I made it broad on purpose:)
Lots of people are going to bring lots to the table given the breadth of the question.
I like the part about the six idiots. A group of people with a basketball and some hoops can play the same game the pros do.
What do you want bike polo to look like in 5 years?
Have you been reading this web site the past 8-12 months? Just a question I have to understand where you are coming from.
The answer to your question is no, I haven't been, and I'm aware that a LOT has been going on while I've been away from polo, which I hear about from Ben at work. I'm aware of a HUGE amount of work being done, a fuckton of new clubs, a lot of standardization talk and stuff like that, but I am NOT aware of people thinking about the future of polo (other than those of you elected to do so). I see this as a way for you guys to get a look at what ideas people actually have for the future and work them in to your plan.
I am here both to support and to build support for what you guys are out to accomplish. Does that answer your question?
*edit* I may not have been reading for a while, but I have been reading a LOT since I got back on.
a lot of you guys will be five years better, and if i'm lucky i'll have the same skills i have now.
It would be the ultimate to me if the game became seriously pro, or even semi pro. I dream of getting paid to do this. But i like the idea of keeping the rules down to a minimal. And of course that the sandlot games still exist. Even if it goes no where, i am having a hell of alot of fun right now. So its a win win.
What does Pro/Semi-Pro mean to you?
If it doesn't look like this we better all step up our game:
Freaky coincidence! we were talking about tron bike polo on the weekend... :)
We're going to hook up some black lights and play with a glow in the dark ball...
Could work well in a low light situation. Could look a bit like this.
more ladies on the big tournament podiums
This was a great thread to start. NA Hardcourt (the new 21) is working on setting an agenda right now. Posts here could potentially be very helpful in establishing priorities. Keep the good ideas rolling.
Make 10 video games like the tony hawks series...
Good walt disney sport style movies like Mighty ducks, indians etc...
Wear ultra expensive and ultra cheap quality...
I'd like to see more polo specific parts and products. The Joust/Bruiser/polo guard/Chukkers are a great start. I'd also like to see more people like Lucky making mallet heads (and complete mallets!) with new styles and designs. The most important thing I think bike polo needs within the next year or sooner is one concrete ruleset. The best way to do this would be to have a poll on which reps from each city (worldwide, maybe?) could vote on issues i.e. foot on mallet = footdown y/n. We also need better person to person contact rules. Most everyone agrees that an extended arm push is a goon move and is not alright. On the other hand, most everyone agrees that leaning into someone a bit or holding a forearm up is acceptable. The solution that I proposed is this: elbow must be below shoulder and cannot extend past a 90 degree angle.
What I don't want to see polo become is some formalized crap storm where the sponsored/pro teams become completely disconnected from the grassroots/young clubs. This would hamper the development of the younger clubs and it would mean that the top clubs just keep on playing against each other endlessly. This is a qualm I have with some major sports (tennis, mostly).
I agree with you about how the rules for Hardcourt Bike Polo need to be more standardized, but I think that the next innovation to our sport should be how to call a foul & what happens when a foul is called.
There have been many threads in this forum & many discussions on the court about what is & is not a foul. Rule books have been drafted & posted for most of our tournaments these days. My question is, are the rules effective if there is no clear way to enforce them? (ie. a tap-out is not always best penalty.)
I think that the Bench Minor Tournament in NYC this spring will be a great example to test out how & when to enact a penalty for a foul. It looks like they are beginning with hockey as a model - which is a good start, but I believe that we need to find rules & methods that work best for the physics our sport & how we want it to be played.
The rules need to be flexible enough to work with the pick-up style we all play in our cities, with friends & new players (without refs). It also needs to be fair enough to ensure the "best team" wins the tourney (with refs).
I agree with you about how the rules for Hardcourt Bike Polo need to be more standardized, but I think that the next innovation to our sport should be how to call a foul & what happens when a foul is called.
There have been many threads in this forum & many discussions on the court about what is & is not a foul. Rule books have been drafted & posted for most of our tournaments these days. My question is, are the rules effective if there is no clear way to enforce them? (ie. a tap-out is not always best penalty.)
I totally agree. At least at the Midwests 7, none of the "refs" ever called a foul. I think people are going to get seriously injured if we don't' start calling a foul a foul and actually enforcing a penalty for that.
none of the "refs" ever called a foul.
On the other hand, I saw a ton of goals called shuffle when they were clearly goals. Maybe the refs should mostly stay out of it.
a bunch? I remember only one at the main court, and I was there all day both days.
If you're going to have refs they should probably make calls on what they see and not things the crowd yells. I'd say it happened at least 5 times that I saw. It was also the only thing the refs did the whole weekend . I doubt if really effect the out come of any game so it was totally benign. Yet, if that's all the refs are going to do and they get it no better then players on the court why even have them?
Nothing against your refs it's more the idea of refs.
I was kind of trying to do that shit on Sunday. It's a really big court, and it's hard to flip signs and see what's going on at both goals in the sun all at the same time. In hindsight, more designated refs would have been a good idea. I remember Chris saying it was the one thing he regrets not putting more time into.
You weren't the only person who felt that way... and you make a good point. But a court that size would take 4 refs to get all the angles and it was hard to round up COMO people that weren't doing anything already. It was just a logistics thing that probably could have and should have been figured out but wasn't as easy as you've made it out to be, also.
I said too much. You make some excellent point for anyone planning a tournament and planning to have refs.
Crazy though: maybe the refs would be worth a flip if they were on bikes and going up and down the court with the game. Hey if you really want to do it right get a stripped shirt and a whistle and I think maybe they could actually call a foul. I'm not for this but It would be better then some random person calling it from somewhere on the sideline.
i know its BIKE polo but, a ref on rollerblades might be better. would be a lot less likely to get in the way, more agile.
X 2
let's not bring roller blades into this...
why not? That is to say, why not realistically look at it and see whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?
Also, check your email
Before someone straps on fruit loops why not just get out there on a bike and see how that works?
Derby girls! Bring them into it!
In Melbourne...
If the players agree on a goal/no goal, then it doesnt matter what the crowd (or ref even) says.
If it's disputed the ref calls it. If the ref needs to, they can ask the spotter (someone sitting nearby who they elect at the start of each game)
Hey ya'll, one thing about bringing polo to the Olympics that has been pointed out to me before is that if you are an Olympic athlete, you can't smoke herb or drink while you play. Personally since I don't smoke, and I don't like to drink much during tourneys I am okay with that. Bike Polo in the next five, I just hope it goes better than the last five, and by that I mean we seem to be taking steps to keep polo evolving into something that more and more people can enjoy and find out about(be addicted to). I feel like outreach with our community's to get permanent facility's is the next big hurdle for polo. Some places already have this, some want better. All in all I think the poloverse is shaping itself up nicely and heading in a good direction. Oh yeah If the Olympics grabs hold of polo, I could see a boom for polo in the bad short term type way, I think the brick by brick method we got going now will be more long lasting.
What about the likelihood of cities working with us to create courts BECAUSE of an Olympic type boom? That is to say that the legitimacy that the Olympics could bring would go a LONG WAY to getting people in charge of stuff to respect what we have here and work with us.
Thought about that right after I hit post, been thinking about it for a few now. I agree that Olympic exposure would bring some form of legitimacy in the eyes of the state. But whats it gonna look like if some polo players come a running after the fact? Hey we been playing polo here for like 2-12 years and now we want our own court, we're OG I swear. I dunno I think that community involvement will go a long way. Lobby the parks department, write grants, talk to neighborhood associations, and most importantly clean up after yourself every time you play polo so that people have no reason to not want you to play in there area of town.
My point is not that those things are not important, or that they shouldn't be the main thing individual clubs should be working on, but in terms of something NAH might be able to do to give everyone who is already doing all of those things a BIG boost, I see an Olympic thing as a pretty big benefit.
i was kinda kidding about bringing polo to the olympics. it would not be the same game at all. the olympics seem to place presidence on purity of athletic performance and being the best you can be at a specialized event. not even cough syrup allowed. i think we might have a problem with that as timtim mentioned.
maybe i'm not taking polo seriously enough but i dont plan on going to the gym to exercise and coordinate my polo muscles so i can shoot pedal and eat shit harder than anyone else. what is it exactly that we are aspiring to?
for athletes that commit themselves to a sport it could be at the expense of living a normal life, so having your eye on the potential sponsorship prize and being recognized on the world stage is probably a big motivator.
an equivalent might be dangling a big load of money for the top team at the next tournament. I think players might start being a little more ruthless on their way to the top.
it should be all about fun, whether you come in first place or last place, and if you are playing for another reason i'd like to know what it is.
hockey rinks in every city.
a comprehensive rulebook.
more sponsors.
gusseted tubes.
lucky heads!
everyone wears helmets.
kids & high school leagues.
instant replay.
worlds broadcast on espn ocho.
hockey rinks in every city.
a comprehensive rulebook.
more sponsors.
gusseted tubes.
lucky heads!
everyone wears helmets.
kids & high school leagues.
instant replay.
worlds broadcast on espn ocho.
bike polo isn't hockey ;-) haha
Dear North American Hardcourt, please work on developing some sort of template for proposals to government agencies that people could use when applying for polo court designation and whatnot. Say a packet with info regarding number of clubs worldwide, players etc., so that when we go to the big wigs we have something concrete to back us up.
X8
Will be creating our own packet for this very same purpose. Using similar design/layout to EV's park revamping proposal, but more construction detailed oriented.
x2, or another 8.
I agree to get one ref in tournaments in order to be fair and be able to have one voice when there is a foul or a dispute about a goal.
I want to see one dedicated pickup court at every tournament.
Is this the 5 year plan or should I anticipate one for the ocho?
I'm wondering, does everyone see the natural progression of The League Of Bike Polo as a season in which major regional invite tournaments become regional qualifiers which then decide those who participate in the North Americans which then decides those who participate in the Worlds?
I've always thought that a professional tennis season's format along with its varied styles of courts was a much better match with polo than the way in which a pro/college baseball, basketball, football or hockey season is organized.
Our year is composed of tournaments rather than 1 team vs. 1 team weekly matches and I think that if "The League" plans to put some sort of official form to the season this needs to be considered.
I'd like to hear how others see the ideal or necessary form to the polo season.
The point of this thread is to spark discussions that move to other threads as they start to turn into ideas. That sounds like a good thing to be looking at, maybe you should start a thread!
quick clarification: "The League of Bike Polo" is a website on which 1500+ players have accounts, and 200 or so clubs, 7 or 8 topic forums, 10 or so regional forums, post tournaments listings, etc. It's moderated, but it's pretty anarchic. "NA Hardcourt" is a fledgling North American specific organizing body that happens to have a home here, along with the regions, clubs etc above. It has its home at www.leagueofbikepolo.com but it may not always.
screw refs screw "fouls" just play
I have to say I totally agree on this. Everyone knows when someone's play is getting out of hand or dangerous, and everyone holds everyone else accountable, from the tournaments I've seen/been a part of.
The teams that play dirty or overly physical are NEVER the teams that win. It's obvious to good players that playing rough means playing inefficiently and most of the time it means losing. This sport doesn't beg for rules like other sports do, because it's not in your favor to play like an asshat.
Also, I have yet to meet a player who wants to win void of any dignity or integrity. This is a stand up group of athletes(?) and I don't see why the sport can't be encouraged to remain that way without whistle blowing and stopping play and putting someone in time out.
goal judges are necessary when it matters.
If shit ever went pro I'd want a part-time gig as a ref...just sayin.
I'd do it real cheap. Like 9 bucks an hour and all the beer I could drink. The best refs are the drunk ones.
keep it simple,work on courts template is a good idea,foot on mallet only when i get hit cheap like into walls "tu shae" .. olimpics i guess for the non..go Phelps...and if the worlds moves from country to country their should be supper bowl of polo for us the US.. and we play it wherever the superbowl is (for promo purpose )and canada every leap year...allso does france have somthing going on during the tour or tied to or down the block from the tour..that would be sick,its two for one.....also for promo but mostly for fun...ok ok just funn
Frickin' lazer beams!
/drunkpost!
What has me so hooked like a BJ on hardcourt is that we decide how this sport/game will change the world. In five years I see sponsors paying for and building courts for our tournaments and I see individual players sponsored. Oh, and if you are a player good enough to be sponsored there had better be stickers, banners, flags, and shit all over you and you bike while you are playing...like NASCAR. To the point where there is no way to look cool being sponsored.
The thought also came up while thinking about how in the end money could wreck everything, it would be cool if Pro(people getting paid to play) had to have a non-polo job to get there polo check. The thought being that by keeping the Pro level closer to the working class we maintain our simple love of the game. The ones getting paid to play having to sport their garb and those not getting paid throwing in and playing with the best week in and week out.
Let's maintain our edge...always keep the spark close...and never sell out to be boxed up and tucked away.
in 5 years, we'll hopefully have (in no particular order):
enough sponsors / alliances with city gov. to have nice courts in many places and make throwing a tourney easy
not so many sponsors that polo turns into ugly corpo-robo sport with
all pro and bigtime tv though
not having to answer the question: "what are you playing" because people will just know
mostly standardized rules would be nice by then
different courts in different cities to keep it fresh (with tennis style tourneys to link em up and lead to worlds)
FUCK THE OLYMPICS. to all hell. polo and olympics shouldnt mix. there I said it. If need be i'll start a thread to explain why I feel that way, so I dont hijack this one
x2222 for pickup court at every tourney, now THAT is DIY and inclusive and fun
more small towns with big polo clubs
lots of polo workshops for schoolkids
polo little league!!!
more helmets and gloves
the total abscence of uncapped bars or bullhorns on court
What no bullhorns This time you've gone too far.I luv the fact that we can do what we like b4 after and during a game.the future needs designated courts with no interference from corporate sponsors Keep it small and unique with the caliber of players that have integrity and balls and that you can leeve the keys to your house without havin ever met them and it ends up tidier than you left it apart from a lot more recyclin to be taken out coz you know they partied.
"So this is how it ends"
hardcourt polo has gone further and faster in 10 years than grass surface polo has gone in the last hundred! i bet they didn't see that coming.
5 years.. well if you consider that most people now have only been playing half that long, the biggest difference is going to be the improvement in level of play.
i can't imagine what games will look like when everyone on the court has 7+ years of experience. gonna be nuts.
so much of the disparity now between the top teams and everyone else is due to experience just playing polo and specifically playing tournaments. i don't know if that's gonna be the case 5 years from now. my guess is talent, athleticism, and training are going be much more important than how long you've been playing..
oh daniel, you and your drills, is it because the saints are on the gridiron? and here i thought you were some kind of hopeless romantic. maybe in five years in new orleans there will be only drills and leaugues and tournaments, won't that be awesome? we should write it up on the polo in the sky thread.
Are you actually attending the bowl in Miami? Wow.
The Aint's will be destroyed by Peyton. Shouldn't even be there in the first place
have you been in a coma? have you seen the saints play this season? 13-3 and don't belong there? don't believe the hypebeasts in the media and their nonsense. no team wants it more than new orleans. it's going to be a great game no matter who wins. did you see the nfc championship? don't be a hater.
The Saints will destroy Peyton. Everyone should've recognized the Saints from the beginning.
i fixed it for you. haha!
my facts are fuzzy as always but, to get into the olympics you need something like 40 participating countries with some organizational entity (e.g. NA hardcourt) per each country, and probably a bunch of other information and stats to create what is essentially a "bid package" for the olympic committee to look at. they vote. if you win, seven years later you are in the olympics. obviously a stripped down description of the process but yeah think 40 different countries each with a national organizational entity.
jesus imagine the rabid ferocity of play during the qualifying tournaments for the U.S.A. olympic team. imagine representing the U.S.A. on a global stage. just jizzed a little.
also, of those forty countries, there has to be at least one from each continent save antarctica (sp?),
I'm torn between wanting to see bike polo become a sport that everyone knows and wanting to keep the relatively small, tight-knit community it is now. I mean, it'd be fucking awesome to see more people playing, high schools having teams, maybe even a pro league, etc., but at the same time, I do not want to see the spirit of the sport lost. It's great to be able to go to a tournament, meet new people, and be pretty much universally accepted by the people there. I mean, how many other sports have people that will open their doors to strangers for a weekend simply because they play the same game? I can easily see that spirit getting lost if polo becomes more mainstream. Also, as sports get bigger, inevitably somebody somewhere figures they can make money off it, and the game becomes corrupted. That's what's awesome about polo. It's a bunch of people coming together, making their own mallets, throwing tournaments, and no one really seems to give a damn about the money. The DIY aspect is hugely appealing, and I don't want to see that lost to some corporate asshole who figures he can market "Ball Smasher 9000" mallets to 13 year olds. As the sport gets bigger, there needs to be a collective effort to make sure that doesn't happen.
Anyways, that's my 2 cents, but what do I know? I'm only 18, inevtiably the youngest person anywhere I play.
word
The future is bright, thanks! DIY forever.
i think you are 100% on the money there jacques.
Jacques, right on. Maybe in 5 years we'll get that x2 button back so I can just x2 that action, but yeah- I especially agree with the billeting aspect- I mean really this, plus PICKUP ALL DAY LONG is what builds the relationships. Getting ripped together like a big dysfunctional family.
Oh wait, not you though, you can only drink in Alberta. Come to Calgary's Ramsay Bowl!
Oh and in case no one mentions it, x2 on you being an 18 year old who can write in coherent complete sentences. The world is a tiny bit brighter now.
More people playing, and more places to play - with lights, boards, and smooth surfaces.
Everything else can stay the same.
Actually... as said above, in 5 years, the disparity between teams will be less about experience and more about athleticism, practice, or whatever. But I don't see this going 'pro' as much as I'd like to quit my job and play polo year round. More people means more nights playing, and there will simply be A team nights, and B teams nights, just like lots of other sports out there and just like some cities have now.
I say we lock this thread in a few months and kev can do some computerelectrickery to make it pop up in our faces in 2015. I think we'll be nicely impressed by how things develop.
I'd like to see standardized team strips.
Machine, you showed everyone you're perfect for the job of Blathering Scot on the Mic in LA. Five years down the line you'll be paid your weight in snakebite to color commentate. Count it.
And how the F the LAPD didn't tap you out for that helmet... was it Robbie Burns day or something? A special gift to you and only you?
If you really want to see the future of polo go to Phoenix...
I know, in five years the 12 year old's that school me every week in polo will be graduating from high school. FML. haha
This is what 12 year old polo players do when not playing.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HV5aqpHiNvw/S3BJQZcr2tI/AAAAAAAABM8/0JJxgIEhjh...
It was f%giging awsome to be there with real poloistas although playing would've been top .Hopeully in 5 years i'll have gone 5 years without an injury, 5 without a fight with a team or clubmate, 5 without a change of polo widow , 5 with you lot at every tournament possible and 5 years better at polo
Machine "so this is how it ends"
we saw a glimpse of the future at the Greif masters this weekend... Electronic score board with countdown, team logos, upcoming games! custom-made netted goals! complete mallets and high-tech wheel covers for sale! perfect boards! and THE VIEWING PLATFORM!! Oh.My.God. the viewing platform. Either you've been there and you've seen what we've seen, or you live in the past. OMG OMG!!!
where are the photo links?
in the Greif Masters thread:
http://leagueofbikepolo.com/greif-masters-2010
and there:
http://vimeo.com/9297558
Everyone should be reflecting on how watching Muderball every year for the past 5 years has helped their attitude and their game.
hoping the hawaii scene picks up and resembles anything that any of you have going on currently...
and that griefmaster video looks like an epic event
One thing I think about, and going back to the DIY aspect, is that I don't want there to be a cost barrier to getting into the sport. I love the idea of polo specific gear ( I plan on getting a Joust), but it would kill the sport if we had equipment regulations forcing you to buy a $2,000 polo rig, a $50 mallet, and a couple hundred bucks worth of pads just to play. I don't forsee this happening in five, or even ten years, but it could, and I think we should avoid it.
I agree, one of the reasons I wasn't able to play Ice Hockey when I was a kid was the cost, my parents couldn't afford to pay for the gear and the team fees for rink time and travel. I would hate to see new people interested but unable to play because of the cost due to regulations.
I've played hockey my whole life, and i've had the same pair of cheap skates since my feet stopped growing (the base is all brittle and cracked from blocking shots in minus 25 weather in Montreal and Madison... but they still hold an edge). i usually buy the next-to-cheapest stick. Granted i'm no A hockey player, but i feel that the competition when i play at the shinny rink is just as good as any pickup polo game i play right now. people who want to compete will always feel the pressure to buy expensive shit to fit in to their competitve team/league etc, but there is still plenty of room for people who want to play the pond hockey version of their sport. what's awesome right now in polo is that there's still not much correlation between the most expensive bikes and the best players, hopefully it'll stay that way.
my biggest fear of polo becoming a victim of its own success is court access. most players of most popular sports with specialized courts pay to play.
my biggest fear of polo becoming a victim of its own success is court access. most players of most popular sports with specialized courts pay to play.
Lay that fear to rest. The journey to the World Cup can start in a trashy field next to a slum. Similar things can be said of the World Series and the Olympics. All we need is a flat paved surface, some mallets and a ball.
Sometimes we will pay to play on fancy courts. That's a sign of success, not trouble.
i only hope that the guy/gal on the beater will always be able to truly compete with the one on the bruiser/joust in a game of polo.
i just wanna see harder shots.
I want to see bike polo become a global symbol, signifying that everything is gonna be all right. Example, some big ass earthquake strikes the town you live in and everyone is scared shitless until they see the game of bike polo being played in the town square and they are reminded they are alive. They grab their bike go throw-in and when they are done playing and headed home to cleanup the damage a couple of poloist offer to help. Bike polo makes me believe in people. Five years and we'll see the best in more people.
A little too broad a question, I think. But what the hell:
In 5 years I'll be 40, so mostly I just hope to still be playing using all my own knees.
It'd be nice if whatever is happening with sponsors, products, tournaments, leagues, tours, olympics, etc. is controlled by people still playing the game.
I wouldn't ever want a situation to arise where 6 idiots with bikes of any character couldn't fashion some mallets out of whatever was available and believe that they were playing the same game they saw or heard about.
It would also be swell if things could stay representative and on the outreach tip. It would stink if there were barriers to the opinions/innovations of the 6 idiots mentioned above on the rest of us.
Wanna buy some polo stuff?
http://www.fixcraft.net/stcago