A Year To Remember - 2020 a year in review
Roundnet Australia -2020 Review
Written by Alex Capp (Sports Development Officer @ Roundnet Australia)
2020 has been a challenging and difficult year. With the devastating impact of COVID-19 around the world sending many places into lockdown, it allowed for a unique opportunity for this unique sport of ours to grow and develop in new ways.
So, to remind us all of the positive and great things to come out of this year here are just some of the many highlights that happened in 2020 for Roundnet Australia and within the wider International Roundnet community.
Roundnet World Bushfire Appeal: Roundnet World was kind enough to reach out to us at Roundnet Australia and offered to sell Roundnet Aus T-shirts to raise funds to send to those families suffering from the devastating impact of the Australian Bushfires. Many groups and people around the world rallied together and bought shirts to support those Australians doing it tough. Thanks to all who supported the cause and helped out, especially @spikeballclubkoeln all the way from Germany who are repping our Roundnet Australia shirts on the other side of the world! Thanks guys (@spikeballclubkoeln pictured below)
Online Roundnet challenges: With the world being thrown into a whirlwind and many countries going into lockdown, it was only suitable that online social media lockdown challenges were put to the public. Trippy Lizard Roundnet with the #quarantween challenge proved to be a tough one to master. However, the crew at Roundnet Aus came up with an adaptation of the #quaratween challenge and made the #leftrightgoodnight challenge which proved to be just as tough. With the world locked inside, Roundnet found a new way to connect online between communities. Make sure to go check out and follow @utahroundnet @EUSRA @spikeballroundnet @roundnetworld + heaps of other international roundnet groups on Instagram and Facebook to stay updated with all things roundnet!
Roundnet Australia Great Spikeball giveaway: In partnership with Spikeball, Roundnet Australia was able to hand out over 100 Spikeball kits around Australia. Many schools, youth groups and well deserving families received Spikeball kits after a tough start to the year.
Spikeball Australia new website launched: Our new website was launched mid year which allowed for a bunch of new ways to shop Spikeball gear, learn new skills via videos and also allowed for more people to get in touch with us about starting a club! We also saw the launch of sweet new Spikeball gear such as Spikebrite, SpikeBuoy, T-Shirts, Caps + Hoodies hit our store, so if you're looking for some sweet Christmas pressies then look no further!
If you haven't already checked it out, here's the website: www.spikeballaustralia.com.au
Release of the Australian Roundnet Curriculum: The team at Roundnet Australia were excited to finally be able to release the Australian Roundnet Curriculum as a resource for all schools and educational institutions to use this year. The curriculum was developed in collaboration with ACHPER and HPE teachers to ensure that all the skills and drills being developed could be used in a Net and Wall unit.
If you're a teacher or student at a school and would love to buy some kits, get in touch with us and along with any school purchase we will send across the free school resource for you to use in your PE classes!
Check out this webpage to inquire about kits and the curriculum for your school: www.spikeballaustralia.com.au/pages/schools
Increase in Australian Roundnet Clubs: With our new website launched it has allowed for a more streamline communication system with inquiries about starting up clubs! As a result, we saw a big jump in interest from people all over the country asking for advice on how to start up a club of their own. With more and more people starting their own Roundnet communities and hubs we'll see a rise and growth in the sport around the nation in no time!
If you're interested in starting up a club in your area with some friends, check out this link and we'll get in touch: www.spikeballaustralia.com.au/pages/clubs
Announcement of the International Roundnet Federation (IRF): With such an enormous uptake and growth period of the sport worldwide over the last couple of years it all but pointed to the eventual creation of a governing body for the Sport of Roundnet, enter the IRF. With the creation of the IRF it marked the start of a journey towards eventually seeing Roundnet being played at the Olympics one day.
Go check out their website: www.roundnetfederation.org/about
Return to Tournaments (COVID-Safe Tournaments) - The Sydney Slam: With most of the years State Tournament plans put on hold, it was finally time to get back to tournaments after a 9 month hiatus. On Saturday November 28th Roundnet Australia hosted at Mason Park, Homebush our first ever COVID-Safe Tournament, the Sydney Slam. The day was a blast with many new teams and first time players joining us for a great day out. It was midway through a NSW heat wave with temperatures of up to 40 degrees celsius, but that didn't stop people coming out for a ripper day.
In summary, 2020 was a year that none of us expected and definitely wouldn't have hoped for. But while things didn't initially turn out as planned, there were still many great things that came out of this year. The international Roundnet scene and community is still growing, but we should be encouraged by the increase in awareness, participation and excitement around the sport around the globe. No doubt hundreds of kids around Australia will be opening up Spikeball kits on Christmas morning and joining a movement that is only growing larger day by day. Will you join the movement?