The Knightly News

The extracurricular sports offered at North are not the only ones students here like to play—just consider pickleball and gatorball.  One other sport recently introduced to North is spikeball.

Spikeball is basically a combination of volleyball and four square.  A match consists of two teams of two players.  The two teams, which can move wherever they want once the ball is served, gather around a net that looks like a miniature trampoline.

The objective of spikeball is to hit the ball on the net so that the opposing team cannot return it properly.  Regardless of who’s serving, points are scored whenever the ball hits the ground, the ball isn’t hit into the net within three hits, the ball hits the rim of the net, the ball doesn’t clear the rim, or one team commits an infraction.

Spikeball was created in 2008 by Chris Ruder.  Spikeball Inc, the official spikeball organization, encourages the spread of spikeball to schools.  According to the organization’s official website, “Fuquay Varina High School has the biggest Spikeball club we’ve ever seen.  With over 70 members, the sport has grown exponentially. We at Spikeball Inc. were incredibly impressed with their growth.”

More specific to North, the spikeball team, which consist mostly of seniors, calls itself the Spoke Bros.  The members usually play against each other during their sessions, and the location of meetings varies depending on the weather and space availability.  Though they don’t play against other schools, the Spoke Bros hope to compete in a regional tournament sometime this spring.

The reason this team was formed was because the members of the team have a strong passion for the sport.  “We established this club in order to spread our love for spike,” Spoke Bros member Jonathan Wang, a senior, said.

The Spoke Bros exhibit strong dedication toward Spikeball.  Asked about how important this sport is to his lifestyle, Spoke Bros member David Hu, a senior, replied, “Spikeball is a lifestyle.”  In addition, Spoke Bros is a very proud team.  “All the cool cats play spikeball,” Spoke Bros member Danny Kuriakose, a senior, said.

Spoke Bros not only have strong pride; they have also accomplished a lot.  “We originally had around seven kids who played, but now we have a group of 30 people to play with.  We also managed to produce the rights to use the official protected spikeball logo on our t-shirts,” Spoke Bros member and senior David Perron said.

Yes, he said t-shirts.  The spikeball team ordered customized t-shirts that are blue with “Spoke Bros” written on the front and the official Spikeball logo over the chest.

The flame that keeps Spoke Bros alive burns furiously, and it looks like it will not be extinguished anytime soon, no matter how strong a wind may blow or how much water gets splashed.  “We just want people to get interested in spikeball and maybe keep it a tradition for future years,” Wang said.  “I certainly intend on playing it whenever I can after high school.”