitive spirit and casual play, roundnet’s addictive, fast-paced game design made the sport suitable for any person, anywhere.
Created in 1989 by American cartoonist Jeff Knurek, roundnet was meant to be just like any other toy. The game is simple: two teams of two people surround a trampoline-like net and return a yellow ball the size of a those used in tennis. The ball must bounce off the net as one team returns it to the other. The last team that hits the ball on the net wins.
Japanese toy maker Tomy quickly caught on to capitalize the idea. Soon after, the company began producing roundnet kits, and Knurek’s invention hit the shelves in large quantities.
Roundnet was only on the market until 1995, when Tomy decided to halt it’s production due to the set’s outdated materials. Roundnet disappeared for over a decade, and many considered the sport a failed experiment.
That is, until 13 years later. In 2008, a new small business by the name of Spikeball Inc. brought the sport back to life. Featuring high-quality materials and a young, flashy marketing team, Spikeball appeared to resolve the quality control issues that Tomy had when they stopped production of their Roundnet kit back in the late 20th century.
While Spikeball’s popularity came slowly, the company had a breakthrough moment in May 2015 when they were featured on popular ABC TV series Shark Tank. With a flashy logo, a bright yellow theme, and a strong advertising campaign, Spikeball presented a bright future–and soon allured investors to buy a share. They left the show after accepting a $500,000 offer for 20% of the company by one of Shark Tank’s hosts, Daymond John.
In the years following, the company’s value boomed, and so did its consumer platform. A recent analysis by ESPN estimated over 4 million Spikeball users in the world last year, and Shark Tank Blog stated that Spikeball Inc. produced $19 million in revenue in 2023.
Not only did Spikeball’s marketing successes boost the company into the mainstream media, but it also brought Roundnet back into light. The sport’s fan base grew exponentially over the past decade, so much that major sports broadcasters began airing Spikeball world championships. This year’s championship was hosted in late August in London, Britain.
While Spikeball undoubtedly rose to prominence with its strategic advertising techniques, such as using Instagram and Facebook to market products, a baffling question comes with the booming popularity of roundnet: What makes such a simple game so addictive and fun?
Roundnet’s simplicity and social culture may have contributed to the sudden rise in its popularity and users. Sports like football or soccer, where rules are dominant, require both skill and a complex understanding of the game in order to succeed. Oftentimes, games in these sports turn intense, prompting players to push their bodies to the limits in order to beat opponents.
Spikeball, on the other hand, is designed for quick, energetic games, and is simply built upon four main rules: when serving, you can’t hit the ball over the opponent’s head; balls that hit the rim of the net don’t count; when returning, you can’t carry or hold the ball; and you can’t hit the ball two times in a row.
The looser regulations enable a wider audience to enjoy the sport, not only the ones who are the most competitive. Senior Nathan Chow, a frequent roundnet player, finds the sport more inclusive over others due to the skill set required and the flexibility of its rules.
“In football you have to be fast. It’s harder for non-athletic people to be able to pick it up,” Chow said. “But in Spikeball, you just have to hit the ball. Even if you don’t know the rules, it’s easy to pick up by just watching a round or two.”
Chow, a baseball player since his early childhood, was always accustomed to the high-skill, tight-regulations games that he grew up playing. Although Spikeball emerged to be much the opposite, he enjoys the laid-back nature of the game.
“It has that communication factor and the quickness, so it doesn’t feel like it gets stale,” Chow said. “There’s always a different result to each play.”
Joelle Nguyen, Spikeball’s Sports Marketing Manager and a roundnet player for the national women’s roundnet team, finds social connection at the heart of the sport. She emphasizes the importance of placing both competition and joy side-by-side through Spikeball’s roundnet products.
“The whole goal is to provide this catalyst for fun, connection, and competition through this product,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen fell in love with roundnet when she was in high school. She learned the sport with her youth church group on Corona del Mar beach, just south of Los Angeles. The portability of roundnet, she said, is one of the most welcoming characteristics of the sport.
“[Spikeball] is very much that idea of being outdoors with friends, like camping in the mountains,” Nguyen said. “We have pictures of people taking [roundnet] up to the mountains or on snow, or even on a frozen lake.”
While roundnet is not designed to exert the body as much as sports such as football, the game still stresses the fundamental concept of spending time outdoors with others, giving players the flexibility to set up their net at any open space.
Senior Sophie Livingston also found that roundnet gave her a boost in motivation to leave the house. While roundnet requires only a little space, allowing competitors to play both outdoors and indoors, many still use the game as a way to spend more time outside in good weather.
“I found myself over the summer not really wanting to go outside because I was doing work,” Livingston said. “And then I thought ‘Oh, look.’ I saw the little Spikeball bag on my front doorstep, and I thought, why not just go out?”
Roundnet does not require any gear to play, apart from the net and ball. Although the net must be assembled, they are easy to construct, enabling consumers to play the sport on the go.
“It’s really accessible, and you could play it anywhere you want,” Livingston said. “I choose Spikeball because it’s really accessible and it’s in a medium-sized bag that you can bring to the beach or someone’s backyard or park.”
Yet, no matter where roundnet is played, competitors still find themselves immersed in the game. Roundnet features fast-paced, unpredictable plays that keep players on their feet. Sports such as volleyball and basketball feature a similar pace yet a more rigid structure and more physically demanding gameplay.
“The physicality of the game in such an enclosed setting is really fun,” Bluestein said. “Just being able to dive and move around and make these short bursts to hit the ball makes it unique.”
The simplicity, flexibility, and portability of roundnet all create a unique, vibrant community within the sport that Spikeball widely promotes. As displayed on the company’s website, the purpose of the sport is to “connect people through fun and competition.”
Since roundnet is open to those of all athletic backgrounds, players encourage social connection over triumph. And while roundnet is played at a professional level by athletes like Nguyen, the sport is meant to be played most actively by the “everyday player” – those who play at the park, at cookouts, and even at Senior Sunrise events.
I’ve seen a lot of people who say that they’ve competed in revenue sports all their lives,” Nguyen said. “And then they found this and loved it in a new way.”
Just like most other sports, roundnet has its own competitive sector, where each country could send a representative team to compete in a world championship. The International Roundnet Federation, host of the Roundnet World Championship tournament, has the goal of sending the sport to the Olympics.
The most recent world championship was last September in London, where over 30 national men’s teams and 25 national women’s teams competed for the prize. Such a large competitive base for the sport demonstrates that roundnet does not only have to be used as a pastime, but could also be brought to a notch above just casual play.
However, as a competitor in the Roundnet World Championship, Nguyen stresses that roudnet’s casual player base is what Spikeball is built upon.
“As much as I’m involved in the competitive side of roundnet, the recreational player is actually what keeps our business alive,” Nguyen said.
For this reason, roundnet is not only a great option for recreational sports, but also for an educational setting. Even the Wellness Department has their own stash of roundnet equipment for students to access during classes.
While a significant advantage of using roundnet in such classes is the equipment’s portability, Patrick Jordan-Quern, head of the Wellness Department, finds that roundnet’s low stakes make the sport especially joyful to play with classmates.
“I’ve also been more attuned to how people use games such as spikeball as lighthearted icebreakers,” Jordan-Quern said. “It gives people a reason to communicate in a fun way.”
Jordan-Quern also notes that roundnet strengthens skills such as hand-eye coordination, anticipation, innovation, and creativity.
Wellness teachers store numerous Spikeball nets and a stash of bright yellow balls for use in a large closet near the entrance in Gym B. For the Wellness Department, roundnet, a sport that rose in popularity yet so recently, looks like it is here to stay for years to come.
Ever since Knurek’s invention of the sport in 1989, roundnet brought forth values that have the potential to redefine the sports industry that the world is so familiar with. Roundnet demonstrates that sports can be played anywhere, anytime. It enables athletes and non-athletes alike to play in unison while sharing a love for the game. It intersects competition and joy so players can enjoy the best of both worlds.
There is no doubt that traditionally popular sports, like soccer and football, bring their own charm: roaring crowds, high-stakes games, and an incredible amount of effort brought by each team. While roundnet might never reach the rungs of a multi-billion dollar professional sports industry, the takeaway that roundnet brings forth is essential: sports should not be relished for their rewards, but they should be loved for the communion and joy that comes by playing them.
