 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports equipment |
| Founded | 2017 in Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Website | crossnetgame |
Crossnet (also known as CROSSNET) is an American sports equipment company that produces a four-way volleyball game of the same name. Crossnet is a combination of volleyball and four square, in a competitive game.
In 2017, the game was devised in a farm town in Woodstock, Connecticut by brothers Chris and Greg Meade and their childhood friend Mike Delpapa, with inspiration from KanJam and four square. [1] Chris said in interview that, to some degree, the motivation he and his brother had to create the company came from the experience of losing their father in 2012.[ citation needed ] In 2014, Chris graduated from Quinnipiac University with a film degree, and Delpapa graduated from Northeastern University with an engineering degree. [2] In 2012, Greg enrolled at Eastern Connecticut State University with a marketing degree before dropping out in order to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.
At the time the idea was conceived in May 2017, Chris was working at the Uber HQ as an Account Executive helping launch Uber Eats. [3] Before investing their life savings and quitting their jobs, the team tested the concept by purchasing volleyball nets from Walmart and repurposing them into a makeshift prototype in January 2018. Shortly after, they patented and trademarked the idea, and then discovered a Chinese manufacturer through Alibaba Group who could make a real prototype for $250. [4] By June of 2018, inventory was first being sold. In 2018, the company made $74K in revenue, and in 2019, they made $2.25M in revenue (30x increase from the year earlier).
In 2021, USA Volleyball announced an official partnership with Crossnet. [5]
In 2021, Crossnet was recognized as one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 sports companies.[ citation needed ] The company also established a warehouse in Canada and developed a branded partnership with Wilson.[ citation needed ]
In 2021 and 2023, a Crossnet tournament in Chula Vista, California was shown on ESPN8 The Ocho with contestants competing for a $10K purse. [6] [7] Crossnet has been featured on People , WFLA-TV, Ellen DeGeneres Show , Good Morning America , Today Show , WDBD, Chicago Tribune , HuffPost , and many more. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
According to the company, in 2022 the game was played in over 100 thousand households, more than 10 thousand schools, distributed in 49 countries, and supplied by over 3 thousand retailers, including Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, Academy Sports, and Dick's Sporting Goods. [15] [16] [17] In 2020, 1,000 Crossnet sets were donated to underfunded schools.
The Meade brothers and Delpapa have created additional games, including Smashnet (hybrid sport where roundnet meets ping pong), under the Good Sport brand. [18]
The game consists of four quadrants: four players choose their own squares; begins with the 4th square diagonally serving to the 2nd square; the 2nd then returns the ball with one hit to any square to start the rally. When the ball lands in a player's square they are eliminated, and the player in the 4th square always scores a point but only if the player in the 4th square is not eliminated (otherwise, no points are received by any); the remaining three players all rotate clockwise, and the eliminated player keeps their points but goes back to the 1st square or is replaced by a new player in the 1st square. The game is played to 11 points (win by 2).
A player is eliminated when: the ball lands on the ground inside their own square; player returns the ball out of bounds; player fails to hit the ball into another square; player double hits the ball; player hits the ball incorrectly; or player hits the ball out of turn. [19] [20] [21] [22] The ball is considered in play when the ball lands on the outside boundary. Players are not allowed to catch, hold, or carry the ball at any point during play. Players are required to hit the ball with their "hands", which is any section between the fingertips and wrists, including the back of the hands.
Crossnet is height-adjustable to both regulation women's and men's volleyball height. The men's height is 7 feet 11+5⁄8 inches (2.429 m) and the women's height is 7 feet 4+1⁄8 inches (2.238 m). The single-length Crossnet is 13 feet 1+1⁄2 inches (4.001 m), and each of the four squares is 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) wide.
The objective of the game is to remove players in higher squares so that oneself can advance to the highest square where points are awarded. When one player has a significant lead over the other three players, it is common for the three players to join forces to repeatedly target and eliminate the leading player.
Crossnet has two models for different terrains: an indoor version for wood courts and outdoor version for grass and sand. Also, the company created a pickleball, pool, and soccer variation. Along with the standard variety, there is also the double-length net, which allows for double the number of players (8 total for 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2).
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach volleyball was introduced to the programme at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. The adapted version of volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is sitting volleyball.
Softball is a sport similar to baseball, and it is played with a larger ball on a smaller field and with only underhand pitches permitted. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hancock.
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Four square is a global sport played on a square court divided by two perpendicular lines into four identical boxes creating four squares labelled 1–4 or A–D.
Whirlyball is a team sport that combines elements of basketball and jai alai with players riding "Whirlybugs", small electric vehicles similar to bumper cars. Because play requires a special court, it is played in only a handful of locations in the United States and Canada.
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Bat and trap is an English bat-and-ball pub game. It is still played in Kent, and occasionally in Brighton. By the late 20th century it was usually only played on Good Friday in Brighton, on the park called The Level, which has an adjacent pub called The Bat and Ball, whose sign depicts the game. Brighton & Hove City Council started a Bat and Trap club based at The Level in 2013, as part of the Activities Plan associated with a £2.2m Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund-funded restoration of the park.
Wallyball is a fast-paced sport that is similar to volleyball played in a racquetball court, where it is legal to hit the ball off of the walls.
ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. The channel is primarily dedicated to coverage of college athletics, and is also used as an additional outlet for general ESPN programming. ESPNU is based alongside its sister networks at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two players (singles) or four players (doubles) hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball with paddles over a 34-inch-high (0.86 m) net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors. It was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.
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Roundnet is a ball game created in 1989 by Jeff Knurek, inspired primarily by concepts from volleyball. The game is played between two teams, usually with two players each. Players initially line up around a small trampoline-like net at the start of a point and starts with a serve from one team to another. Teams alternate hitting the ball back to the net.
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