Hardcourt Bike Polo

Hardcourt Bike Polo (aka Hardcourt, Urban Polo, Bici Polo, Velo Polo or simply Bike Polo) is a fast-paced, gender-inclusive team sport played on a hard, smooth, often trapezoidal, enclosed court. Three players per team ride bicycles and use mallets to hit a small ball into the opposing team's goal while avoiding physical contact with the ground. From its emergence in the 1990s, the sport benefited greatly from in the 2010s' bike boom seeing the formation of international clubs and the growth of a strong tournament culture. Drawing from aspects of team sports and cycling, its unique blend of brutal difficulty, finesse, physicality and flow attracts spectators and players alike, creating a passionate and vibrant sporting culture.

The game
Basics

Typically, the game is played in teams of 3 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."

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.

After scoring, the scoring team must return to their own half. The opposing team has ten seconds to advance the ball past half-court in order to resume play. 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 middle point on the court's walls, 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 is not required. You should avoid affecting the play of the game at all costs after a foot down occurs.

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. Ties may result in sudden death or "you dab, you die" overtime, depending on the situation. Casual or pick-up games may follow local norms, with the score not typically being kept; these games may end in a golden goal commonly referred to as a "beer point."

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 fewer than six players are available, other games with additional rules like Traitor, 2v2, or Cutthroat are utilized.

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-on-mallet hooking, the legendary 'lobster trap,, and the legality of physical contact to varying degrees.

The definition and amount of legal contact in a particular game is perhaps the most controversial. One classical definition of legal contact is governed by 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 not grabbing or pushing with hands and deemed even and safe by the referee.

Standardization

Since 2009, various governing bodies have been created within the polo community to advance the sport and create rule sets. The North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association (NAHBPA) and European Hardcourt (EHBP) have been the prime organizations influencing standardization. Still, 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.

Technique

High-level technical bike and ball handling skills have become commonplace in the sport. Training camps have been hosted in Europe, North America, and Australia so that players can gain competitive skills. Bike handling skills borrowed from non-racing bike disciplines like BMX, bike dance, and fixed gear freestyle have been introduced such as the wheelie turn and the endo-pivot.

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 two 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 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 (often losing teams are shuffled and the rules dictate only one player can ultimately win), Swiss Rounds.

Worlds consist of teams that compete and qualify for regional slots and wildcard slots that are won the week of. 32 teams then complete in a Double-elimination tournament.

Beyond competitive tournaments, clubs host "Fun-focused Tournaments," which are a mainstay of the subculture. "Fun-focused Tournaments" may be infused with 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 an inclusive party atmosphere.

One example of a Gladiator-style tournament is the Rose City Royal Rumble. The final team is pitted against each other in a one vs one vs one. A circle is formed by spectators around the center court where both goals are placed back to back. With one ball in play, two volunteer goalies, and three points to win, only one play can winner.

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.

Equipment


Rather than use traditional wooden polo mallets, Hardcourt Bike Polo players started making handmade mallets much in the spirit of the DIY ethic. These mallets are a careful balance between weight and durability. Typical mallets are constructed using heads made from tubular UHMW plastic, aluminum shafts similar to ski poles and a connect joining the two. Since the early days, a number of companies producing bike polo specific equipment have started. Although professional mallets are much more common on courts today, some clubs consider a homemade mallet to be a rite of passage. Due to community sourced advancements in connection technology light-weight low-cost carbon fiber golf shafts have begun gaining popularity in recent years but not without criticism. Critics consider them too fragile for competitive play while proponents cite the increased maneuverability and reduced wrist strain.

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

Any bike with a working brake 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 brake lever on the opposite hand to your mallet hand, 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. Often, players choose covers after experiencing defending the net and seeing a particularly hard shot rip through their spokes and result in a goal.

In competitive play, a netted goal similar to those used in ice hockey is required. Traditionally, a non-netted goal is utilized, such as two traffic cones placed two bikes apart (i.e., 4 meters).

Despite relative standardization in equipment compared to the early days of the game, bike polo is still very much in an experiential phase. Diversity ideologies, competitiveness, and resourcefulness keep pushing innovation.

Courts
Players who lack a polo-specific court commonly play on other hardcourt surfaces such as tennis courts, roller rinks, basketball courts, or futsal courts. These are then customized using boards forming an 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 city parks departments have worked with their local Polo club and have built facilities specifically for Polo or multi-use activities, including Polo.

Examples of courts specifically designed to meet the needs of the sport include


 * Coolavin park Lexington, Kentucky, USA
 * Highland Park Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
 * Mendez Park Austin, Texas, USA
 * MacArthur Park Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
 * Cotteridge Park Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
 * Deportivo Xochinahuac Azcapotzalco, CDMX, MX
 * Rolkowisko Wrocław, Poland
 * Grandview Park East Vancouver, British Columbia, CA

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.

History
Cycle polo was invented in 1891 and reached the Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1908. The sport has seen peaks in popularity in the 1930s and 1980s but has most recently been revived by the fixed-gear scene, giving the sport a new lease of life.

Writer Matthew Sparkes compares Hardcourt polo to traditional bike polo "as streetball is to basketball: grittier, more easily accessible and, to be honest, more fun."

Modern Hardcourt Bike Polo has its roots in early 2000s pacific north west. Originally started by bicycle messengers who had downtime in between deliveries, the early game developed with some of the core rules being established (3 on 3, scoring with the flat end of the mallet). One origin story tracks back to 1998 in the middle of the Dot Com era. Jay Grisham gathered messengers to play in garages around Seattle. Later Matt Messenger, aka Messman, and others working for Kozmo would play in the company's Seattle parking lot known as the “Sunkinʼ ” between deliveries.

Cycle Messenger World Championships and the spread
As with any new sport, there were ups and downs during the beginning. Individuals in Portland began playing in 2002 as the sport was first beginning to spread around. During the Seattle hosted Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC) in 2003, the game was first showcased, and here it gained significant exposure and momentum. The game was officially incorporated into the 2008 CMWC in Toronto, thanks to enthusiastic participation from bicycle messengers. This event served as a significant catalyst, being dubbed the "World Bike Polo Championships." As people moved and traveled and word of the game spread from blogs like The Radavist and documentaries like Hit 'Em In The Mouth  and Count it clubs proliferated to new cities. Now, the sport has continued to grow in popularity, and today, there are clubs worldwide. Hardcourt bike polo branched out and is currently played in over 30 countries and 300 cities. With the formation of Cairo Bike Polo, Egypt's first club, the sport is now being played competitively on six continents.

Professional Hardcourt Bike Polo
In early 2015, Fixcraft hosted a tournament exploring the idea of professionalizing the sport. With professional recording equipment and a cash prize. Fixcraft sought to create a well-manicured media product to potentially sell the broadcasting rights but was never able to do so before folding. The tournament did however create a large backlash within the community, sparking a conversation on the direction the sport was taking, inclusiveness, and the role of sponsorship. High-level polo tournaments have since been recorded with professional-level equipment by the Canadian-base team Connect Bike Polo.

Tournament Archiving and Analysis
Attempts have been made to archive tournaments. Throughout the 2010s, podiumbikepolo.com has kept detailed statistics of nearly all tournaments, and Mr.Do recorded almost all North American tournaments. Some clubs have recorded detailed data when hosting seasonal leagues within their cities in an attempt to gain an advantage through statistical analysis.

Tournaments
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. Team Smile from Seattle won it. The 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. This tournament, which attracted over 100 participants comprising 35 teams, marked the first large-scale international bike polo event in history. 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 worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the 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.