Watching the wheels with bicycle polo

Notice the clever use of wheel covers...in bicycle polo, you can never be too careful. Photo Credit: Ayesha Sitara

I had to stop in my tracks when I heard, “Go Canada! Go Australia!” and find out where these screams were coming from. A large crowd was surrounding cyclists holding things that looked like a mix between hockey sticks and golf clubs. Curiosity got the better of me. On closer look, I even saw a ball being hit about. So was it some kind of bicycle golf or bicycle hockey? I found out that it was neither: it was actually a game of Bicycle Polo.

Polo is, of course, typically played on horseback. Polo is signature royalty in India and being an ardent rider, I have had a go at it a few times. But, it was hard to resist the charismatic maharajahs who invited me to practice with them. I eventually got two dates! Will I get lucky with Bicycle Polo?

A young man explained to me what Bicycle Polo was all about. The game comes from Ireland where it started in 1891. Although the traditional game is played on grass, the one I witnessed was played on hard court in Bishops Square, east of London. It is also known as “Urban Bike Polo” and is less formal than the traditional game. All players have to remain on court at all times of play and there are no substitutions.

The Rules

Teams made up of three or five compete on any hard court surface they can find with make shift goal posts. Here, in Bishops Square, they were using traffic safety cones.  There are three basic rules to play.

In the first instance if a player ‘dabs’ (i.e touching the ground with his foot) then he has to ride into the middle of court and hit a designated area with his stick. This is called a tap out.

In order to score, the player must play for a hit. This means that the player has to hit the ball across the goal using the narrow end of his stick.

When a player scores a goal, the team will have to wait at their end while the opposite team cyclists crosses halfway before the game can resume again.

There are three contact rules to bear in mind: body on body, stick against stick, and bike against bike. But the most important rule is the courtesy rule where you have to play hard as the others play you.

Photo Credit: Ayesha Sitara

History

Bicycle Polo was a demonstration sport in the 1908 edition of the London Olympics. The first World Championships was organized in the USA in 1996 where teams from India, USA and Canada participated with India crowned champions. Today, France, Indonesia, Argentina, Italy, Germany and many other countries hold international matches. The game was officially recognized by the International Cycling Union in 2001.

Europe has its own Championship that is held annually for European club teams. The next edition is in July this year hosted by Geneva. France is the current European Champion. But the Champions in Bishops Square was team Cosmic.

As for the date, with the young man, you know what they say, never kiss and tell.