Hardcourt Bike Polo

Hardcourt Bike Polo is a variation of traditional Bicycle Polo in which teams of players ride bicycles and use mallets to strike a small ball into a goal. It may also be referred to as "Hardcourt", "Urban Bike Polo" or simply "Bike Polo".

Beavers vs Guardians, NAHBPC 2013

The game

There are two types of hardcourt bike polo. One is the traditional style called "3v3", which is a team consisting of 3 players and games are usually around 10–15 minutes in length. The other form is "Squad". Squad is a team of 5 or 6 players and games are between 30 and 40 minutes, allowing for substitutions. Typically, players play in an enclosed rectangular area, called a "court". Goals are placed at each long end of the court.

At the beginning of the game, the ball is placed in the middle of the court while the players wait behind their own goals. Following a countdown or a whistle, a player from each team charges the ball in what is termed the "joust".

A player may hit the ball in two ways: a "shot" or a "shuffle". A shot is made with either end of the mallet head whereas a shuffle is made with the side. In order to score a goal, a player must hit the ball into the opposing team's goal with a shot; if the player uses a shuffle, the goal does not count and play continues.

Following a goal, the scoring team returns to their own half of the court. After the scoring team returns to their half, the scored-on team may cross the half line and resume play.

The game continues until a team reaches either a limit of a predetermined length of time, depending on the format. 3v3 games are typically 10–15 minutes, while Squad games are typically 30–40 minutes.

A player who "dabs", (touches a horizontal surface with their foot), must undertake some form of remedial penalty before making contact with the ball again. This usually involves "tapping out" (riding to a designated point on the court and touching it with the mallet). It is also common to have to say "foot down" or "dab" to let other players know you are out of play, but not required. You should avoid affecting play of the game at all cost after a foot down occurs.

The amount of contact in a particular game may vary but is generally restricted to "mallet to mallet", "body to body". A "check" is allowed as long as it's "shoulder to shoulder" and deemed safe by the referee.

As a decentralized and organically growing game, the rules and styles of Hardcourt Bike Polo may vary substantially from city to city. The North American Bike Polo Association has created an official set of rules for North America, which has been influential to standardizing rules world-wide.

Since 2009, various governing bodies have been created within the polo community for the purposes of advancing the sport and creating rule sets. The North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association (NAHBPA) and European Hardcourt (EHBP) are the prime organizations, but there are others such as the Australasian Hardcourt (AHBP) and Bici Polo Latinoamerica (BPLA) organizations coming up as Bike polo spreads to other continents and countries all over the world.

Tournament format

There are currently two types of tournament formats in hardcourt bike polo: 3v3 and Squad.

3v3 is the more traditional format of hardcourt bike polo, where 2 teams of 3 players play against each other.

An alternate format is Squad, where 2 teams of anywhere from 5-6 players play against each other. In Squad format, there are still 3 players on each team on the court at one time, but there is a bench of players that can be substituted throughout the game. Squad format games tend to be longer in duration, typically 30–60 minutes. There is usually a team captain in charge of substitutions, who may or may not be a player.

Equipment

A well-used Street Hockey ball

Rather than use traditional wooden polo mallets, Hardcourt Bike Polo players started making handmade mallets in the spirit of the DIY ethic. Since then, a number of companies have appeared, which are producing more distinct equipment, specifically for bike polo. Typical mallets are constructed using heads made from UHMW, and aluminium shafts similar to ski poles.

The ball used in bike polo is typically made from PVC and is identical to a Street Hockey ball. In 2012, the company, Fixcraft, team up with D-Gel, makers of hockey products, to produce the first official bike polo ball.

Some players make wheel covers out of corrugated plastic, polycarbonate, plastic netting, or even thick fabrics to protect spokes and create solid blocking surfaces. Many of these covers are painted with elaborate designs to help identify riders or their city's club.

Freshly painted wheel cover

Low gear ratio single-speed bikes have advantages for quick acceleration and control on a small court. Although any bike is acceptable for the game, eventually most players customize their bikes especially for bike polo and their playing needs. Most riders prefer a short wheelbase for tight turning and a smaller "5-hole" as well as a medium to long stem for better turning. Front brake or dual brake setups are the most popular.

Courts

Players commonly play on courts such as tennis courts, street hockey rinks, basketball courts, or football courts. These are often customized using boards to keep the ball from rolling out of the court or getting stuck in the corners. The NAH currently mandates goals be 3 ft x 6 ft and must be placed no closer than 6 ft from the backboard. Court size does vary, but for a court to be used in an official NAH event it must be no larger than 155 ft x 80 ft (47.25m x 25m) and no smaller than 120 ft x 60 ft (37m x 18m), and have 4 ft high solid boards.

Polo Specific Courts

Some cities have worked with their local Polo club and have built facilities specifically for polo or suited for multi-use activities like Polo. Some courts like New York City's "The Pit" are repurposed spaces, while other courts like East Vancouver's court in Grandview Park, are specifically designed to meet the needs of the sport.

History

Modern Hardcourt Bike Polo has roots in early 2000s Seattle[1][2] Originally started by messengers who had downtime in between deliveries, the game developed in Seattle and some of the earlier rules were founded (3 on 3, scoring with the end of the mallet). As people moved and traveled the game branched out. and is currently played in over 30 countries and 300 cities.[3]

Tournaments

NAHBPC 2013

Since 2004, cities across North America have thrown inter-city tournaments such as the East-, West-, and Northside Polo Invites.

The first annual North American and European Hardcourt Bicycle Polo championships were both held in August 2009. The European tournament drew over 40 teams from Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Germany and was won by L'Equipe, a team from Geneva. The North American tournament featured 36 teams from Seattle, Vancouver BC, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, Ottawa, Portland, Washington DC, and elsewhere and was won by Team Smile from Seattle. First prize for each tournament were tickets to the 2009 World Championships.

The first-ever world championships were held in Toronto in 2008 as part of the Cycle Messenger World Championships. There were representatives from Europe, however, hardcourt polo was still relatively new and the European teams elected not to play in the elimination bracket after seeing the level of play from the North American teams. Heat Lightning (Doug Dalrymple, Paul Rauen, and Zach Blackburn) became the first-ever world champions, using a high energy "die by the sword" playing strategy. The following year, 2009, featured teams from the US, Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The winners were the current North American Champions, Team Smile, who defeated the team from East Vancouver in a repeat of the North American final.

National championships have been held in countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, and Germany.

In 2016, the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association announced that they were changing the format for all of their sanctioned tournaments from 3v3 to Squad.[4]

World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships

Year Host Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
2008 Toronto Heat Lightning Balls Deep Hunter Brothers + Kev
2009 Philadelphia Team Smile Balls Deep Faceless Emotion Wisconsin A
2010 Berlin Beaver Boys 5-1[5] Machine Politics L’Equipe Toros
2011 Seattle Crazy Canucks 5-4[6] Call Me Daddy Guardians Iron Ponies
2012 Geneva Call Me Daddy 3-2[7] Guardians Clobber Politics Dead Rappers
2013[8] Weston Beavers 5-1 Call Me Daddy The Assassins Edisons
2014[9] Montpellier Call Me Daddy 5-3 Beavers Outlawz The Control
2016[10] Timaru Outlawz Birds 5-4 Call Me Daddy The Control Temoilesnichons
2017 Lexington, KY Mongrels United 4-1 Call Me Daddy Bob Ross Geneva Alley Cats
2019 Córdoba Mongrels United 2-1 Prendi la Mira Bob Ross More Sugar

European Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships

Year Host Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
2009 London
Great Britain
L'Equipe
(Geneva)
5-3 Malice International
(London)
Toros
(Munich)
Discordia
(Paris/London)
2010 Geneva
Switzerland
L'Equipe
(Geneva)
5-4 Cosmic
(London)
El Club
(Barcelona)
Rotten Apples
(London)
2011[11] Barcelona
Spain
L'Equipe
(Geneva)
5-2 Polosynthese
(Germany)
Hooks
(Rouen)
El Club
(Barcelona)
2012 Paris
France
Call me Daddy
(Paris/Toulouse)
Edisons
(Frankfurt/Munich)
Hooks
(Rouen)
L'Equipe
(Geneva)
2013[12] Kraków
Poland
Call me Daddy
(Paris/Toulouse)
2-5, 5-3 Edisons
(Frankfurt/Geneva)
Spring Break
(London)
Lhooks
(Rouen/Geneva)
2014[13] Padova
Italy
Call me Daddy
(Paris/Cambridge)
4-5, 5-3 Edisons
(Frankfurt/Munich)
True Danger
(Paris/Lyon)
Sophie
(Basel/Bern)
2015[14] Zaragoza
Spain
Call me Daddy
(Paris/Cambridge)
3-5, 2-5 Octopussy
(Frankfurt/Nurnberg)
Megadrive
(Geneva)
Temoilesnichons
(Annecy/Lyon)
2017[15] Perpignan
France
Mongrels
(Paris/Annecy/Munich)
2-1 Mohawks
(Gießen/Hamburg/London)
Monstars
(France)
Rasta Rocket
(Montpellier)
2018[16] Pescara
Italy
Octopussy
(Nuremberg/Hamburg)
3-2 Excuse The Mess
(Warsaw/Krakow)
Mongrels XL
(London/Munich/Milwaukee)
Call Me Daddy
(Paris)
2019 Zurich

Switzerland

Mongrels United 2-0 Rasta Rocket
Call me Daddy
Superbe

North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships

Year Host Winners Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
2008 Chicago, IL That's What She Said
(Ottawa)
Philadelphia
East Vancouver
Madison
2009 Seattle, WA Team Smile
(Seattle)
Balls Deep
(Vancouver)
Beaver Boys
(Milwaukee)
DD Booster Club
(New York)
2010 Madison, WI The Odds
(Richmond/Philadelphia/New York)
Team Smile
(Seattle)
East Van
(Vancouver)
Super Polonics
(Seattle)
2011 Calgary The Guardians[17]
(Seattle)
Clobber Politics
(Chicago/Ottawa)
The Crazy Canucks
(Vancouver)
The Outsiders
(Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver)
2012 Milwaukee, WI Beaver Boys
(Milwaukee)
The Guardians
(Seattle)
The Means
(Richmond/Ottawa/New York)
Portland United
(Portland)
2013[18] Roseville, MN Beavers
(San Francisco)
The Guardians
(Seattle)
The Assassins
(Seattle)
Portland United
(Portland)
2014[19] Roseville, MN Beavers
(San Francisco, Milwaukee)
Portland United
(Portland)
The Guardians
(Seattle)
The Ringers
(Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco)
2015[20] Lexington, KY MF Monster Truck
(Portland, London)
The Guardians
(Seattle)
Prospectors
(Portland)
The Control
(San Francisco)
2016 Folsom, CA The Control
(San Francisco)
Albatross
(Seattle)
Wood Rats
Prospectors
(Portland)
2017 Frederick, MD The Control
(SF)
Bob Ross
(SEA)
Crunchy
(POR/HOU/SLC)
Mosquito
(SKS)
2018 Milwaukee, WI The Control
(SF)
Bob Ross
(SEA)
Superpolo
(MEX)
Mosquito
(SKS)
2019 Seattle, WA Mosquito
(SKS)
Bob Ross
(SEA)
More Sugar
(SEA)
Snake Oil
(SEA)

North American Club Bench Championships

The North American Club Bench Championships was discontinued after 2015, when the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship changed formats from 3v3 to squad.[4]

Year Host Winners Score Runners-up Third Place
2014[21] Lexington, KY
USA
Portland 13-5 Milwaukee Lexington, Boston
2015[22] Guadalajara
Mexico
Guadalajara 8-5 Kauyunamari Guadalajara B de buenos

Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships

Year Host Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
2009 Melbourne Meat & Two Veg
(Melbourne)
Scheisse Katze
(Melbourne/Germany)
Bush League Bushrangers
(Melbourne/Toronto)
Jailbreakers
(Castlemaine)
2010 Brisbane Johnny Crash
(Melbourne)
The Screaming Baguettes
(Sydney/Paris)
German Bells
(Brisbane)
That's What She Said
(Adelaide)
2011 Adelaide Storm Boys
(Perth/Sydney/Melbourne)
That's What She Said
(Adelaide)
L.S.V.
(Sydney)
Neil La Robolution
(Adelaide/Melbourne)
2012 Perth NASFWG
(Perth)
1-5, 1-5 Triple Dutch Rudder
(Brisbane)
Dog Soccer
(Sydney)
L.S.V.
(Sydney)
2013 Timaru NASFWG
(Perth)
Melbourne Anchor
(Melbourne)
Triple Dutch Rudder
(Brisbane)
C4
(Christchurch)
2014[23] Sydney The Fist
(Melbourne/Seattle)
5-2 Alchemists
(Perth)
The Sentinels
(Brisbane)
C4 Christchurch
(Christchurch)
2017 Melbourne Spectres
(Melbourne/Perth/Sydney/Brisbane)
The Huntsmen
(Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane)
Inspectre Keanu
(Brisbane/Melbourne)
Timaru Bike Polo
(Timaru)

Asia Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships

Year Host Winners Runners-up Third Place
2015 Kaohsiung, Taiwan Yattarus
(JPN)
Country Boy
(TWN)/(Bangkok)
Homamon
(JPN)
2016 Kaohsiung, Taiwan UZUUZU
(JPN)
Country Boy
(TWN)/(Bangkok)
262
(TWN)

Latin American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships

Year Host Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
2011 Santiago de Chile Monopolientos
(Santiago)
Underdogs
(São Paulo)
Hágame Famoso
(Bogotá)
Viveza Criolla
(Quito)
2012 Buenos Aires Underdogs
(São Paulo)
5-0, 5-3 Monopolientos
(Santiago)
Jinetes del Apocalipsis
(Buenos Aires)
Viveza Criolla
(Quito)
2013 São Paulo Mala Pata
(Santiago)
Untitled
(Buenos Aires)
Hágame Famoso
(Bogotá)
Underdogs
(São Paulo)
2014 Bogota RompeBolas
(Mexico City/San Luis Potosí)
5-3, 4-0 Underdogs
(São Paulo)
Vandalos
(Mexico City)
Hermanos Korioto
(Mexico City)
2015 Quito Las Viudas del Loco
(Buenos Aires/Santiago)
2-1, 4-1 Dios los Cría
(Rosario/Buenos Aires)
Korioto
(Guadalajara/Portland)
Tres Gallos
(San Juan, PR)
2016 Rosario Mucho Niño

(Guadalajara / Houston)

5 - 3 Super Polo Team

( DF / Houston)

Pulp Fiction

(Santiago)

Guacamaya

(Bogotá)

2017 Guadalajara Mucho Niño 3 - 2 Marabunta KRT El Dorado

Ladies Army

Year Host Winners Score Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
2009[24] Vancouver Bushwackers
(Vancouver)
In my back pocket
(Ottawa)
Vagic Moments
(Vancouver)
Killer Ladybugs
(Victoria)
2010[25] New York City Delta Force
(Philadelphia/Toronto/Portland)
Beer, Bacon & Babes
(Seattle/Minneapolis)
2011[26] Austin Cunning Stunts
(Toronto/Milwaukee/Seattle)
The C.L.A.P.
(Seattle/Vancouver)
2012[27] Lexington Cunning Stunts
(Toronto/Milwaukee/Seattle)
3-1 Bear Hugs
(Toronto/Geneva/Vancouver)
Hot Links
(Lexington/Athens)
Tornadoes
(London)
2013[28] Vancouver Valkyries
(Vancouver/Cincinnati/Geneva)
Hot Honey Biscuits
(Seattle/Mobile/Athens)
Great White North
(Ottawa/Toronto)
Cobble Polotics
(London/Lexington/Seattle)
2014[29] Toronto Cunning Stunts
(Toronto)
5-4, 4-3 Hot Honey Biscuits
(Seattle/Mobile/Athens)
Valkyries
(Vancouver/Lexington/Geneva)
The Cuntrol
(Vancouver/San Francisco/Oakland)
2015[30] San Francisco Valkyries
(Lexington/Geneva/Vancouver)
1-0 Hot Honey Biscuits
(Seattle/San Francisco/Salt Lake City)
Shit Twins
(Madison/Raleigh)
Ruckus
(Frankfurt/Strasbourg/Seattle)
2016 Guadalajara Peligrosa
(Salt Lake City/Seattle/Saskatoon)
2-1 Ruckus
(Frankfurt/Strasbourg/Seattle)
Dropbears
(Santa Cruz/Oakland/San Francisco)
Feliz Accidentitas
(New York City/Vancouver)
2017 Grand Rapids Weirdos
(New York City)
4-3 The Annie Oakleys
(San Francisco/Oakland/Saskatoon)
OK
(Salt Lake City/Seattle/Toronto)
Yes Mum
(San Francisco/Madison/Bristol)
2018 Los Angeles Cool Sports Team
(Milwaukee/London/Geneva)
2-0 Brujaja
(Mexico City/Raleigh/Seattle)
Notorious
(San Francisco)
Baba Yaga
(Seattle, Saskatoon, Toronto)

See also

References

  1. "History of Hardcourt forum discussion". Leagueofbikepolo.com. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  2. Messenger, Matt. "History". 321polo.net. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  3. "Map of Hardcourt Bike Polo clubs around the world". Leagueofbikepolo.com. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  4. "Squad Is Here!". Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  5. "Video: Beaver Boys vs Machine Politics". Brooks. Retrieved 7 August 2010. Final Game at WHBPC 2010
  6. "Video: Crazy Canucks vs Call Me Daddy". Retrieved 11 September 2011 via Vimeo. Final Game at WHBPC 2011
  7. "Video: Call Me Daddy vs Guardians". Retrieved 19 August 2012 via Vimeo. Final Game at WHBPC 2012
  8. "Podium: WHBPC 2013". Hardcourt Podium. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013. Beavers 5 - 1 Call Me Daddy
  9. "Podium: WHBPC 2014". Hardcourt Podium. Retrieved 10 September 2014. Call Me Daddy 5 - 3 Beavers
  10. "THE 7TH WORLD HARDCOURT BICYCLE POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS". Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  11. Carrilo, Alejandro. "We have a winner". Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011. It might not come as a surprise (or perhaps the biggest surprise there is), that for the third consecutive time L'Équipe wins it all
  12. "Podium: EHBPC 2013". Hardcourt Podium. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013. Call Me Daddy 5 - 3 Edisons
  13. "Podium bike polo - EHBPC 2014". www.podiumbikepolo.com.
  14. "EHBPC 2015". ehbpc.org/2015/. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  15. "EHBPC 2017". docs.google.com.
  16. "EHBPC 2018".
  17. "NAHBPC 3: CALGARY". Fleetvelo. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  18. "Podium: NAHBPC 2013". Hardcourt Podium. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013. Beavers 5 - 0 The Guardians
  19. "Podium bike polo - NAHBPC 2014". www.podiumbikepolo.com. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  20. "Podium bike polo - NAHBPC 2015". www.podiumbikepolo.com.
  21. "Podium bike polo - NAHBPC 2014". www.podiumbikepolo.com. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  22. "Podium bike polo - NAHBPC 2015". www.podiumbikepolo.com. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  23. "Podium bike polo - AHBPC 2014". www.podiumbikepolo.com.
  24. "League of Bike Polo - THE LADIES ARMY PRESENTS.... 1st EVER ALL WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT". leagueofbikepolo.com.
  25. "League of Bike Polo - Ladies Army II June 25, 2010". leagueofbikepolo.com.
  26. "League of Bike Polo - Ladies Army III, May 2011". leagueofbikepolo.com.
  27. "League of Bike Polo - 4th Annual Ladies Army & Coed Tourney Apr 27-29". leagueofbikepolo.com.
  28. "League of Bike Polo - Ladies Army III, May 2011". leagueofbikepolo.com.
  29. "Podium bike polo - Ladies Army 2014". www.podiumbikepolo.com.
  30. "Podium bike polo - Ladies Army 2015". www.podiumbikepolo.com.
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