This weekend marked the 5th annual occurrence of the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship, hosted by the Minneapolis Polo Club at the remarkable Roseville Skating Oval. 2013 has proven to be one of the most competitive and progressive seasons we’ve ever had and not enough can be said about this event. We’d like to thank everyone in Minneapolis for putting forth an incredible effort and building a relationship with this world class facility. Player’s agreed that the surface at the Oval was the best they had ever had the opportunity to play on, and hopefully it won’t be the last time the Minneapolis Club utilizes this space. The NAH staff worked together to help this tournament run smoothly and to advance the state of refereeing for future seasons. We hope you had as much fun as we did! Here is a list of teams who have qualified for the WHBPC in October:
1st Beavers (Eric, Brian, Joey SF)
2nd The Guardians (Cody, julian, Dustin SEA)
3rd The Assassins (Joe, kouyo, Evan SEA)
4th Portland United (Jason, Arlyn, Eric PDX)
5th Big Country (Alex, Rory VAN, Henry VIC)
5th the Makers Y’all (Greg CHI, Nick LEX, Ben MKE)
7th The Greens (Christopher ATL, Nic COMO, Adam TO)
7th The Control (Forest SF, Andrew CRZ, Ace NYC)
9th White Fang (Addison, Tyler, James BOS)
9th D G T (Jake BOS, Jonathan PGH, Rob Philly)
9th Los Cuatreros (Israel, Robert ATX, Andrew SMC)
9th Mosquito (Daren EDM, Duane REG, Will SKN)
13th Thunder Buddies (Matt, scooter SEA, Martin VAN)
13th Journeymen (Allan, Robie OTT, Nick TO)
13th The Means (Chris NYC, alexis OTT, Nick RVA)
13th KMANG (Matt CHI, Ngaihon, kev TO)
17th Magic Toast (nate, Zach, Paul NYC)
17th Call Me Laddy (Brodie, Seamus OTT, Luke TO)
17th The Breaknecks (Charlie, Nick COMO, Nick MPLS)
17th Bill Murray (Emmet LDN, jake SAC, Sterling SEA)
Congratulations to Eric, Brian and Joey taking down this tournament with only one loss in the first final. Very impressive! The Cascadia region took down 5 of the top 12 spots, the Midwest took 3, Eastside 2, South Central 1, and South West 1. There are both new and old names in the top 24 of this tournament, and next year is guaranteed to be even more interesting. We will be releasing more information regarding regional spot allocation and structure changes for 2014 as soon as they become available.
Lastly, thank you Minneapolis Bike Polo and thank you to the community for coming together again this year.
(photo credit to Kevin Walsh)