Spikeball Craze Sure To Be Showcased On Area Beaches Over Holiday Weekend
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If you're heading to the beach this weekend, you will most likely see a new sport taking this country by storm.
It's called "Spikeball," and the world's largest tournament is held on Coney Island, CBS2's Steve Overmyer reported Thursday.
It was once, simply, another unknown lawn game of the 1980s, but Spikeball now has 300 tournaments nationwide. It's gone from just being a toy to becoming a legitimate sport.
It's not often you come across a sport with no boundaries.
"If volleyball and Four Square had a baby, that's what it is," Spikeball CEO Chris Ruder said.
Just like in volleyball, you have three touches per side, but that's where the similarities end.
"It's a 360 game -- plays like volleyball, but instead of the ball going over the net changing possession, when the ball hits the net it changes possession," Spikeball player Brent Sheppard said.
The competition is serious, but the team names aren't. From "I Am Groot" to "The Spiking Flovers," you get the sense the heart of Spikeball is its sociability.
"It's a fast, action-packed sport, as opposed to baseball where you wait around. You're in every play and you get some camaraderie between your teammates," player Paul Gomez said.
You get the sense that the heart of Spikeball is its sociability.
"We're seeing people that are meeting at tournaments that are starting to date now. There's relationships happening. Everybody here today showed up more or less showed as complete strangers. By the end of the day and as you are already seeing they are becoming good friends," Ruder added.
That's fitting, considering friendship created this Spikeball revival. Ruder and his friends didn't invent the sport; they just loved playing it. So after the original company abandoned the product, these guys picked up the trademark.
"This is the most gratifying part of the job. When we launched the company we thought we were just gonna sell you this $50 product, you were gonna take take it and that would be it, but tournaments are popping up everywhere," Ruder said.
"The fact we just did it, pulled the trigger and went for it. Had we not done that, none of this would be here today and I'd probably be sitting in a cubicle somewhere not having much fun," he added.
In just three short years Spikeball has evolved from a recreational game on college campuses to a national movement, not to mention a profitable business. Its valuation has tripled this year. Spikeball is on track to make $6 million in revenue, Overmyer reported.
