With the start of a new school year, there are clubs that look forward to meeting again. After months of being in quarantine, there was one club that was ready to return to the playing field: Spikeball. Spikeball Club was formed last year and had no more than a handful of people in it. 

The growing popularity of the new sport, roundnet, will be the reason for a change in the Spikeball Club. Over the long-lasting quarantine period, there was a jump in Spikeball awareness. Since this sport is able to be played safely with distance, it immediately got noticed because there were no other sports on television. Spikeball is played similar to volleyball, but instead of returning the ball over a net players must bounce a ball onto one. Three hits are allowed to each duo and they cannot be consecutively used by the same person. 

Because of the growing popularity, this sport will grow even more with the holiday season coming up. 

Last year the club was limited to a few games because of how few people were in it, but Senior Spikeball Club President, Cinch Smith, hopes for a bigger turnout this year. 

“We can definitely get 15-20 people this year,” Smith stated.

As far as club activities go, Smith has major plans for the 2020-2021 school year. With activities such as tournaments, league play, and practices. There will be no shortage of Spikeball play. 

Despite being in a pandemic, Spikeball can be played safely with a mask. The sport has distance between players; however, there is rarely a six feet distance between people. 

Smith said, “No matter how fun Spikeball is, it cannot be played unless people are healthy and safe.” 

Spikeball Club Sponsor Senior Ruiz also puts safety at the top of the list. “I know we’re taking precautions with group size,” Ruiz stated. 

Commitment to safety is a big factor in encouraging students to join this younger club. Senior Ethan James looks forward to joining the club, “During the pandemic, my friends and I picked up the sport, and when I heard we had a club here at Perry, I had to join,” James said.

One of the plans for the club will be playing in games against other schools’ Spikeball clubs. This adds another level of interest for new members. 

With all of the new additions to the club, there is an expectation that this will be one of the more fun clubs at school. Smith emphasized that he wanted to play more games this year and do more in the club. Creating new friendships and finding new people to play the sport with are the two most important things to him. There was also a hint at a tournament that will be held in the Spring.