North Suburbs League

North Suburbs League

6/2-7/7

After a successful weekly suburbs league the past 3 summers, we are back for more! Players sign up individually so no pressure to find a partner or squad. Each player is drafted onto a squad of other players. Everyone will play multiple games each week with various partners from their squad. Strategy with lineups is a big difference maker for which squad comes out on top.

League Director

Colin Hobart

Equipment

Premier Spike is the official equipment sponsor of Illinois Roundnet events, leagues, and pickups. We are excited to be using the PS sets as they are significantly more sturdy. They won't bend into awkward shapes after big hits or serves and the rims are much less likely to break.

We will also be using their IRF compliant bigger balls. These make defense and serve receive a little easier to make gameplay more enjoyable.

Rules

We will be using the official International Roundnet Federation rules. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these if you are new to the competitive scene. https://www.roundnetfederation.org/official-rules

Some of the notable changes in 2026 are listed below:

*27.9ft(8.5m) boundary from the center of the net that the ball cannot be hit out of

*3.28ft(100cm) No Hit Zone that doubles as a No Drop Zone for serves and hits

*Server's partner can set up anywhere outside the serving line before the serve

*All 3 touches must be used on the 1st possession.

*Equal Serving: The first server starts to the right of their partner and serves for only one point. After the first point, each team serves two points in a row by the same player. All servers start from the left of their partner. After the server's first point, they switch positions with their partner and serve to the other member of the opposing team. All players rotate 1 spot to the right every time the team that served 1st gets the ball back. This means there should be a rotation on the 3rd, 7th, 11th, etc point of a game.

Schedule

We will meet every Tuesday night for 6 weeks between 6/2 and 7/7. The matches will start at 6pm and should go until 8:00pm. Players are welcome to come early or stay after matches to play pickup. We will make every effort to play rain or shine. If there are any league nights where inclement weather prevents safe play, we will postpone that week and push the remaining schedule back one week, keeping the Tuesday night schedule.

*This is a preliminary schedule. Times may be adjusted at league director's discretion.

Format

The league will feature 3 different phases: a scramble, regular season play, and a postseason. The scramble will be a mini tournament held on the 1st week to gauge everyone's skill level. Players will play with and against multiple players throughout the night. It'll start with a good mix of skill levels but as it progresses, you'll end up playing against players at a similar skill level.

After the scramble, the captains will draft their squads for the next 2 phases. Each player on a squad will be ranked based on their skill level. The best player will be ranked 1st, 2nd best player ranked 2nd, and so on. When 2 players on a squad play together, their combined ranking will give them a pair score. For example, if a squad's #1 and #5 play together, that gives them a pair score of 6. To keep matchups as even as possible, pair scores set by the other squad must be within a set range(typically 3 or 4). Squads will alternate each round with who sets their lineup 1st and then who matches. 4 rounds will be played per matchup. Whichever squad wins the most total games wins the match. The last round will feature 1 net worth 2 match points to serve as a tiebreaker if the match points are tied.

After the regular season ends, squads will be seeded into the postseason bracket based on regular season record. Matchups will be played with the same format as regular season matches.

*Format is subject to change at league director's discretion based on the number of players, squads, time, etc.

Pricing

5/2-5/17: $55/player

5/18-6/1: $65/player

Registration closes on 6/1.

Refund Policy

Players can get refunded for their registration if they can no longer participate as long as the request is made before registration closes. Please send an email to illinoisroundnet@gmail.com or reach out to the league director, Colin, to request a refund.

FAQs

*Is food and water provided?

Players are allowed to go into RecPlex if they need to refill water or get something from the vending machine. We would still recommend bringing enough water and snacks to last the 2-3 hours you're there. Theres not a ton of downtime between games to run inside.

*Where can I get updates on social media?

Be sure to follow Illinois Roundnet on Instagram(@IllinoisRoundnet) for updates on this and other events in the state.

Any questions about this league, what Illinois Roundnet is, or about Roundnet in the state or Midwest? Send an email to Illinoisroundnet@gmail.com