Hardcourt Bike Polo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Urban Cycle Polo)
Jump to: navigation, search
Two players battling for control of the ball

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.

Contents

[edit] The game

Bike Polo team charging the ball

Two teams of three players play in an enclosed rectangular area. Cones are placed at each long end of the rectangle and serve as goalposts.

At the beginning of the game, the ball is placed in the middle of the court the players wait behind their own goals. Following a countdown, both teams charge the ball.

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 a pre-defined limit of three to five goals. Some cities also impose a time limit which is informally invoked by spectators as play draws on.

A player who "dabs" (touches the ground with their foot) must undertake some form of remedial penalty before making contact with the ball again. This usually involves either riding in a circle or "tapping out" (riding to a designated point on the court and touching it with the mallet).

The amount of contact in a particular game may vary but is generally restricted to "mallet on mallet, bike on bike, player on player". Additionally, players are not allowed to T-bone other players' bicycles.

As a decentralized and organically growing game, the rules and styles of Hardcourt Bike Polo may vary substantially from city to city.

[edit] Equipment and courts

A well-used Street Hockey ball

Rather than use traditional polo mallets, Hardcourt Bike Polo players make handmade mallets in the spirit of the DIY ethic. Typical mallets are constructed using high density gas pipe or ABS piping for the head and a ski pole or golf club for the shaft. However, mallets are by no means standardized; mallet heads may come in the form of PVC and aluminum cans and mallet shafts may be constructed from materials as diverse as wooden dowels, bamboo, and even crutches!

The most commonly used ball is a plastic Street Hockey ball.

Players commonly play on courts such as a tennis courts or street hockey rinks. These are often customized using boards or nets to keep the ball from rolling out of the court or getting stuck in corners.

[edit] Popularity

Modern Hardcourt Bike Polo has roots in early 2000s Seattle. Since 2004, cities across North America have thrown inter-city tournaments such as the East-, West-, and Northside Polo Invites. The largest-ever bike polo tournament was held in June 2009 in Berlin during the European Cycle Messenger Championships and drew 38 teams from 27 cities. The sport has also grown in popularity in Europe; London hosted the second London Polo Invitational in August 2008 and tournaments have happened in Zurich, Paris, and Eindhoven. Big tournaments are planned in Rouen (France, April 09), Manchester (UK, April 09), Berlin, Newcastle (UK), Amsterdam and Munich. The First European Championships will take place in London in the first week of August 2009.

[edit] The name

Though Hardcourt Bike Polo game play has more in common with hockey than traditional polo, the word "polo" is used because the players sit atop of a moving object and strike the ball with mallets. "Urban Bike Polo" and simply "Bike Polo" are other variations used by players and the press.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcourt_Bike_Polo"
Personal tools