The sport of spikeball took off in the mid 2010’s but the idea was originally invented in 1989. An entrepreneur by the name of Jeff Knurek had a degree in Industrial Design and Art Education and knew he wanted to be a toy inventor. He took a job with a toy creation firm in which his job was to come up with possible ideas for toys and then to pitch them to his team. This idea of spikeball started when Knurek originally pitched an idea of a “pitch back” net. This idea was very primitive. he started looking at how to make this a game and explored different objects that could be thrown off the net. One source says that he explored everything from large balls to square figures until he settled on the small round ball that we know today. He prototyped this idea with a hula hoop and then eventually with PVC pipe. He continued to build this idea until Tomy games bought it in 1989.
Looking at Knureks story, I really like how he took an idea that was nothing and built it into a game. Seeing how he came up with the ball and the round net is very motivating! It seems as though he was driven by his own motives. This was his job to come up with toys and he took it upon himself to come up with something great. This idea was interesting similarly because it was his job to come up with this idea! The firm he worked for seems very interesting. It encourages its employees to go out on their own and make their ideas great. Knuerek clearly has an entrepreneurial drive because of how he took this idea already to market. The thing that really strikes me about this story was how innovative this idea is. I can not find anything like the game of spikeball out there. He took the idea of volleyball and completely flipped it… literally! The way this entrepreneur motivated me is in originality. It shows me that I do not need to just slightly change something out there, or do something cheaper. Knuerek shows me that I could completely change how something is done!
If you would like to learn more about his story, check out his interview! https://roundnetworld.com/blogs/roundnet-players-around-the-world/jeff-knurek
I think that this is an extremely cool idea because of how much this product is used around us today. I find the way that he was able to prototype his design by using everyday objects is one that shows you do not have to have a million dollar budget in order to start your own company.