SPORTS & REC
Taking Fun to the Next Level By Ashlyn Miller
The schedules of Paul Smith and Ryan Fitzgerald are filled with tournaments, training, races, and practice time, but their names can’t be found on any Messiah athletic roster. Their sport of choice? For Fitzgerald, it’s Spikeball, a unique game that combines principles of handball and volleyball. Smith pursues paddleboarding, a water sport that’s currently in a period of intense public interest and growth. The Swinging Bridge Magazine talked to both students to discover how they pursue their passion.
Unusual Game, Once-in-a-lifetime Experiences Fitzgerald, a senior Business Administration major, says he’s always been into “odd and new, creative games.” A former high school soccer player, he discovered the game via social media and began to play with his teammates after practice. Almost immediately, he was hooked. “I looked it up on YouTube, and after hours of looking at video, I immediately bought a set and I was addicted from there on.” Soon, he decided to take his interest in the sport to the next level. Fitzgerald and one of his high school friends, Tyler Cisek, formed a team, which they soon dubbed, “The Rookies.”As natives of New York, The Rookies entered a tournament on Coney Island in June of 2013. Despite it being their first competitive appearance, Fitzgerald and Cisek made it to the quarterfinals where the played California-based Chico Spikeball, the long-standing number one team and “royalty” of competitive Spikeball. After getting involved and experiencing success so quickly, Fitzgerald became an ambassador for Spikeball, a system that the company promotes among college students to spread knowledge of the sport on their respective campuses. In his role, Fitzgerald can purchase Spikeball sets at a discounted price and sell them to interested customers. “I had sets with me when I came to Messiah as a freshman (in 2013), and within two months, ten people had bought a set,” says Fitzgerald. Since then, Fitzgerald has taken Spikeball at Messiah a step further by developing a Facebook group, Messiah College Spikeball, that can play weekly games or facilitate pick-up matches. The group has grown enough that it sent three Messiah teams to a Lancaster tournament in October. Some of The Rookies’ most recent appearances include a second place finish at the East Coast Regionals in September and a fifth-place berth at Nationals in Nashville the weekend of Oct. 17th. In the past, tournaments have taken The Rookies as far as Chicago, New Hampshire, and the first Nationals tournament held last year in Santa Monica, CA where The Rookies grabbed second place. Fitzgerald even went to a tournament directly after he touched ground in the United States after a semester of studying abroad in Thailand. “I will always say that the best cure for jet lag is Spikeball,” says Fitzgerald.
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DEC 2015
Like any serious competitive sport, Spikeball has developed a governing body, USA Spikeball. They organize the major tournaments and recently have done more to promote the sport. “They have started a program where the top eight teams in the country are given sponsored gear to encourage teams to get better and to gain public recognition of the best players,” says Fitzgerald. One of Fitzgerald’s favorite aspects of competitive Spikeball is the community he develops at the tournaments. He and Cisek have made friends from all over the country and have discovered how dedicated the Spikeball community is to the sport. As proof, Fitzgerald cites a story of how he was visiting family in Florida and was curious to see if there were Spikeballers in the area. He put a message out on a Facebook group and was surprised when he got an enthusiastic response. “This (group of) guys were willing to drive three hours to play pickup…that just shows you the dedication. People take this like a primary sport,” says Fitzgerald. No matter how far The Rookies go competitively, Fitzgerald says he will always maintain his love for the game. With a major in business, he hopes to potentially secure an internship with Spikeball or maybe develop his own original game. “I love the challenge of mental strategy. The physical deception you use to score is pure fun to me.”
Putting a Hobby to Work- Stand Up Paddle Boarding Smith, on the other hand, takes his sport from dry land out onto the water. He started surfing his freshman year of high school and decided soon after to try something new with paddle boarding.