This past week, 142 Branson students took over Tom Ryan Field to continue the year-old tradition of playing in a spikeball tournament in May.
Organized by Spikeball Club leader Ashan Villavarayan ‘25, the tournament attracted players from all grades and skill levels.
Villavarayan promoted the event through memorable emails and by giving assembly announcements. The subject of the very first one of these emails simply read: “It’s time.”
However, he also noted the importance of simply putting the nets out there and offering students the chance to play in the tournament.
“I went up during assembly, sent out an email or two, but also brought out the nets when the weather got warmer, and a lot of people joined just from that,” said Villavarayan.
Because of the large and unified gathering of students, Villavarayan argued that events like this bring us closer as a community.
“It’s a fun event that you can do after lunch if you’ve got any free time rather than being on your phone,” he said. “Everyone’s smiling out there, you know? Everyone enjoys spikeball when the weather gets warm.”
Jack Hilleboe ‘27, a participant in the tournament, believes that the nature of the sport contributed to the tournament’s popularity.
“I joined the tournament because of the fun you have while connecting. Spikeball is a really fun sport because of the teamwork aspect. It takes a lot of communication, and it’s really just constant interaction with your teammates and your opponents,” he said.
Spectators and friends took advantage of the warm weather and gathered on the field to watch games during lunch. Carlos Leonos ‘26 was a regular on the benches near the games.
“The matches were super entertaining to watch. There was a ton of action and exciting moments,” he said. “It’s fun seeing friends get competitive and people you only see in class make an acrobatic dive to save the ball.”
Villavarayan expressed hopes about the tradition’s future, as he is graduating in June. He also mentioned potential future leaders of the club.
“I think it will continue,” he said. “It’s a really great tradition, and I will definitely pass the leadership role down to one of [next year’s seniors].”
