Round net team ready to compete for national title

The MSU Round Net Club is carving out a niche spot in the campus club sports scene, and making a name for itself. After being held back by financial constraints, they are now preparing for their first trip to the Spikeball College National Championships on May 20, in Richmond, Virginia.

Round net, also commonly known as spikeball, exploded in popularity as a game to play outdoors during the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. This new love of round net quickly led to an MSU club for more competitive play being founded in the fall of 2021, and now the club is regularly traveling to tournaments.

Trey Thompson, president of the club, said he recognizes how quickly the club is growing and wants to maintain that momentum. “We are tier three this year, and looking to go tier two next year,” Thompson said. “We needed a lot more funding for what we want to do.” 

This tier system refers to the classification system MSU uses with all club sports, and a push for tier two would involve more fundraising and more active members.

The club has qualified for the national championships in prior years but has been unable to attend due to the cost of travel.

One way the club has raised funds has been volunteering at MSU events. “We work concessions a lot, they’ve been really good to us,” Thompson said.  “We’re also grateful for Giving Day this year, as we raised about $1,700.”

The club competes in the Rocky Mountain section, and the top three teams from each section are invited to nationals.  With Brigham Young University being the other school in the section aiming for a trip to nationals, both schools automatically qualify and will play each other in the sectional tournament for first and second place Thompson said.

Other schools who compete in the same section but will not be competing in the sectional tournament are Utah State, University of Utah and Brigham Young University Idaho.  The spring season will feature six tournaments for the club, including one competition in Bozeman on April 29, all culminating in the national championship tournament on May 20.

While a good showing at nationals is the short term goal for the club, the long term goal remains the same as it was when the club was founded two years ago.  “We want to make a legacy.  There’s not a scene in Montana for the sport of round net.” Thompson said.

New members who discover and join the club is one way the club grows and reaches for their goals. Rosalie Elder joined the club this spring after seeing other members playing casually.  “Every time you went out from your dorm there was five games playing on the lawn, so joining those was a good community,” Elder said.

This sentiment was shared by Jacob Wunschel and Kodi Younkin, who both joined the club after having played casually with friends and enjoying the community surrounding round net at MSU. “Met a lot of these guys at Catapalooza, and I love the people and the community,” Wunschel said. Younkin added that she had played through the COVID-19 pandemic, “We played it every day, and that’s how we really got into it,” Younkin said.

As the weather improves, the club will be moving its practices outdoors and hope that fellow students feel empowered to come join them in playing.  “Even though we are competitive, we love having new people on the scene.  Even if they only want to play once a week or once a month, we’re happily inviting them,” Thompson said.