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.
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Two teams of three players play in an enclosed rectangular area (ex. parking lot, tennis courts, or roller hockey rink). Cones or small goals are placed at each long end of the rectangle and serve as goalposts/goals.
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 which is called 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 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 a horizontal surface 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). It is also common to have to say "foot down" to let other players know you are out of play. 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".
As a decentralized and organically growing game, the rules and styles of Hardcourt Bike Polo may vary substantially from city to city.
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 for the shaft.
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 to keep the ball from rolling out of the court or getting stuck in the corners.
Player will make wheel covers out of corrugated plastic 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. Wheel covers can't be found in stores and are another example of the sport's DIY roots.
Low gear ratio fixed-gear or single-speed freewheel bikes are advantages for quick acceleration and control on bike polo's small court. Many of the fixed-gear bikes are brakeless. Although any bike is acceptable for the game, eventually most players customized their bike especially for bike polo and their playing needs. Most riders use tall riser bars to give their bike a more upright position. They frequently shorten their handle bars to make clearance for swinging their mallets.
There has been an influx of polo related products for sale on commercial websites. From ready-made mallets and mallet holders to safety aids (like stem covers), people have been offering high quality equipment for sale on the internet and at polo tournaments across the globe.
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]
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 World Championships.
The first world championships where also held in 2009, featuring teams from the US, Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The winners were again Team Smile who defeated the team from East Vancouver in a repeat of the North American final.
National championships are held in countries around the world, including Australia, United Kingdom, and Germany.
| Year | Host | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Philadelphia | Team Smile (Seattle) | Balls Deep (East Vancouver) | Faceless Emotion (New York) | Wisconsin A (Madison, Wisconsin) | ||
| 2010 | Berlin | Beaver Boys (Milwaukee) | 5-1 | Machine Politics (Chicago) | L’Equipe (Geneva) | 5-3 | Toros (Munich) |
| 2011[4] | Seattle | Crazy Canucks (East Vancouver) | 5-4 | Call Me Daddy (France) | The Guardians (Seattle) | 5-3 | Iron Ponies (Geneva) |
| Year | Host | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Seattle | Team Smile (Seattle) | Balls Deep (East Vancouver) | Beaver Boys (Milwaukee) | DD Booster Club (New York) | ||
| 2010 | Madison, Wisconsin | The Odds (Richmond/Philadelphia/New York) | 5-2 | Team Smile (Seattle) | East Van (East Vancouver) | Super Polonics (Seattle) | |
| 2011[5] | Calgary | The Guardians (Seattle)[6] | Clobber Politics (Chicago/Ottawa) | The Crazy Canucks (East Vancouver) | The Outsiders ([Los Angeles]/Seattle/East Vancouver) |
| Year | Host | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | London | L'Equipe (Geneva) | 5-3 | Malice International (London) | Toros (Munich) | Discordia (Paris / London) | |
| 2010 | Geneva | L'Equipe (Geneva) | 5-4 | Cosmic (London) | El Club (Barcelona) | Rotten Apples (London) | |
| 2011[7] | Barcelona | L'Equipe (Geneva) | 5-2 | Polosynthese (Germany) | Hooks (Rouen) | 5-4 | El Club (Barcelona) |
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. "Hardcourt", "Urban Bike Polo" and simply "Bike Polo" are other variations used by players and the press.