Author: Ben Schultz

NAH Election Results

Posted on by Ben Schultz
NAH is very excited to announce an outstanding set of regional reps to move North American polo forward in 2013 & 2014. Thanks to everyone who participated in this election, from the club level, club reps, and everyone who ran and expressed their ideas for the coming years. 

CASCADIA
Jeremy Whitbred, Seattle
Shannon Frey, East Van
Vince Foley, Portland

EASTSIDE
Matt Krofchek, Lancaster
Charles Sprinkle, RVA
Pierre Delamare, DC

MIDWEST
Eric Kremin, MKE
Jerod Walz, Chicago
Jimmy Flaherty, Louisville

NORTHSIDE
Luke Sheldrick, Ottawa
Jesse Bournes, Montreal
Nick Iwanyshyn, Toronto

SOUTHCENTRAL
Malakai Edison, Lawrence Kansas
Diego Ayala, Houston
Brandon Carter, Denver

SOUTHEAST
Adam Hite, Memphis
Ann Silver, Asheville
Danny Wood, Miami

SOUTHWEST
Sarah Livingston, LA
Steven “Machine” Wilson, SF
Robin Cunningham, ABQ

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Posted in NAH

World Championships for 2013 in Florida!

Posted on by Ben Schultz

After great amounts of discussion (online as well as off, you can see the LoBP discussion here) and thorough consideration from North American Hardcourt’s 7 appointed regional board members, the tournament and sponsorship committees, AND the international community of bike polo, the debate has been settled! After a 5-2 vote, we are excited and proud to announce Florida will be hosting the World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships 2013! The Fort Lauderdale, West Broward, Miami, Orlando, and the rest of the Florida clubs stepped up, congratulations on your winning bid!

Great bids were presented by both the Florida and Milwaukee groups, and a huge thanks and appreciation is extended to both for their efforts in creating a very difficult decision between the two. Ultimately, the voting went as follows:

  • Cascadia – Florida
  • Midwest – Milwaukee
  • Northsides – Florida
  • Eastsides – Florida
  • South East – Florida
  • South Central – Florida
  • South West – Milwaukee

The date will be officially set coming immediately, but there is a secure time from October 10-28 that can be used.

The location is the pristine and multi-million dollar park facility, Regional Park at Weston. See the link here., and the google map is here.

The court surfaces are smooth, professional grade hockey courts with 4′ walls, rounded corners, and an additional 4′ fencing around all courts. There is an option to utilize all 7 courts side-by-side to create identical courts, maintaining consistency throughout the tournament. The facility itself is virtually unmatched in it’s world class standards. Full access to running water, electricity, FREE WIFI, restrooms, an on-site YMCA with it’s own benefits, including an Olympic size swimming pool, and many other bonus’ to hosting here.

The proximity to two international airports, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, within an hour’s drive make this great for all travelers coming to North America – be they fom Central/South America, Europe, the UK, Australia, or Asia. It would be great to see some of the less noted clubs represent at Worlds due to it’s closeness to the Caribbean, Central/South America, and Mexico. With plans to shuttle/bus/drive the distance from the airports to the hotels/beach condos/camping available for the participants, the travelers can worry about their playing rather than their driving.

The area around Florida, including the closeness to the Keys, Caribbean, etc makes this a unique and popular travel destination for many people, so if you’ve ever wanted to create a trip around polo this is a great state to start in! I’m sure that in the next couple of weeks we’ll see other opportunities around the event that will allow for travelers from farther away to really take advantage of their time in the South East of the United States.

There will be many updates and details to come, but we are very excited to see Florida coming together to show North America and the World what they have to offer! We support them 110% and are confident that this will be a tournament that raises the standards yet again!

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on the discussion, and both Milwaukee and Florida for your bids.
North American Hardcourt

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North American Championships 2013!

Posted on by Ben Schultz

It is with great pleasure, and with sincere apology for this delayed posting, that I announce the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships in 2013 will be held by the Minneapolis, MN bike polo club!!!! Dates are AUGUST 16-18

The location is a fabulous professional sports facility, one of the worlds best speed skating locations, http://www.skatetheoval.com/
This is the same location as the Midwest Open last October 13-14.
They are fortunate enough to have the early committed support of Penn Cycle, a local company that is sponsoring much, if not all, of the boards for the additional courts. The Oval has been secured and these dates will not change.
There are 3 courts to play on and a possibly smaller warm up/pick up court as well. There is plenty of space to pass the ball around, or play knife fights, or whatever your hearts desire. This is great for the 48 teams and means fluid days with early endings /pick up after, and rest for those that really want it/need it in competing further.

The facility is capable of providing lighting, electrical hook ups, wifi, large restroom and resting areas, indoors, and great court surface! A world class facility. They also have a regular live feed [you can watch the track all the time haha, check their website] and there are big plans in the works, I’m sure, from the bikepolo.tv crew, as it is in their backyards!! They can talk more about that on their own.

The support behind this group is spread throughout their entire club, the midwest region, and the NAH tournament committee. I am so much more than confident in this group and am looking forward to seeing more of the details and ideas they have going as I’m sure we all do. The club, having just thrown a very success Midwest Open have more experience and have a great advantage in planning this right now.

Keep your eyes peeled for their own announcements in the very near future!

Also, the NA’s promo video is up! Included below just to get you extra amped for this year! (insert vimeo link)”.

Comparison of Worlds Bids

Posted on by Ben Schultz

The vote is in!

After hearing input from the community of North America and the world, the NAH Board has voted for World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships in Florida for 2013!

Want to see who voted for what? Check it out here.

In case you missed it, NAH received two bids for the World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships for 2013. For your perusal, they are as follows:

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Fort Lauderdale / Miami, Florida.
Location
  1. 4100 W Washington Blvd. Milwaukee WI.
  2. See on Google Maps
  3. Approximately 4 miles from downtown MKE
  1. 20200 Saddle Club Rd, Weston, FL
  2. See on Google Maps
  3. Miami is 1 hour away, FTL is about 30 minutes
Facilities
  1. 3 purpose-built bike polo courts on tennis surface. 145×65 feet.
  2. 2 courts will be lit with light rigs and generators.
  3. Port-o-potties will be provided.
  4. Pool facility
  5. Free parking is in a nearby lot and on the street.
  1. 3 hockey minicourts (72×144 feet) plus 1 large full-size hockey courts hemmed down on 2 sides. The 3 additional full-size courts are also available (7 courts total at location) allowing for larger capacity to meet participant demand.
  2. Professional-grade roller hockey surface. All courts have professional 4-foot hockey boards with fencing above, and All courts are brightly lit from all sides until 10pm every night.
  3. The facility was purpose-built for large scale sporting events.
  4. Facility also has full electrical access as well as free WiFi throughout the park.
  5. Restrooms on site.
  6. waterfountains/water refill on site.
  7. Park includes a community YMCA with olympic size pool.
  8. Picnic Shelters and inside facilities are available including the possibility of a usable kitchen space and showers [looking more at this now].
  9. Free parking in large lots directly adjacent to courts.
Dates
  1. September 20th to October 13th
  2. One to two months past NA’s.
  3. Dates in this range are flexible.
  1. Mid-October, two months post NAs
  2. October is past the big rainy season, and not too hot in south Florida.
  3. Location can be flexible about dates
Housing
  1. MKE could provide housing for approximately half of the players. (priority to Euro/world travelers)
  2. Hotels with group discounts are nearby.
  1. Hotels and condos are available within 1 to 3 miles of the courts, with group rates or discounts.
  2. There is also another big park, Markham Park, with lots of cheap camping, plus an MTB trail (5 miles)
  3. some limited space available to stay with local players.
Food
  1. MKE will provides brats and veg/vegan option for lunch, price included in registration.
  2. Multiple restaurants and markets are within blocks of the courts or near housing options on way to courts
  3. We will also have food vendors/taco trucks on site
  1. Food truck industry in the area frequents large sports events. We can establish food truck attendance for the tournament days providing quick access to different kinds of food on site.
  2. Markets/grocery very nearby (within 1 mile)
  3. There are picnic areas for grilling.
Airports
  1. Mitchell International Airport (MKE)
  2. Also 1.5 hours ($20) bus/train ride from Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
  3. Would work with Chi Bike Polo to provide a party bus option from ORD to MKE if necessary
  1. 2 major international airports nearby:  Ft. Lauderdale Airport (FLL) and Miami International Airport (MIA), with direct flights from every major city in North America and airports across Europe and South America.
Transportation in city
  1. Bus routes with bike racks run from party/housing neighborhoods to courts
  2. Court is bikeable distance from any housing options
Experience
  1. MKE is a gold standard for hosting, having successfully held several prior tournaments of this size, including NA’s 2012, MW Open 2011.
  2. MKE has excellent relationships with local sponsors: Ben’s Cycle, Nomad World Pub, Great Lakes Distillery, Pabst Blue Ribbon, other local businesses and bars as well.
  1. In-region organizing support will be between three South Florida clubs
  2. Experience hosting 4 All-Florida Tournaments and the 2012 Southeast NAH Qualifier.
  3. Organizers also have experience hosting time trial and criterium races, and Redbull events.

NAH appreciates the spirited discussion about the Worlds location from everyone. Australia, Europe, South America and North America all chimed in, we can’t wait to see you all together in Florida.

How the regions voted:

Each region voted as follows:

  • Cascadia: FLA
  • Southwest: MKE
  • South Central: FLA
  • Southeast: FLA
  • Eastside: FLA
  • Northside: FLA
  • Midwest: MKE

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NAH Elections for Regional Reps

Posted on by Ben Schultz

NAH election season is here.

Starting next week, club reps in each of the seven NAH regions will each be voting for three regional reps.

  • February 27th at 5pm ET: Deadline to update club reps, and deadline to declare your candidacy as a regional rep (see below)
  • February 28th: Voting opens for regional reps. Regional reps will be elected by club reps via a ranked ballot (each club rep will choose three candidates and rank them 1, 2, 3).
  • March 7th 5pm ET: voting closes. Results will be available shortly after.

Regional Reps

Since the dawn of NAH, we’ve relied on diverse perspectives and volunteer participation from the North American polo community. This involvement has helped shape NAH into a global model for organizing our burgeoning sport. This next election marks the beginning of yet another milestone in our development.

North American Hardcourt is holding elections for Regional Representatives in the coming weeks. Now is your opportunity to make a positive impact in how we plan, grow, and change. We need people with a critical – even dissatisfied – eye, but also those with a positive approach and who possess the skills and willingness to make improvements.

To that end, we have better defined our regional rep positions:

  • Regional Representative, NAH board – Oversee and manage their region and bring their region’s work and ideas to the board. An ability to delegate, organize, and communicate respectfully and clearly is a must.
  • Regional Representative, Outreach – This is the Johnny Appleseed position. Assist new clubs in getting started, help build clubs with questions and building membership, finding sponsorship, and nurture inter-club relationships.
  • Regional Representative, Tournaments – Coordinate/schedule your region’s qualifier, help develop non-NAH tourneys, oversee referee development in coordination with Ref Committee, and develop our NAH series schedule in concert with the Tournaments Committee.

This refinement is a leap forward which will help accomplish the new and exciting plans for 2013, 2014, and 2015. It’s a great time to get involved. Your involvement could help decide the North American Championships location, assist with rules development, plan logistics for an NAH tour, make your region stronger, develop PR strategies, and so on.

The goal of NAH has always been to organize competition, foster world-class bike polo, nurture interest, and represent North America on the world stage.  We want you to continue and grow that tradition. Here are the steps to declare your candidacy:

  1. Visit your region’s page on  League of Bike Polo:
  2. Post your declaration of candidacy. Given the distinct roles, it might be good to emphasize which regional rep position you hope to occupy and provide your qualifications.
  3. After posting to LoBP, send your contact information to secretary@nahardcourt.com. If you’re elected, this is how we’ll contact you.

Share this with all the polo folks in your life. Discussion is key. You can also watch the opinions fly on the League of Bike Polo thread as well..

Posted in NAH