[Parker]

My team ran into the same problem. We discovered that the green padding that goes under hard-wood floors had the properties we were looking for. It has a little stretch which will allow it to go around our rollers and has enough friction to lift a ball quickly into a hopper. The only problem is that it is similar to duct tape; if it gets a tear along on a particular side it pulls that strip off. My teammates and I are taking measures to prevent this.
We are attaching the material be using thick thread and some kind of fabric glue ( I'm not exactly sure on the glue). We tested this method and it failed after four members of the team pulled as hard as they could. The test convinced us of the designs integrity.
The material can be obtained from any flooring/tile store.