What a week we had down in Weston, Florida. After a Wildcard, 2 days of swiss round play, a day full of heartbreaking double elimination games and some temporary rain: North America’s Beavers came out on top in a decisive 5-1 victory over reigning champions Call Me Daddy.
The venue was spectacular and you couldn’t ask for much more from the Florida clubs who worked to organize this event. The weather was absolutely perfect, and even the rain was a nice relief from the oppressive heat. The tournament ran almost to schedule thanks to the amazing volunteers, and the level of play brought by the players was nothing less than impressive. Watching crowd favorites and new rivalries develop throughout the bracket was both inspiring and entertaining. One thing is for sure, the future of our sport is bright, and the players of North America should be proud to bring the game they work so hard on. Congratulations to Brian, Eric and Joey. The top shelf 4th goal, and the full court 5th goal will stand out in the memory of the bike polo community for a long time to come.
Here are the top 24 from WHBPC 2013:
1st Beavers (Eric, Brian, Joey SF)
2nd Call Me Daddy (Polo, Greg, Will Paris)
3rd The Assassins (Nick COMO, Joe, kouyo SEA)
4th Edisons (David FRA, Eddy GER, Anthony TOU)
5th The Control (Andrew CRZ, Ace NYC, Forrest SF)
5th Pilgrims (Rupert, Adam LDN, Pierre SF)
7th Getting Wild (Hayden, josh CBG, Jon LDN)
7th True Danger (luca CBG, Hugo, Alex Paris)
9th Wolfgang (Quentin, Manu, Clement GVA)
9th Portland United (Jason, Arlyn, Eric PDX)
9th The Makers (Nick LEX, Ben, Chris MKE)
9th We Are Animals (Jo FR, Piks GVA, Morgan LYN)
13th Big Country (Alex, Rory VAN, Henry VIC)
13th Journeymen (Dodi BUD, Robbie OTT, Nick TO)
13th Power Rangers (Max FKB, Phil GER, Robert HAM)
13th Guardians (Cody, julian, Dustin SEA)
17th Simon Says (Nicky, Chris, Jaouad ANT)
17th Warlocks (Miguel ATX, Floris NAN, Rob Paris)
17th Switchnics (Nic, Charlie COMO, Nick MPLS)
17th The Means (Chris NYC, Alexis OTT, Nick RVA)
17th The Greens (Christopher LEX, Drew LOU, Adam TO)
17th Mucko (Jake BOS, Ngaihon, Kevin TO)
17th Bill Murray (Emmet LDN, Sterling, jake SEA)
17th Mosquito (Duane, Daren, Will SKN)
14 North American Teams, 10 European Teams!
The 2014 season will feature groundwork being laid for big structure changes, an even better ruleset, and refined referee certification! There will be more information on all of these things over the coming months.
(Photo Credit: Brandon Carter)