A Richmond athlete has been selected for the Canadian national team to compete at the Roundnet World Championships this summer.
Elijah Kim is among 24 Canadians, 12 men and 12 women, chosen after tryouts. He and his teammates will compete in London, England, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.
What exactly is roundnet?
Roundnet, also known as spikeball, is a sport that grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It resembles two-on-two beach volleyball with a trampoline-looking net in the middle.
Instead of having a line separating the two teams, the game is played 360 degrees around the net.
Each team can have up to three touches to the ball, similar to volleyball, and players must hit the net on the third touch to keep the game going.
“You can basically play roundnet from all sorts of angles and sides, so it makes attacking and defending really fun,” said Kim.
The World Championships will be held for the second time ever - the first was held in Belgium in 2022.
Kim was still in disbelief upon hearing at the end of May that he had made the national team
“Going into trials, I definitely didn’t have my hopes super high. I just kind of showed up, tried to show my athleticism and I guess I did enough to earn a spot on the team so I’m super happy with that,” said Kim.
The 22-year-old athlete started playing roundnet casually in high school and during summer camps, but it wasn’t until the pandemic lockdown in 2020 that he started playing the sport more.
Kim’s dad purchased a spikeball set for the family to pass the time, and as restrictions during the pandemic began to loosen, he played more with a few close friends.
“Once the restrictions kind of loosened a little bit, I realized there were (tournaments), so we entered some and me and my partner actually did pretty well.”
Since then, Kim has played it every summer.
Before heading to the World Championships, Kim and his teammates are participating in a spikeball tour series.
They will compete in tournaments they can go to, including one large competition in Chicago in July, and training on their own when they can, explained Kim.
“Because we’re all scattered across the country, it’s hard to get us to meet up frequently, so we’re all kind of just going to meet up right before Worlds.”
Kim, a varsity volleyball player at Douglas College, said his volleyball skills have helped him improve in roundnet.
“It’s cool to see there is a little bit of transferability there in terms of the skills in the sport.”
However, Kim told the Richmond News he still has a lot more training to do in preparation for the championships.
“A lot of these guys (on the team) are playing all year round and training all year round. For me, it’s kind of more just a summer thing, which is why sometimes I feel like I’m falling behind,” he said.
“I’m hoping I can use these next few months just to really put my head down, grind and be an asset to the team.”
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