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Spikeball |
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berndt_mann
Gold Member Joined: 02/02/2015 Location: Tucson, Arizona Status: Offline Points: 1719 |
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Posted: 05/16/2015 at 4:15pm |
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(excerpted from USASpikeball.com)
Spikeball is played 2 vs 2. Described as kinda sorta like volleyball and foursquare but on steroids. There are 250,000+ players in the US and 1,000+ nationally ranked teams! Want to become ranked? Want to play in or host a tournament (there were over 100 of them last year alone!)? USASpikeball.com is the site for you. This is terrifying. How many of you have ever heard of spikeball? I hadn't, until I watched Shark Tank last night and a couple of guys from USASpikeball came on to try to convince at least one of the sharks that Spikeball was going to be the next big thing in American sport. It's simple in concept but very athletic and strenuous. You put the ball into play by whopping it onto a small circular trampoline-like gizmo and then everybody tries to keep the small ball in play without it touching the ground. And USASpikeball claims (who knows how true or how hyped?) that there are 250,000 people in the U.S. alone doing this. Plus 1,000+ nationally ranked teams. Whoa. Somebody is doing some heavy selling and marketing here. And what is USA Table Tennis, the beloved national governing body for the sport doing to promote it so that membership will some day reach about five figures (well, there are a few more cadets and juniors than there once were)? The millions of great unwashed who like a game of pong now and then? Screw 'em. Let them play spikeball. |
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bmann1942
Setup: Mark Bellamy Master Craftsman blade, British Leyland hard rubber |
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pgpg
Gold Member Joined: 11/18/2013 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1306 |
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Saw it played once couple of weeks ago at a local college - was wondering what that is - now I know.
Edit: From what I saw it did not look really athletic or strenuous, reminded me of a hacky sack a bit. Edited by pgpg - 05/16/2015 at 5:36pm |
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USATT: ~1810
Butterfly Defense Alpha ST - H3 Neo - Cloud&Fog OX |
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igorponger
Premier Member Joined: 07/29/2006 Location: Everywhere Status: Offline Points: 3252 |
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kenneyy88
Premier Member Joined: 01/06/2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4074 |
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Looks kinda fun
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wturber
Premier Member Joined: 10/28/2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3899 |
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USA Table Tennis doesn't have owners, stockholder etc. USATT has no marketing department and no marketing budget. There is no one person or group who has a large vested interest in promoting table tennis in general as opposed to their particular club or athlete. That's not to say that there is no marketing at all. Some does happen. But it has clearly not been a priority. So it is no surprise that table tennis growth in the USA is mostly about on par with the nations population growth.
I'm sure that the owners of Spikeball are VERY focused on marketing the sport. It only makes sense. They own the name and sell the gear. They stand to benefit in a huge way from it. You bet they are marketing the heck out of it. |
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Jay Turberville
www.jayandwanda.com Hardbat: Nittaku Resist w/ Dr. Evil or Friendship 802-40 OX |
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Pondus
Gold Member Joined: 04/07/2012 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1933 |
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Wturber is making Samuel feel overlooked and insignificant...
Edited by Pondus - 05/17/2015 at 12:24am |
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wturber
Premier Member Joined: 10/28/2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3899 |
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My apologies to Samuel. I double-checked the website and didn't find him. Frankly, I think it is great that they now have a Marketing Manager. I checked the most recent available USATT financial audit and in 2013 a total of about $6000 was spent on marketing. Let's hope that the focus is truly shifting. Better late than never. |
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Jay Turberville
www.jayandwanda.com Hardbat: Nittaku Resist w/ Dr. Evil or Friendship 802-40 OX |
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