News & Updates

July 30, 2024

Women's Division Bids and Mixed Pro 5.5+ Expansion

Women's Pro Bids

With the expansion of the Women’s Pro division at the Championship to 16 teams, now the top 3 finishing pairs at a Major will earn bids, like the Open Pro division.

Per their podium finishes at the Richmond Major and Chicago Major, Coastin’ (Nguyen/Wideman) and ellelowe submarine (Kim/Lowe) have earned bids to the Women’s Pro division at the 2024 Championship.

Mixed Pro 5.5+ at the Championship

With the impressive participation in Mixed Advanced 5.0+ (four-person team) this season, we’re excited to expand the Mixed Pro division at the Championship from four teams to eight teams!

The winners of the Majors will earn a bid to the Mixed Pro division at the Championship in Rock Hill in October.

Chalk (Clifford/Phan/Pierson/Rose) and Last minute (A. Jenki/O.Jenki/Klapwijk/Picone) have earned bids per their wins at the Richmond and Chicago Majors.

One bid is reserved for the top 2 European pairs. If either of the pairs choose to not play with each other, an additional bid will be added so that both of the top 2 European pairs get to play in the Mixed Pro division at the Championship. If either of the 2 top European pairs are not able to participate in the Championship, their bid will not drop down further.

The remaining teams are decided by the points race. The top X pairs based on points are able to choose another pair to play with them at the Championship. Pairs will only be eligible if they played as a pair at a Major. (The exact number of pairs will be determined post SLC and the European selections.)

Like the Majors, seeding for Mixed Pro at the Championship will be based on cumulative Mixed points.

Pool Play will consist of 2 pools of 4 teams each, playing one game to 21 per confrontation. A v A, B v B.

Please direct any and all feedback and questions to tournaments@spikeball.com.

July 9, 2024

Women's Division - Pro and Points

Women's Pro

As we've seen women's roundnet participation grow across the world -- especially in college and Europe -- we're excited to expand the Women's Pro division to 16 teams at our remaining 2024 marquee events: the Chicago Major, the Salt Lake City Major, and the Championship.

With this expansion, both the Open and Women's Pro divisions will be 16 teams in 2024. We're looking forward to highlighting the best of Open and Women's Pro from around the world!

Women's Points

All Challengers will award Women's teams the same amount of points as a 32+ team Premier division at a Challenger to be able to better reward teams for their performance and participation.

Please direct any and all feedback and questions to tournaments@spikeball.com.

Rankings

Points Scale

April 23, 2024

The Designated European Event

The designated European event — ETS Leuven, hosted by Roundnet Leuven, will have upgraded points to be equivalent to those of a Major.

We are excited to give the opportunity for more teams to earn points in Europe to qualify for the Spikeball Tour Series Championship later this year!

We look forward to seeing the competition in Leuven May 11-12.

Please direct any and all feedback and questions to tournaments@spikeball.com.

ETS Leuven

March 20, 2024

Mixed Pro Division Qualification & Changes Update

This update will address three main topics regarding the new Mixed Pro division format.

1. Mixed Division Changes

After receiving feedback on the lack of Mixed divisions being offered at Challenger events, we have decided to create a point distribution system for the Mixed division that allows you to earn points at Challengers and at Majors. By offering obtainable points at Challengers and Majors, we hope to incentivize more participation in Mixed.

The new Mixed points system will be updated on tournaments.spikeball.com and on Fwango at the end of the week.

2. Mixed Pro Division Qualification at the Championship

The Mixed Pro Division at the Championship will be made up of four, four-person squads.

Three of those squads will be qualified from the Mixed points race, organically. The fourth squad is reserved for a dedicated European squad, which will be determined by the European Roundnet Association and the ETS events.

Teams of two will have the opportunity to earn points in Mixed Advanced 4.5+ at Challengers, Mixed Advanced 4.5+ at Majors, and Mixed Advanced 5.0+ at Majors.

For the Mixed Advanced 5.0+ division at Majors, points will be awarded to both pairs equally. As an example, both pairs on the team of four that wins The Richmond Major will earn the same amount of points.

Following the final Challenger in Dallas, we will rank pairs based on points from their top three results. The top three finishing pairs will automatically qualify for the Mixed Pro division at the Championship.

The top three pairs will have the opportunity to choose another pair to join their team, thus creating three, four-person teams. The #1 seed has the opportunity to select first, followed by the #2 seed, then the #3 seed.

Guidelines for picking pairs

The pair that is picked MUST have played in at least one Major in the Mixed Advanced 5.0+ division together.
- The team that is picking a pair DOES NOT have to have played with the picked pair before.
Any of the qualified pairs CAN pick another qualified pair.
- For example: The #1 ranked team wants to play with the #3 ranked team, they can select them as their pair.
- Pairs ARE allowed to decline a pick. In this scenario, if the #3 team does not want to compete with the #1 team, they can decline the pick and the #1 ranked team will have to pick a different pair.
- If for whatever reason, the #1 ranked team cannot find a pair to compete with within the given timeline (TBD), their qualification spot will drop down to the next ranked team etc.
  - In this scenario, the qualification spot of the #3 ranked team would drop down to the #4 pair, etc.
- The list of teams that are allowed to be picked from will consist of the top 16 pairs. This will ensure that the teams that are allowed to be picked are committed to competing in Mixed Roundnet competition, and are athletes that have been competing all season in Mixed Roundnet events.
  - Exceptions may be granted by the Spikeball Tour Series on a case-by-case basis. Requests can be sent to tournaments@spikeball.com.
In the event of a tie in points, we will take into consideration points from a pair's fourth result as a team, extending to the fifth result, and so on.
The pair selection process will happen after the European qualification spot is secured.
The European qualification process will be based upon EURA rankings and the top two ranked Mixed teams will get the opportunity to form the four-person European squad. This will happen after the ETS Championship.
European pairs are allowed to decline the EURA selection if they think that they will be selected to pair with one of the other qualified pairs.
- In this scenario, the qualification spot will drop to the next ranked European Mixed team in order to fill the 4th qualification spot that is dedicated for European representation.

3. Other Notes About Mixed Roundnet & The Spikeball Tour Series

We have received several questions about whether the Mixed Pro 5.0+ Division is replacing traditional Mixed Divisions at Majors. The answer is no.

We will continue to offer Mixed Intermediate 2.0-4.0 and Mixed Advanced 4.5+ at Majors as well as Challengers for any players that prefer traditional, two-person team Mixed roundnet competition.

As it is always our goal to be as transparent as possible with the roundnet community, we wanted to share some additional thoughts on our expectations for the Mixed Pro 5.0+ Division.

Our aim is to get at least four, four-person teams to participate in the three 2024 Majors. We understand that the amount of available players in the US and Canada is lower than we would hope.

We hope that this division will offer a place for the top level Mixed Roundnet players to enjoy a new, refreshing, and focused playing experience at our marquee events in 2024.

Another goal of this format is to elevate the best Mixed players in the world and give fans a new and exciting way to watch the top level of Mixed play in the sport, as we've seen how squad formats can bring a new level of stakes and excitement to the sport.

There are always challenges that come with change and the reality of where the sport of roundnet is in 2024 is that most things are attempting to serve several different goals with limiting factors such as tight budgets, limited time, few resources, and little man-power.

We appreciate the patience and grace that the roundnet community has given to the Spikeball Tour Series over the past few years and we look forward to building the next great global sport with all of you!

As always, we welcome all feedback and ideas on how to make improvements to the tour series! Please direct any and all feedback and questions to tournaments@spikeball.com.

Edit March 26, 2024: We will now be looking at a team's top four results, moving to the fifth and sixth results as tiebreakers as needed. The 2024 Mixed Pro Points have been updated:

2024 Mixed Pro Points

March 6, 2024

College Power Rankings, Spring Sectionals, and College Nationals

As we head into the spring portion of the Spikeball College Roundnet season, we're excited to release the new mid-season Power Rankings and new guidelines for Spring Sectionals and College Nationals.

We’ve got a new #1 Power Ranked Team – Clemson. Congratulations to the Tigers!

Huge thanks to Tyler Kenner and Henry Pleszkoch (Penn State) for heading up the College Roundnet Power Rankings.

The Eight Spring Sectionals

Due to logistical constraints, there will only be eight Spring Sectionals. The Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Sections will not be holding events, but schools in those Sections are encouraged to participate in other Sectionals and College Nationals.

April 6 - Penn State - East Bay

April 6 - Ohio State University - Central

April 6 - Baylor University - South Central

April 6 -Arizona State University - Southwest

April 20 - University of Wisconsin - Stout - Great Lakes

April 20 - Emory University - Tropic South

April 27 - Siena College - Northeast

April 27 - University of Tennessee Knoxville - Atlantic Coast

Power Pool Bids at Spring Sectionals

At the eight Spring Sectionals, the winner of the D1 5-team Squads division will earn a bid to the Power Pools at College Nationals. Those eight teams will lock in the top eight seeds of the D1 Squads Bracket.

As with Power Pools in the Spikeball Tour Series Majors, we want to guarantee that the top teams will face each other. College Nationals is the only collegiate roundnet event that brings together schools from across the country. Power Pools will allow for more impactful matches for all schools attending.

If a D1 Squad wins their Sectional, but doesn’t attend College Nationals, their spot will be given to the next highest placing team. If a Sectional does not field a team, their spot will be given to the next highest placing team at the most attended D1 Squads division from Spring Sectionals 2024.

While schools can participate in any Sectional, they may only earn a bid by winning the Sectional they are from with the exception of Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain schools. Any school within the PNW and RM Sections can attempt to earn a bid at any other Sectional.

Any school is welcome to bring a D1 Squad to College Nationals. All participating D1 Squads must field all 5 teams – 3 Open, 1 Mixed, 1 Women’s. Each school is limited to one D1 Squad.

Seeding for College National Championship

In D1 Squads, there will be two Power Pools of four teams each – eight teams total. Those teams will lock the top 8 seeds of the bracket.

The pools will be determined by the Spikeball Tour Series Team and Spikeball College Roundnet Panel to ensure they are well-balanced in terms of skill and geographic spread.

There is no limit on how many teams can participate in the D1 Squads division. We’re excited to welcome D1 Squads, D2 Squads, and Individual teams from across the country to Minneapolis!

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Registration for Sectionals is OPEN! We’re finalizing a few more things and then registration for College Nationals will open. Thanks for your patience!

Be sure to follow us on @spikeballtourseries on Instagram for updates and highlights.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us an email at tournaments@spikeball.com. Thanks and Spike on!

February 6, 2024

Updates for the 2024 Season (pt. 1)

As the sport of roundnet grows, we are increasingly impressed with the level of competition across all levels. With each year, we want to take time to reflect on the past season of roundnet to see where we can improve to grow roundnet from the bottom to the top levels. The following updates pertain to Open Pro, Women’s Pro, Mixed Pro, and points.

The Top Divisions

As the Spikeball Tour Series has evolved over the years, we have seen a few changes in how the top division is structured. In 2017, the Premier division was introduced as a way to separate the top talent from the average level players who weren’t ready to compete with those at that top level. Throughout 2017 and 2018, it became apparent that an even further separation was needed to get the best competition possible at the season capping event: the 2018 National Championship. The 2018 National Championship was the first ever introduction of the Pro Division.

The Pro Division would then be the marquee piece to the 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 National Championships / Spikeball Tour Series Championships. In 2022, we introduced the 4-team Mixed Pro division, which expanded to 8 teams in 2023. 2023 was also the first year the 12-team Women's Pro division was added to the Championship.

In 2023, it became apparent that we are now ready for the next evolution of the Pro Division in the Spikeball Tour Series.

Enter: The Open Pro Division at Majors in 2024

For the upcoming 2024 Spikeball Tour Series season, we will be introducing the Open Pro Division at all three Majors. This division will take the top 16 Open teams and put them into their own divisions so that we can highlight the best of the best at each event with more opportunities for coverage, more impactful matches for each team, and a lighter schedule for the top athletes so that they can perform their best.

In order to qualify for the Open Pro Division at a Major, teams will have to be in the top 16 of the teams registered for the event at registration close based on the teams’ combined individual points as opposed to team points like at The Championship. This will allow for the top players to still make the Open Pro Division at the event even if they are not playing with their season partner. However, we predict that scenario won’t happen very often as most season teams will want to play together at these events to earn as many team points as possible.

Along with this change comes a revamped point distribution scale for all Spikeball Tour Series events. You can find that scale here:

2024 Points

A few things to note about the point distribution scale and how it affects the Open Pro Division at Majors:

One of our biggest goals with this points scale was to create a system that allowed for turnover at the bottom of the Pro Division between Majors. This way, teams that are on the bubble for qualifying still have a chance to make it at the next Major. That is why if you do very well in the Premier division at a Major, you will earn more points than teams that go winless in the Pro Division. We believe that this will create healthy competition at all levels and incentivize teams to take their consolation matches seriously in order to optimize their chances for qualifying or retaining their spot in the Pro Division. We look forward to seeing how this impacts the points race for the Pro Division at the Championship in the fall!

Women’s Pro Division at Majors

Along with the Open Pro division, we will be implementing a Women’s Pro division at Majors!

To have a Women's Pro division at Majors, there will need to be at least 20 Women's teams signed up for the event. The top 12 teams will qualify for the Women's Pro division based on the combination of the team's individual players’ points (taken from their top 3 finishes).

However, if there are fewer than 20 teams registered, we will combine the Women’s divisions and put the top x teams into power pools again, like in 2023.

Points and the Designated European Event

As there is no European Major this year, we wanted to give European players the chance to earn enough points to qualify for the Pro divisions at the Championship so we have partnered with the European Roundnet Association to designate a EURA Tour Series event as a stand in for the European Major. The event that we have selected is ETS Leuven and we have designated a special points scale listed here:

2024 Points

We are giving out elevated points that will equal more than the biggest challenger level events but slightly less than the official Spikeball Tour Series Major events. This is mainly due to the difference in event formats and qualifiers for the top divisions.

Mixed Pro at Majors

In 2024, we will be moving from traditional teams of two to teams of four players -- two female players and two male players. Registration for Mixed at the Majors will be open to everyone!

Pairings

During a confrontation, teams will break into 2 Mixed teams, where they will have the ability to choose their pairings. Teams DO NOT have to keep the same pairs throughout the entire tournament.

Confrontations

In both group stage and bracket stage, the LOWER seeded team will pick their teams first, designating one team as their "A" team and the other as their "B" team.

The higher seeded team will then "counter-pick," selecting their own "A" and "B" teams.

Group Stage

Group Stage confrontations will have two rounds. For the first round, the two “A” Pairs and the two “B” Pairs will play 1 game to 15. For the second round, the “A” Pair will play the “B” Pair and vice versa.

Bracket Stage

For the single-elimination bracket stage, teams will be seeded based on their overall combined records. Within each bracket match, teams will again designate pairs as their “A” Pair & “B” Pair.

Both Pairs will play BOTH of the opposing Pairs in 1 game to 21. This will result in up to 4 wins or losses. A team must win at least 3 out of 5 matchups to move on.

Tiebreakers

In the event of a tie after the two rounds of play, the teams will play a single game tiebreaker in which teams will rotate a player (male OR female) onto the field every 5 points.

The lower seeded team will be the first to pick the Pair that starts the game and the rotation. Then, the higher seeded team will counter-pick their starting Pair and their rotation.

When rotating players, teams MUST keep 1 male and 1 female on the court at all times. This means that men can only rotate in for a man and a woman can only rotate in for a woman. The two teams face off in 1 game to 21 to decide who moves onto the next round.

Here is an example of setting up for the Tiebreaker game:

Team A - #1 Seed

Buddy (M)

Clark (M)

Ali (F)

Olivia (F)

Team B - #2 Seed

Ryan (M)

Thomas (M)

Kalin (F)

Sarah (F)

As the lower seed, Team B selects their Pairs first
Team B chooses to send out Ryan and Sarah
Team B then chooses the rotation of: Kalin - Thomas - Ryan - Sarah
Team B then relays their lineup to Team A because Team A is the higher seeded team
Team A chooses to send out Clark and Ali first
Team A then chooses the rotation of: Buddy - Olivia - Ali - Clark

Mixed Pro at the Championship

More news to come about how to qualify for the Mixed Pro division at the Championship.

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Registration for April and May Spikeball Tour Series Challengers will open later this month, with the other Challengers and Majors to follow.

Be sure to follow us on @spikeballtourseries on Instagram for updates and highlights!

Past Updates

2023

August 29, 2023

STS Official Statement on the Mixed division points from the BC Open in Vancouver last weekend.

We have received a number of questions concerning how we calculated the Mixed Pro Division standings. We wanted to put out a statement to clarify any details so that everyone is aware and on the same page and to be fully transparent with our fans, players, and spectators.

For those that are unfamiliar with how the point structure works for our events when it relates to Pro Division standings of any kind, here are a few details to consider. There is a different point scale for events of different sizes and for different “levels” of events. (i.e. Majors vs Challengers.) The BC Open in Vancouver was the last Challenger event of the year before the Championship. We have awarded points based on the 16-team scale for the Mixed division from that event despite the event having 17 teams participating.

On Sunday morning (the day of the Mixed division), there were 16 teams signed up for the Mixed Advanced division. During morning announcements, there was a search for an extra team to play in the Mixed Advanced division with an offering to cover registration fees so that the event would earn the extra 17-team Challenger points. A team was then moved from the Mixed Intermediate division to Mixed Advanced under these circumstances. This is an unacceptable practice and we do not condone moving a team up that is not at the Mixed Advanced level just so that one team has a chance to earn more points toward the Mixed Pro Division at The Championship. While there are no written rules against what occurred, we consider this to be gamifying the system and taking advantage of a loophole. We strongly believe that this goes against the integrity of the Spikeball Tour Series. This is why we have made the decision to treat the Mixed Advanced Division as a 16-team Challenger point scale instead of the 17-team point scale.

Learn more about the Top Divisions

We look forward to the Mixed Pro Division at The Championship and stay tuned to our social media channels on Live Coverage details and more!

If you have questions, comments, concerns, etc. please direct them to tournaments@spikeball.com

July 20, 2023

From Chris Ruder, CEO, Spikeball Inc.

Hey roundnet players and Spikeball community,

We are so pumped about the rollout of MAMMOTH and can’t wait to ship out the hundreds of orders we’ve received! We love the notes and support we've been receiving and see there seems to be some concern that we’re going to try to force this to be the official kit in tournaments (spoiler alert: we’re not) while others have concerns with the price ($299). I appreciate the concerns. That means you care, which is something most companies would die for. I’d like to give a little background on why we created it and what we’re hoping to accomplish.

While we would like for the Spikeball MAMMOTH roundnet kit to become the standard equipment used in tournaments but, we don't see that happening any time soon. Don't worry though, we're not going to try to force anything through. Our Pro sets will continue to be the ones we use at least through the 2024 season.

Over time, we are hoping that everyone (players, tournament directors, governing bodies, spectators, etc) will choose it to become the new standard. We may host some smaller, Mammoth-only tournaments next year but they won’t count towards STS rankings/points/etc. You will start seeing MAMMOTH sets on the sidelines at the bigger tournaments so more players can experience it. Who knows, if the players aren't into it, it may never become the official set. We hope this isn't the case, but either way, this will be a collaborative effort!

So, why did we create MAMMOTH and what are we hoping to accomplish? Over the years we've noticed that gameplay at its highest level tends to have the shortest rallies. We heard the desire for more defendable rallies, and we got to work. Amongst other drawbacks, these shorter rallies can limit interest from fans and people watching online. The sport needs way more fans to continue to grow.

For the past 10+ years, in collaboration with players and the community, we've been testing variations on equipment and rules in hopes to advance the sport. One big, recent improvement from this testing was the no hit zone. Most people had reservations about it when it was announced but once they tried it, they loved it.

With all innovations, like MAMMOTH, the creators should expect some resistance. We are confident that once people play with it, they'll see what makes it so special. We invested a ton and are placing a big bet that we can continue to innovate and grow. That’s what we think is needed to move something forward, especially an emerging sport. We’re hoping you can continue to push the sport forward with us.

Thanks,

Chris Ruder

CEO, Spikeball Inc.

July 6, 2023

Our Biggest Set Yet: The Spikeball™ MAMMOTH™ Kit!

After years of development, testing, revisions, and more testing, we’re excited that the Spikeball™ MAMMOTH™ Kit is here.

We see massive potential for this equipment to grow the sport and bring more people into the competitive roundnet community and to the Spikeball Tour Series.

We hope that one day, the MAMMOTH™ roundnet kit will be the official tournament set for the Spikeball Tour Series. We plan to work with USA Roundnet, the International Roundnet Federation, the community and more to see how the set can be used in a local and global capacity moving forward. Though we don’t see this implementation happening soon, we still believe that this set will create more rallies and accelerate the sport. As always, we look forward to working with you, the players, to make sure we’re developing products that help advance the sport of roundnet and help you become the best players you can be.

About the Kit

MAMMOTH FRAME™

The MAMMOTH™ kit is slightly taller than the Spikeball Pro kit standing at 12 in (vs 8 on the pro). This will allow more time for players to get to drop shots, stand taller when playing body defense, and the unique perk of not having to worry about any balls under the net interfering with play!

The MAMMOTH™ kit features the standard 36 inch diameter that is used in Spikeball Tour Series events currently.

TRU-FIT SPIDERNET™
The new paracord system guarantees that every MAMMOTH™ kit will have the exact same net tension and bounce. Gone are the days of adjusting the netting between games or between points.

MAV1 BALL™
The ball that is built to last. The MAV1 BALL™ is bigger, but was made to keep the feathery touch of the sport alive, so we designed this ball to feel similar to the Pro ball you know and love, but better.

We kept the familiar pips of the Pro ball when designing the MAV1 BALL™ to keep the spin but added a soft feel to grip, manipulate and control the ball in ways you can’t even imagine, but will want to explore.

We designed this ball with a dual-layer core that will allow the ball to be used in various climates and maintain the same consistency throughout. This is a HUGE improvement to the current Pro ball and a big win for equipment consistency across the board.

The MAV1 BALL™ will soon be available for purchase.

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This is a set we love and believe in. We hope you enjoy playing on the MAMMOTH™!

- The Spikeball Tour Series Team

See the MAMMOTH™

April 11, 2023

Officiating Update

The Spikeball Tour Series and USA Roundnet are excited to partner on experimenting with referees to advance officiating in roundnet.
In a recent survey of USAR Members, 69.2% favor having referees at the highest level. USAR has analyzed its officiating guidelines to begin the development of experimental guidelines for refereeing.

What are the referee guidelines?
Based heavily on USAR Observer Guidelines, key differences include active calls on serves, rims, and any previously passive infractions. Because this effort is new and experimental, effective guidelines may evolve frequently throughout 2023 as learnings are documented… an addendum to the USAR officiating guidelines may be published as the experiment progresses.

How often will referees be used?
STS is working to test referees in the semi-finals and finals of the highest open, women’s, and mixed divisions at their Majors in 2023.

Who can be a referee?
Because refereeing is experimental, there is not yet a formal certification process. USAR Observer certification will continue to be a critical credential, and STS will lead sourcing field-experienced observers to be trained as referees throughout the year.

Is this the end of observing?
No. Observing is a critical function to help manage matches not covered by referees. USAR will continue to maintain observer certifications for active USAR Members seeking this credential.

March 24, 2023

2023 Season Initiatives

The 2023 season is just around the corner!

With every year, we recognize new opportunities to push the sport forward. The Spikeball Tour Series team is excited to present these initiatives in hopes that they will further elevate and professionalize the sport.

Officiating
We are delighted to welcome Richard Tarpey as the Officiating Coordinator and Head Referee at each of our US-based Majors.

In addition to refereeing at all of the Majors, Rich will be leading officiating training sessions the Friday before each Major, which we hope will help certify more Observers and Referees.

In conjunction with USA Roundnet, we will be releasing preliminary guidelines for roundnet refereeing in the days to come.

Event Stream Coverage
In 2023, we will be testing out a variety of elements on stream that we think will improve the viewer experience.

We are specifically looking forward to testing out having a manned camera to let viewers get up close and personal with the players, teams, and action on the court.

Testing
We are thankful for the opportunities we’ve had to partner with different organizations to test these initiatives ahead of the season, such as a Pro Exhibition hosted by Roundnetwork and this weekend at the ATX Spikedown, hosted by Trash Roundnet Players.

We are excited to keep testing these changes out ahead of the season, so we can fully implement them for the first Major in Richmond April 15 - 16.

Be on the lookout for the live coverage schedule of ATX Spikedown coming soon on the @spikeballtourseries Instagram!

ATX Stream on Twitch

February 2, 2023

Changes for the 2023 Season

As always, we’re taking learnings from last season and making changes in an effort to keep moving the sport forward.

We understand that with each decision there are tradeoffs. There is no perfect system, but through our choices we put more focus on areas we think are worth prioritizing. So here’s a closer look at some of those choices, the tradeoffs involved, and the priorities that we’re focusing on:

Majors in One Day

Semis and Finals of Premier on Sundays gave us a greater ability to capture content, tell stories, and focus on various divisions. While it removed some of the frantic hustle to wrap up the events, it also extinguished some of the excitement that builds up on Saturday. We found that Saturdays under the lights were electric and it was hard to get back to that level on Sunday.

We want to prioritize creating the best atmosphere for the most people. With the main event concluding in one day that means more players are likely to stick around, we maintain the energy, and we make figuring out travel a little bit easier. This also allows us to use Sunday for Mixed, giving more ways to play at our marquee events.

Two Game Pool Play Matches (Premier and Women’s Advanced at Majors)

Finishing Majors in one day means the day will inevitably go longer. However, we're still aiming for the events to end at a reasonable time. Using best of three series in pool play creates a great deal of uncertainty in the timing of the event. When each round can vary by 30 minutes depending on if it goes to a game three, it’s nearly impossible to create a reliable schedule.

Having teams play two games against each opponent gives us a much more consistent schedule, reduces the workload on players, and puts the focus on bracket play. While some matchups will end in a split, we don’t see that as a bad thing. In actuality, it creates a more level playing field as each team has an opportunity to choose to serve/recieve and more teams are playing the same number of matches going into bracket play.

Points System

With more Challenger events and potentially a greater range of competitiveness between them we wanted a simple point system that could better adapt. We created additional tiers to adjust the point scale based on the number of premier teams registered for the event. We also adjusted the values of Majors and Championships accordingly.

Last year points earned from the 2021 season were worth 25% in the current season. We felt like this depreciation created a situation where participating in early events overinflated ranking. So this season, 2022 points will be worth 50% of their value. This depreciation still allows plenty of room for upward mobility, but balances the effect of early participation.

See the Points System

Power Pools (Premier and Women’s Advanced at Majors)

Our belief is that more competitive matches lead to better events. Throughout the years we’ve introduced new divisions to give people the opportunity to play at the best competitive level for them.

While we don’t think we’re in the position yet to break out any new divisions from Premier or Women’s advanced, we do think that both of these divisions would benefit from power pools - a pool play grouping of the teams who have earned the most points, play each other in pool play, and fight for the top seeds.

We are using the number of teams registered to determine the number of power pool spots and our point system to rank those teams. Every team in the division still has the ability to win the tournament, but the players who have performed well historically get more matches against the other top teams. It’s an earned advantage. Inevitably, this means that some good teams will be on the bubble and left out of power pools. Overall, however, more teams will get more competitive matches (both inside and outside of the power pools) and the seeding will be more accurate because of that. It also means that the teams in power pools will be evaluated against the same number of matchups. Rather than the one seed being based on whatever team obliterated the weakest team in their pool, it will be based on how teams performed against the top. Here’s what it would have looked like if we used the system for 2022 Majors.

More About the Majors Format

Women’s Pro Division

We want to reward results throughout the season, promote teams sticking together, and elevate the Championship. A Women’s Pro division is a great milestone to further professionalize the women’s scene. Introducing this system puts more at stake for each of our Majors and allows us to highlight the best of the best at the Championship. Furthermore, it ensures even pools and high caliber competition at the Championship. The tradeoff here is that some talented teams will not make the cutoff. That said, this is the case in any high level sport, and we believe the motivation to make it into the 12-team Women's Pro Division will positively impact the women’s division as a whole.

New Challenger Format

Last season, Challenger events were run by independent tournament directors off of Spikeball’s playbook. Spikeball determined what price registration should be, how pools would be made, what time bracket play should start, and the prize money. While this created very standardized events, the process took away from the host’s ownership, creativity, and personal brand. Any event was just “Tour Stop X of 16”.

This year Spikeball is focused on better supporting local roundnet organizations by giving them more room to create value, innovate, and have ownership of their event. Spikeball requires certain levels of standardization to ensure safety and quality, but overall we’re putting the decision making power in the hands of the host. They own the events! They’re branding their own tournaments which are part of the Challenger Series. Our hope is that by sponsoring these events and giving hosts the ability to make them their own the best ideas will rise to the top, and the sport will move forward at a faster pace.

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Like anything new, we know there will be some kinks to work out along the way and appreciate your support and patience as we do so. Spike on!

- The Sports Development Team

2022

December 14, 2022

College Nationals - Bids and D1 Squads

College Nationals will be in Richmond, VA May 20 - 21!

Unlike in seasons past, you will not need a bid to compete in the D1 Squads Division. D1 Squads at Spring Sectionals and College Nationals will be using 5-Team Squads (3 Open, 1 Mixed, 1 Women's team).

Registrations will open soon.

5-Team Squads

July 22, 2022

Pro Division Tie Breakers

(if applicable) Head to head bracket play record from 2022 Challengers and Majors
Record from 2022 Challengers and Majors against (same) teams that have earned Pro Auto Bids (doesn't matter whether or not they accepted them)
Most points earned from a single event
(if applicable) Highest finish at 4th event. Keep extending if necessary.

April 29, 2022

European Premier Update

We have updated the format of our European Challenger events to improve competition based on the unique context. Specifically, we have removed the Premier division and all teams who want to prove they are the best will compete in Contender. Because there has been less opportunity to earn Premier in Europe, we want to make sure that top European teams get to compete for the top spots and prizes at this event. The top 8 teams that are not fully Premier will earn Premier. If 8 fully Premier teams participate then the event will earn full Challenger points towards the Spikeball Tour Series ranking. Premier points can only be earned by teams that also earn/have Premier. As this is the first year that the Spikeball Tour Series has events taking place in Europe, we think this change will yield better competition and more accurate results.

April 20, 2022

Tournament Cancellation/Weather Policy

Spikeball aims to provide a safe environment for its events. In general, we run events rain or shine. However, if for some reason we must cancel, postpone, or relocate an event due to uncontrollable weather conditions or other circumstances beyond our reasonable control, emails will be sent to all registered participants and announcements will be made on the event website and our social networking channels.

We will do everything within our power to make sure that events take place, but the safety of our participants is our number one concern. When registering for an event, you are accepting a small risk that uncontrollable circumstances might mean events need to be modified, postponed, or canceled. As such, no refunds will be given if a tournament is modified, postponed, or canceled for circumstances beyond Spikeball™’s reasonable control.

Coed Sunday

Coed has been CRUSHING it this year!! With the extra round (or two) of bracket play the tournament has been going until 4 or 5pm so please book your Sunday night flights with that in mind.

SAO Premier Qualifiers (formerly known as Sanctioned events)

The top 3 non-Premier teams at each event will earn Premier status and will be able to compete in the Premier 5.0 division of the Spikeball Tour Series

Image showing the 2022 SAO Premier Qualifiers schedule. The schedule lists dates and locations for various Spikeball events, starting from April 30 in Provo, UT, and ending on September 3 in both Nashville, TN, and Elma, NY. The image includes logos of different sponsoring organizations and a picture of an athlete wearing sports gear, seemingly in action. The athlete is wearing a colorful, long-sleeve top with black shorts and is focused on a point above them. The schedule includes events in multiple U.S. cities, as well as international locations like Riga, Latvia; Gatineau, QC; Kingston, ON; Constanta, Romania; and Kangasala, Finland.

2021

Safety First

We're optimistic that we'll be able to safely run events in 2021 and are super excited for the season. Our number one priority is the safety of our players, fans, staff and the communities that they are all a part of. We are hopeful that we will be able to run our season as planned, but will adjust accordingly should running any of these events create unnecessary risks.

What's New for 2021?

We are super excited about the 2021 schedule. Our updates are focused on creating a better player experience and more exciting tournament atmosphere.

Ten event national series, two day format
Smaller pools, Best of 3 matches
Best teams from each pool earn spots in top divisional brackets (e.g. Premier Pool Play ➡ Pro Bracket)
Nationals Pro division bid awarded at each event
Up to $50K in cash prizes up for grabs throughout the season

Tour Series Format

For the Contender and Premier/Pro divisions, events will be two days. This structure keeps a low barrier of entry for Beginner, Youth, Intermediate and Women's divisions while letting us put them in the spotlight on Saturday. This setup also helps us remove some of the rush, provide more evenly matched games, and tell better stories.

The pool play format will be changing to create more meaningful, accurate, and competitive pool play matches. There will be more details to come, but check out the tournament FAQs for additional info.

Questions? Shoot us an email over at tournaments@spikeball.com