Beavers vs Guardians, NAHBPC 2013European Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship 2013
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". From its invention in the 1990's, the sport benefited greatly from in the 2010's bike boom seeing the formation of international clubs[1] and the growth of a strong tournament culture.[2]
The game
Typically, the game is played by 6 in an enclosed rectangle with rounded or angled corners, called a "court". Goals are placed near 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, bikes touching the back wall. Following a countdown or a whistle, a player from each team charges the ball in what is termed the "joust".[3]
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 similar to swinging a hammer whereas a shuffle is made with the long side like pushing a broom. In order to score a point, a player must hit the ball into the opposing team's goal with a shot; if the player uses a shuffle, no points are awarded and possession is turned over.
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 with possession has 10 seconds to cross the half-court line and resume play.
In a tournament setting, the game continues until a team reaches either a predetermined number of goals (5 is common) or a length of time depending on the style of play. Casual or pick up games may follow local norms with the score not typically being kept.
There are three common styles of hardcourt bike polo. Considered the traditional style, "3v3" consists of three player teams and games are usually around 10-15 minutes in length. The other most common form is "Squad". Squad teams have 4 to 5 players and games are between 30 and 40 minutes, allowing for substitutions. In addition to these there is Bench with teams of 6 to 12 players, allowing for whole squad substitutions, and games lasting between 60 and 90 minutes. All of these styles allow for a maximum of 3 players per team on the court at any given time. If there are fewer that 6 players available other games with additional rules like Traitor, 2v2, or Cutthroat are utilized.
A player who "dabs", (touches a horizontal surface, i.e. putting a foot on the ground or a hand on the wall), must undertake some form of remedial penalty before rejoining play or touching the ball. This usually involves "tapping out" (riding to a designated point on the court and touching it with the mallet). It is also common 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.
As a decentralized and organically growing game, the rules and play styles may vary substantially from city to city and between a pickup game and a tournament final. The North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association has created an official set of rules for North America, which has been influential in standardizing rules worldwide. Controversial rules include; mallet hooking, the legendary lobster trap, and the legality of physical contact to varies degrees.
The definition and amount of legal contact in a particular game is perhaps the most controversial. One classical definition of legal contact is the saying, "mallet to mallet, bike to bike, shoulder to shoulder, don't be a jerk." "Shoulder to shoulder" refers to a "check" which may be legal if it is deemed even and safe by the referee.
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) have been the prime organizations influencing standardization but other regions have formed organizations, such as the Australasian Hardcourt (AHBP) and Bici Polo Latinoamerica (BPLA), as the sport spreads to other continents and countries all over the world.
Tournament format
Though there are common styles of play, such as 3v3, Squad, and Bench, there are many formats for a tournament with host clubs often employing customized rule sets. Competitive tournaments use Double-elimination tournaments held over 2 days for a traditional podium finish. Examples of other formats include:
ABC Shuffles (players are ranked A - Advance | B - Intermediate | C - Beginner; then grouped), Completely Random Shuffle (individual players placed grouped), 2v2 (for smaller courts), 4v4 (for larger hockey courts; 4th player on the court; the only time a permanent goalie is utilized) or 4v4 Duos (2 paired teams of 2), City vs City Bench style (6+ players per team), Bone Machine (best out of 3), Round-Robin, Gladiator or Thunderdome (rules dictate only one player can win), Swiss Rounds.
Worlds consist of teams who compete and qualified for regional slots and wildcard slot won the week of. 32 teams then complete in a Double-elimination tournament.
Beyond competitive tournaments clubs host "Fun-focused Tournaments" which are a main stay of the subculture. "Fun-focused Tournaments" may be infused other games, such as the Cincinnati 3-Way (foosball and flip cup) or Lexington's Nerd City Classic (capture the flag), bizarre rules such as shuffle only goals, and other hi-jinks that promote a inclusive party atmosphere.
In Squad or Bench style tournaments a chosen team captain may be in charge of substitutions and communicating with the referee. This team captain may or may not be a player. The logistics of substitutions vary by court.
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[4] 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.
Freshly painted wheel cover
Any bike is acceptable for the game, eventually most players customize their bikes especially for bike polo and their playing needs. Though personal preference varies greatly amongst players common competitive bicycle configurations include: a low ratio (between 1:1.5 - 1:1.8), a strong front disc brake with rotor guard, a single speed freewheel cog, a track style or polo specific frame, a narrow set of flat or riser handlebars, clipless pedals, wheel covers and frame padding.
Some players make or buy wheel covers made from corrugated plastic, polycarbonate, plastic netting, or even thick fabrics to protect spokes and create solid blocking surfaces. Player's defending the goal may see particularly hard shots may rip through their spokes resulting is a goal.
Courts
Players who lack a polo specific court commonly play on courts such as tennis courts, roller hockey rinks, basketball courts, or futsal courts. These are often customized using boards forming enclosed rectangle with rounded or angled corners, to keep the ball from rolling out of the court or getting stuck in the corners. The NAH mandates goals be 3 ft x 6 ft (.9m x 1.8m) and must be placed no closer than 6 ft (1.8m) 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 must have 4 ft (1.2m) high solid boards.
Polo Specific Courts
The original courts like New York City's "The Pit" or Seattle's "Judkins Park" are repurposed spaces. Some cities parks departments have worked with their local Polo club and have built facilities specifically for polo or multi-use activities like Polo.
Examples of courts specifically designed to meet the needs of the sport include
East Vancouver's investment in a bicycle polo court at Grandview park project cost around $90,000 to complete and included concrete walls, drainage, paving, seating, and fencing.[6]
History
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2011)
Modern Hardcourt Bike Polo has roots in early 2000s Seattle[7][8] 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). Other rules happened organically; for example, tapping out came from a tournament where a cow bell was hung from the boards at center court and was required to be hit before re-entering play. Prior to that a player would have to ride in a circle before re-entering play after dabbing. As people moved and traveled, the game branched out and is currently played in over 30 countries and 300 cities.[9][10] With the formation of Cairo Bike Polo, Africa's first club, the sport is now being played on 5 continents.
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 leading to this tournament being considered unofficial. Heat Lightning (Doug Dalrymple, Paul Rauen, and Zach Blackburn) won this early world tournament, 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 then North American Champions, Team Smile, who defeated the team from East Vancouver in a repeat of the North American final. The 2009 event is considered the first official world championship.
National championships have been held in countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, Chile, 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.[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
^"Podium: EHBPC 2013". Hardcourt Podium. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013. Call Me Daddy 5 - 3 Edisons
