The first female bike polo tournament in berlin, mallet dolorosa was held in april 2013. It was a single player shuffle tournament. There were 42 girls from all over the world.
Photographs by gitti la mar
A GOALHOLE sticker pack is on it’s way to Gitti! There are 8 more left to win! More details here
The III Open Bike Polo Madris was held in March. Teams came from Spain (Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid, Bilbao, …), Lisbon, Suisse and France. The winners were Warlocks (France).
To see more photos and to learn a bit more about Madrid Bike Polo, go to http://www.bikepolomadrid.com/
By Aitor Bellino
A GOALHOLE sticker pack is on it’s way to Aitor! There are 9 more left to win! More details here
By now most of you are probably getting a little bit tired of hearing about the Australasian Championships. We really don’t have that many tournaments in Australia and New Zealand as there aren’t that many cities that play.
We want to see what is going on in the rest of the world. Send us your tournament photos!! If you want to write something to go with it, that would be awesome. If you don’t feel like writing anything, just tell us the name of the tournament and where and when it was held. 10 to 15 photos is all we need. Send everything to goalholepolo@gmail.com
The first 10 responses will get sent a GOALHOLE sticker pack!!
ps I will be away from the 1st to the 18th May so I might be a bit slow mailing stuff and getting back to you
The 3rd Annual Indiana Bicycle Polo State Championships were held in Indianapolis on 27 October 2012. Nick Nacrelli tells us how it all went down.
I’m new to the game, and this was my first tournament. Had a lot of fun, learned quite a bit, and got ride my brand new Grand National for the first time. Tree City from Bloomington won the title back from Tres Hermanos hailing from West Lafayette via global these days. These two teams, from what I know, have been the elites on the Indiana scene. Both squads with a title, lots of bragging rights, and the realities of people moving. As always, it was a heat game. Things get a touch heated, but its always hugs after the game. Kyle of Indianapolis is our tournament MVP.
Full results of the tournament:
By Nick Nacrelli
Photographs by Krista Helms and Nick Nacrelli
Do you feel that invisible net that exists during a tournament? Like the Chart in The L Word, everybody is connected, but by love of polo, not lesbianism. You have the divine knowledge of where everyone is and what everyone is doing; days blend seamlessly into each other to form one overwhelming super day? You feel it until your rig is disassembled and you’ve stumbled back into a reality, most often signified by a sleazy airport. That’s my tourno experience, at least.
“Oi, Virginia!!!” She swung her head around vigorously, though already 200m in the distance on her bike. Sweet polo faith implored her and her smiley red-headed companion to immediately head back along Boundary road in search of where the voice had sprung. We found each other (sounds emo, but it felt pretty great) and the weekend had begun.
‘Aftermath’ was the theme of the tournament, being after Worlds and for the fun of dressing like zombies. And blood, right Kiki? HOT. The zombies that Will Smith defeats in ‘I Am Legend’ are babes, super dudes. An apt theme for us kids on bikes: fearsome and fearless, no stranger to feeling deathly after a night of intense living, often moving in packs, hungry, and violent.
Some of us took a literal approach to the theme and decided to be zombies. Wednesday at The End, where ‘casual beers’ turned into litres of unidentifiable liquid at Down Under bar. Thursday at Archive and Ric’s where indie beats were drenched in overpriced cider. Friday at Dan’s where an electric dancing orgy could be compared with an inextinguishable fire. By 9am Saturday we were the real deal.
We played a bit of polo on Friday in amongst the set-up. “We” meaning everyone but Morgan who was pre-occupied shot-gunning his way to organ-failure. Morgan got the party started and Dan hosted its continuation in his East Brisbane backyard, complete with projections, grunge couches, a DJ stall and under-house nooks. The only thing that was missing was a classy goon-in-the-bath-with-a-hose-through-the-floor-boards system. The shenanigans were of a high-school party standard, the dance moves were of no standard at all; Ollie’s striptease was characterised by whipping innocent bystanders with items recently removed from his bod, Scottie rocked the boy-band pelvic thrust and my own personal style involved laughing so hard that I spat beer on people. Kiki’s attempts to extricate the Heal Street family (Scottie, myself and Seeber) for several hours were fruitless. Soz. Crazy, uncontrollable strangers from across the country united in flagrant disregard for government alcohol consumption recommendations and a love for our golden sport – it was enough to make this beer-filled gal cry.
On Saturday, the sun rose far earlier than desired and enthusiasm was slightly muted. From all corners and altitudes of Brisbane galloped possies of bike poloists towards Musgrave park for a 9am start. It was a sight to behold: the familiar maze of wheels/frames/mallets/bottles, bodies of a polo ilk roosting on the hill around the courts, cupcakes with skilfully crafted decorations by Kat and Jenna (don’t step on a penis!) and sturdy, serious-looking barriers, in part funded by the amazing support of local Councillor Helen Abrahams. Again, it was enough to make this beer-filled gal cry.
For me, the hardest thing was standing on the side feigning nonchalance, I was as fearful of the court as Bruce Bogtrotter of the Trunchbull. With a moments notice you’d be summoned to hurl your body, bike and mallet over the sleepers, slot easily into play and make your team proud and if you bombed you were called off. As a less experienced polo player (but a skilled playa) I had a chance to soak up some goal-guarding advice from the sides and every back-pat was dearly appreciated. The subbing was interesting with a tight hole down one end of court one and a gaping hole down the other end. Court two had one hole to share, which made for nice inter-team high fives and sharing of fluids.
The BBQ on day one was amazing – veggie burgers made by Kiki’s mum and meat thangs for the meat-men and women. Saturday night we resumed hangs at the Boundary Hotel (well, some of us did, others were far too tired and stinky), and after many glasses of beer and a glass of Ollie’s blood later, we decided to head home (read: were kicked out) in order to recharge for Sunday.
The second day of the tournament brought detached fingers, ears and open wounds, both real and silicon. There were also skewers with tofu and unidentifiable meat for eating. There was a lot of hugging and smooshing of fake blood. Tipene won best costume; though he looked more like Justin Bieber than a zombie, we all decided he needed a prize for being so desirable.
The Musgrave Diggers won – my team, suck it! We defeated Tipene’s team. The final was incredibly enjoyable; the crowd was loud, the reffing top notch and Morgan was a part of some amazing crashes, but always got back on the horse. I heard someone say that Dom’s playing was world-class and that some of the passing between the Brisbane lads was particularly smooth, I remember having some really lovely conversations about people improving and specific strengths of players, but in all honesty that chunky and nourishing weekend (like Heinz soup) is a little blurry now.
Other ale-hazed memories:
A small crew of us were delayed scouring the grass for rubbish pre-Pear chillouts Sunday night (I was searching for free hats, lights, underwear), though once settled, we had a rashlike presence on the area. Tipene was a hellman on the decks, we even manipulated the furniture into a layout more conducive to booty popping (can’t remember exact tune when this occurred but it was probs Miley, or Azaelia Banks).
Please invite us back again Brisbane. We love you.
By Gemma Baxter
Photographs by Erica Jean, Rob Moss and Kristine Kenins
An instagram view of this weekends Aftermath Bench Minor held in Brisbane, enjoy a ringside view thanks to every hipsters favourite app.
How Kristine felt about the tournament she organised!
Steve Irwin zombie ^
Photographs courtesy of Kristine Kenins, Katrina Yasurek, Gemma Baxter, Scott dMello, Dylan Wellington and William Jetnikoff
Plans for the Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship 2013 have stalled as both Christchurch and the Gold Coast removed their expressions of interest to host the tournament.
Representatives from both cities have written to the Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Association to officially withdraw their expressions of interest and declined to place an official bid to host the tournament for 2013.
Christchurch representatives withdrew due to most players having constraints on their time in the next year, including completing of studies and the rebuilding houses and businesses after last years devastating earthquake.
“[Christchurch] are critically aware of the amount of work required to organise this event successfully and do not feel that 2013 is going to be a suitable year for our club to commit to this workload. Many of our players are completing studies in this timeframe and some will be re-building homes and businesses within the next 12-18 months, following the enormous amount of demolition going on here post earthquake.”
Christchurch's home courts
The Gold Coast‘s statement has pointed to ongoing set backs, including the loss of their home courts at Miami High, as the reason for withdrawing their bid.
“[The GC] are still developing the sport on the coast and are working towards hosting a few social tournaments. We’ve had a lot of set backs since returning from Nat’s this year. For a tournament on this scale alot of factors have to line up finical [sic], political, amenities etc just to name a few.”
The GC's home courts at Miami High which have now been revoked.
These sudden withdrawals leaves a void as no other bids have been made. The deadline for expressions of interest has passed, only the Gold Coast and Christchurch indicated they would bid. The Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Association (Jedi Council), are now determining the timeframe for new expressions of interest and bids.
To express interest in hosting the AHBPC 2013 contact your local representative and refer to the bidding process outline on bikepolo.com.au
For more info on the AHBPA and who your local representative is see our previous article on the Jedi Council .
by Oliver Wykeham
First things first:
get your shit there in one piece. Baggage handlers are the devil. When they are not busy framing Saints like Chappelle Corby, they are breaking your trusty steed.
Step 1,
Get a bike bag: Any decent bag company will sell you one. Constantly borrowing bike bags is like borrowing condoms; it’s not going to make you any friends when it rips. Boxes are bulky and impossible to ride with, bags like the BO gear bike back are not only light and compact but will double as a pillow or sleeping bag when you get to that host’s house where you will be sleeping the next few nights.
Step 2,
get to the airport early and pack that shit right: Fork and dropout inserts. They are cheap and probably came in the box your bike came in. Your local bike shop will help you out. Dropouts get squashed and will no longer fit your wheel, those pretty carbon forks are going to smash and you are going to cry. Make sure you have no tools floating around your on board luggage; anything can be used as a weapon, don’t you know? Other common things broken in transit are brake callipers and pedals that have been left in cranks, secure it with tape or bubble wrap it.
An example of a quality bike bag, BO GEAR’s BIKE BAG
Step 3, Get there early.
If you are arriving a day or two before the tournament, get down to the courts. Help the locals set up barriers, if you have ever had to organise a tournament you know that every set of hands is valuable. Even if it is just doing a coffee or beer run, every little bit will help the weekend run smoother. Meeting people in a new city can be difficult, but people will always be more receptive to someone who has helped them out.
Not all courts possess the amazing topography and unparalleled surfacing of Musgrave park. Make sure you get a few practice games in to get used to the court size and surface. Pre-tournament pickup are some of the best games you will play. Just remember not to tire yourself out too much or give away any of your secret moves.
Get to know your local ‘man of vice’.
No matter where you go, there will always be someone who will go out of the way to show visitors a good time. Whether it be a good local beer, a vegan friendly restaurant or something more sinister, it is always good to know a local. Just be careful and don’t forget that in the morning when the tournament starts, they will be your nemesis once again. Don’t do or try anything the locals don’t, you might wake up with a case of food poisoning or an embarrassing itch from the city’s seedier establishments.
By Jamie Barber
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