Sunny Ray talks with Taylor Sanford, founder of Premier Spike, about building the first legitimate challenger to Spikeball in the sport of roundnet. Taylor traces his path from a childhood entrepreneurial streak and a College Works Painting internship to becoming one of Spikeball's biggest ambassadors, then founding the Utah Roundnet Association in 2018 and hosting over 200 tournaments. He describes teaming up with engineer Adam in 2022 to secretly prototype a sturdier rim after growing frustrated with broken plastic sets, eventually solving the snap in leg design that eliminates flex. Taylor explains how Premier Spike launched with fifty thousand dollars in presales and grew past half a million in sales purely through grassroots trust built with tournament directors worldwide, without traditional ad spend. They also discuss the Utah Select Spike Club, the world's first high school roundnet league, winning the bid for the 2026 Roundnet World Championships, and the long term goal of Olympic recognition through sustainable, community driven growth rather than quick wins.
A former Spikeball ambassador built a better rim and grew a global roundnet empire through pure grassroots trust.
Tell us a bit about what you're building with Premier Spike.
I love to play games and fell in love with Spikeball. After becoming one of their biggest ambassadors, I decided to start challenging them instead, becoming the first legitimate challenger to Spikeball with Premier Spike.
How has hockey shaped who you are today?
I've played hockey for about 25 years. It didn't directly shape Premier Spike or roundnet, but I'm a big believer in team sports, competitiveness, passion and team spirit. Those values carried into building the roundnet community here in Utah starting in 2018, which became the biggest in the world.
What did your College Works Painting internship teach you about entrepreneurship?
It was a really good experience in running a legitimate business. As college students we handled hiring, planning, sales and marketing while balancing the books on top of being contractors managing a house painting crew. I'd already had the entrepreneur itch since age 11 running a neighborhood sports camp.
What gave you the confidence to quit your job in 2021 and go full time?
Ironically COVID gave us a boost since we're an outdoor sport and could still get permits. Local tournaments drew over a hundred teams and eventually people from across the country. People started asking me for advice, so I was consulting with dozens of people worldwide long before Premier Spike even existed.
What was the moment that made you think you needed to build something better?
For four years I was one of Spikeball's biggest ambassadors, helping communities worldwide. People travel the world to play, but before Premier Spike it was still basically a backyard game, even the pro set would twist, turn and break. I have a photo of bins full of broken rims compared to almost none with Premier Spike.
What was the prototyping year with your co-founder Adam like?
I'd drawn something on paper but had no manufacturing experience. Adam had built a net stabilizer for a school project, so I asked him to help. We tested in secret with my trusted Utah community. The biggest challenge was getting legs to snap into the rims without any bending points, and we tried magnets and other options before Adam found a solution that worked.
How did you hit over half a million dollars in sales through grassroots marketing alone?
Early ads didn't work because we lacked brand recognition against Spikeball. Because of trust built with community leaders worldwide over years, we launched with fifty thousand dollars in presales, no Kickstarter, just our website, before most people even saw a prototype. When tournament hosts use our equipment, players want it too, and the product speaks for itself.
Where do you see roundnet and Premier Spike in five to ten years, and could it reach the Olympics?
The Olympics has been the eventual goal since I got into the sport eight years ago. You need around 42 to 44 national governing bodies and roundnet currently has about 32 official with the international federation. We're focused on accessibility and grassroots distribution worldwide, aiming for sustainable, organic growth rather than quick wins.
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