FRESH 22 - How a “Villa Idea” Turned Into a Movement

Back in 2022, there wasn’t really a European roundnet scene. No clear calendar. No big shared culture. Just clusters. Munich doing its thing, Vienna doing its thing, pockets in France, Spain, UK, Benelux. There were tournaments, sometimes even international, but it was scattered. You’d meet people for a weekend, take a photo, then everyone vanished back into their own bubble.

And that’s exactly why FRESH 22 happened.

The idea was stupidly simple: stop meeting for one day and start living roundnet together for a week. Not a tournament. Not “let’s play five games and go home.” A real bubble. A place where people could train, hang out, learn, and actually build friendships across countries.

Mallorca made sense. Quick flights for most. Warm enough. Cheap enough. And the dates lined up with German school holidays, which mattered because I was teaching full-time. So I just booked a villa. €2,000 out of pocket. No sponsors. No guarantees. No fancy systems.

Then messages started coming in from outside the usual Future Roundnet circle. France. UK. “Can I come?” That’s when it stopped being “a team week” and became something bigger.

And here’s the part most people still underestimate: I spent around two months convincing Buddy Hammond to fly in from Los Angeles. Buddy was the best defender in the world, one of the best players on the planet. Then Skyler Boles, an absolute roundnet legend, came too - from California. Both on their own costs. No appearance fees. They came because they believed the idea was worth it. And we learned an insane amount from just having them around.

We built the week so more people could join. In the end, we were around 40 to 50 people spread across villas in the area, basically a little roundnet village. We’d walk 30 minutes to the fields, then play from sunrise till sunset. Training, pickup, chaos, laughs, sweating, food runs, late-night talks, and that feeling like you’re part of something that doesn’t exist back home yet.

FRESH 22 was the moment those European “islands” started connecting. And it was awesome.

For the full story, watch/listen to this video.

If you want to experience what FRESH has evolved into - FRESH 26 is the 5th edition, and it’s the biggest step forward so far. Same DNA: train hard, play all day, meet the people you normally only see once a year.

New level: better setup, smoother logistics, more structure, more freedom.

If you’ve ever thought “one day I’ll do FRESH” - this is the year.

Details and spots are on the website.