2022-2023 NAH Season Survey

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Jennifer Spencer

We just launched a survey for bike polo players who currently live and play in North America (Canada, U.S. and Mexico). The survey will be open until Feb 25th, 2022.

Link to survey: https://bit.ly/3gN89Wj

Each year, the North American Bike Polo Association (NAHBPA) hosts 10 regional qualifiers throughout Canada, United States and Mexico. These qualifying tournaments are referred to as NAH Regional Qualifying Tournaments.

Each of the 10 regions is allocated a certain number of spots to compete in the yearly North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship (NAHBPC).

Due to Covid, we were unable to host these tournaments in 2020 or 2021. We are currently assessing whether we can host these tournaments for the 2022 season. This decision depends on clubs’ capacities to host, how Covid cases and risks impact our ability to keep players and organizers safe, travel restrictions and other ongoing Covid related issues.

This survey is collecting feedback on a number of proposed 2022 & 2023 NAH Championship series timelines. We would like to gather NAH player and club feedback to help inform our decisions. In addition, we also are collecting information about what kind of Covid precautionary measures would make you feel safe and then general information.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this survey, please contact jennifer@nahardcourt.com or mark@nahardcourt.com

Below are the timeline options that are included in the survey:

Option A

Description of option A (see table below for timeline):

NAH Regional Qualifiers hosted by and for each region from Aug.- Nov. 2022
NAHBPC Hosted by the NAH with a TBD partner host club from Apr. – May. 2023
WHBPC Hosted by the EHBA in France, Aug. 2023

Pros: provides time for most recent Covid Omnicon surge cases to possibly come down and gives clubs time to plan for tournaments and implement Covid precaution measures in case of new variants, new Covid guidelines, etc.

Cons: It leaves a large gap of time between the Regional Qualifiers and the NAHBPC

Option B

Description of option B (see table below for timeline):

NAH Regional Qualifiers hosted by and for each region from July-Aug 2022
- *backup plan in case of Covid surge would shift Qualifiers to later in season, Sept. 2022
NAHBPC Hosted by the NAH with a TBD partner host club from Oct.-Dec. 2022
- **backup plan in case of Covid surge would shift NAHBPC to April 2023
WHBPC Hosted by the EHBA in France Aug 2023

Pros: provides plenty of flexibility in the timeline to allow for adjustments if we see new COVID surges and risks, travel restrictions, etc.

Cons: it potentially leaves a large gap of time between the NAHBPC and the WHBPC.

Option C

Description of option C (see table below for timeline):

2022

NAH Regional Qualifiers hosted by and for each region from Apr. – May 2022
NAHBPC Hosted by the NAH with a TBD partner host club from Sept.-Dec. 2022

2023

NAH Regional Qualifiers hosted by and for each region from Apr.-May 2023
NAHBPC Hosted by the NAH with a TBD partner host club from June 2023
WHBPC Hosted by the EHBA in France, Aug, 2023

Pros: has a more traditional NAH tournament schedule with lots of tournament competition.

Cons: It does not allow any flexibility for COVID complications/surges or travel restrictions. It leaves a very tight turnaround time to plan for a trip to France after the 2023 WHBPC.

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La encuesta es para jugadorxs que actualmente residen y juegan en Norteamérica (Canadá, Estados Unidos y México).

Link to survey: https://bit.ly/3gN89Wj

Cada año, la Asociación Norteamericana de Bici Polo (NAHBPA) tiene 10 torneos clasificatorios regionales a lo largo de Canadá, Estados Unidos y México. Dichos torneos clasificatorios son denominados Torneos Regionales Clasificatorios para el Norteaméricano.

A cada una de las 10 regiones se le asigna un número determinado de lugares para poder competir en el Torneo Norteamericano de Bici Polo en superficie dura (NAHBPC) que se lleva a cabo anualmente.

Debido a la pandemia de COVID, dicho torneo no ha podido suceder en los años de 2020 y 2021. Actualmente estamos analizando si será posible llevar a cabo los Torneos Regionales Clasificatorios y el Torneo Norteamericano en la temporada 2022. Esta decisión está basada en la capacidad de los clubes para ser anfitriones y de mantener a los jugadores y organizadores seguros, el número de casos de COVID, restricciones de viaje y otras situaciones que puedan suscitarse relacionadas a la pandemia.

Esta encuesta tiene como objetivo recolectar tu opinión acerca de las opciones que proponemos para la serie de Torneos Regionales Clasificatorios y el Torneo Norteamericano de la temporada 2022-2023. La retroalimentación recibida por jugadores y clubes guiará las decisiones de la temporada. Además, también queremos saber qué tipo de medidas de precaución relativas a COVID te hacen sentir seguro.

Opción A

Descripción de la opción A (ver la tabla de abajo):

Torneos regionales Clasificatorios que se lleven a cabo de Agosto a Noviembre 2022.
Torneo Norteamericano de Bici polo (NAHBPC), organizado por la NAH y un club anfitrión de Abril a Mayo 2023.
Mundial de Bici Polo (WHBPC), organizado por la Asociación Europea de Bici Polo en superficie dura en Francia durante Agosto 2023.

Pros: provee tiempo para que los casos de COVID Omicrón disminuyen, mientras los clubes tienen tiempo para planear torneos y definir las medidas de precaución contra COVID.

Contras: Hay un intervalo de tiempo considerable entre el Torneo Norteamericano y el Mundial.

Opción B

Descripción de la Opción B (ver la tabla de abajo)

Torneos regionales Clasificatorios que se lleven a cabo de Julio a Agosto 2022.
- *En caso de que los casos de COVID incrementen, los torneos se llevarían a cabo en Septiembre de 2022.
Torneo Norteamericano de Bici polo (NAHBPC), organizado por la NAH y un club anfitrión, de Octubre a Diciembre 2022.
- *En caso de que los casos de COVID incrementen, el torneo norteamericano se llevaría a cabo en Abril 2023.
Mundial de Bici Polo (WHBPC), organizado por la Asociación Europea de Bici Polo en superficie dura en Francia, durante Agosto 2023.

Pros: Provee suficiente flexibilidad en caso de necesitar ajustar fechas de torneos por si los casos de COVID incrementan y existan restricciones de viaje.

Contras: Existe la posibilidad de que haya un intervalo de tiempo considerable entre el Torneo Norteamericano y el Mundial.

Opción C

Descripción de la Opción C (ver la tabla de abajo)

2022

Torneos regionales Clasificatorios que se lleven a cabo de Abril a Mayo 2022.
Torneo Norteamericano de Bici polo (NAHBPC), organizado por la NAH y un club anfitrión, de Septiembre a Diciembre de 2022.

2023

Torneos regionales Clasificatorios que se lleven a cabo de Abril a Mayo 2023.
Torneo Norteamericano de Bici polo (NAHBPC), organizado por la NAH y un club anfitrión, en Junio de 2023.
Mundial de Bici Polo (WHBPC), organizado por la Asociación Europea de Bici Polo en superficie dura en Francia, durante Agosto 2023.

Pros: ésta opción tiene un calendario más tradicional y brinda múltiples torneos en qué competir.

Contras: No brinda flexibilidad alguna en caso de surgir complicaciones por COVID como restricciones de viaje. Esta opción brinda muy poco tiempo para planear un viaje al Mundial de Francia en 2023.

2020 NAH Season Update

Posted on March 18, 2020September 14, 2020 by Jennifer Spencer

Dear NAH community,

Like many of you, we are closely following COVID-19 developments. We are continuing to monitor the latest advice from our federal health agencies. Currently, the state of affairs is such that we are advising all of our regional reps to press pause on 2020 Regional Qualifier tournament planning. We are also strongly encouraging anyone hosting a tournament in the coming months to follow all guidelines put in place by your local or federal governing bodies. It is critical that we all do our part to help our health system to function as best it possibly can. This means avoiding all unnecessary contact with others.

Furthermore, we were informed last week that the WHBPC 2021, which was scheduled to be held in July 2021, will now be taking place in October 2021. This of course significantly impacts the schedule NAH announced on March 10th.

The NAH Executive team is working to reconfigure the 2020 and 2021 tournament season schedules given the concerns and information outlined above. We will be in close contact with your Regional Reps to work out how we would like to move forward in the coming months. Please stay tuned and most importantly stay safe.

The NAH Executive Team

New NAH Rules Director

Posted on April 29, 2019September 14, 2020 by Jennifer Spencer

RULES Director announcement

Hi polo people,

I’m Joel Crandall based out of Asheville, North Carolina. I’ve been playing since 2012. Since then, I’ve helped officiate two World Championships, a handful of NAHBPC and regional qualifiers, as well as hosted a number of annual tournaments here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’ve been asked to step up as the new NAH Rules Director replacing Joe Rstom (Joe will continue to advise on rule development but play a less active role).

In the upcoming 2019 season, I plan to work alongside NAH and EHBPC leadership to draft a Rules Development System. This will clarify the process of implementing new rules and making amendments to existing rules. My goal is to have this system functioning by the 2019 World Championship in Cordoba, Argentina in September, however, no major changes will be tested for the 2019 season, as Qualifiers have already accepted the existing ruleset.

This Rules Development System will be the funnel which will help eventually create an International Bike Polo Ruleset in three languages: English, Spanish and French. I have ideas I will be sharing with the committee being formed to oversee this system, but my ears will always be at the club level.

I plan on being easily accessible in a professional setting while in this position. It’s exciting to participate in the bike polo community from a new perspective and I will do my best to serve the sport effectively.

Please feel free to contact me by email at joel@nahardcourt.com.

Cheers, Ya’ll.
Joel

joel crandell

Seattle will host 2019 NAHBPC

Posted on March 18, 2019September 14, 2020 by Jennifer Spencer

The NAH is pleased to announce that the 2019 NAHBPC will be held in Seattle, WA.

Seattle is one of the longest standing clubs in North America and the NAH is excited to work with a club with such rich bike polo history and experience to host this year’s NAHBPC.

Seattle’s bid includes significant overhaul to their current court facilities, aiming to provide the best court infrastructure possible for this event. The NAH Events Team has already began working with the host committee and will work closely with them in the upcoming weeks and months to provide a top-quality tournament experience.

The 2019 NAHBPC will be held on July 26-28th. The NAH encourages regions who have not yet scheduled their Regional Qualifying tournaments to do so as soon as possible.

Additional updates regarding the 2019 NAHBPC will be posted here on our website and via the NAH Monthly newsletter.

Thank you for your support and good luck on the court!

The NAH Events Team

Call for 2019 NAHBPC Bids

Posted on January 21, 2019September 14, 2020 by Jennifer Spencer

Welcome to the official call for host bids for the 2019 NAHBPC. This year, the NAH would like to introduce the new NAH Events Team who will help organize and coordinate this year’s Championship. Shannon Fey will be our new Event Director. She will take over as lead organizer, supervisor, and point-person for this year’s NAHBPC. To help her with organizing, Dan Vee will act as an Event Coordinator. Davey Kim will work with them on sponsorship and as in past years, Mark Aseltine will work on the competitive aspects of the tournament as the Tournament Director. Together they will work closely with the NAHBPC host to deliver an excellent tournament experience this year.

The Events Team has already begun working on organizing and planning the 2019 NAHBPC and are working to address feedback the NAH received from past hosts and players. In addition to organizing the NAHBPC, the team will put together a number of Standard Operating Procedure documents and resources for the NAH Events Team and host clubs to create clarity on expectations and responsibilities of hosts and NAH when organizing and throwing these kinds of tournaments in the future.

The specifics for the NAHBPC 2019 are as follows; The event should start no earlier than July 10 and end no later than July 28, 2019. If you would like to host outside of this time window, please contact Mark, the NAH Tournament Director, to discuss the feasibility.

Call for bids is open effective immediately and will close on Monday February 25th. The announcement of the successful host club will be on Friday March 1, 2019.

The 2019 World Championship in Argentina will be held as 3v3 instead of squad. The format of NAHBPC 2019 is still under review by Regional Reps and the NAH Executive Team. The NAHBPC format and allocation method for WHBPC spots will be announced before the NAHBPC takes place.

Amenities Needed

For a full list of the amenity requirements, please see the bid submission form. A minimum of two courts is required but ideally three courts are made available. The facility should also have basic player amenities such as shade, water, toilets, and access to food for purchase. Organiser amenities, such as power and reffing stands and tables, should be provided. The NAH Events Team will work closely with the host club to outline responsibilities and requirements and help supervise and assist in organizing the tournament.

Funding

Hosts can plan to have up to $4000 (two court) or $5000 (three court) for this year’s NAHBPC provided to them by NAH. The budgeted amount provided to the host club will be recouped by the NAH by collecting reg fees from players; if host club need more than the initial budgeted amount they will be responsible for fundraising extra resources. Registration fees are collected and kept by NAH. The NAH can provide these budgeted funds up front to assist a host club in quickly and successfully meeting the 2019 NAHBPC tournament and event requirements.

How to Apply

We feel that with the new Events Team we have the ability to support any club in North America to take on hosting the 2019 NAHBPC and we encourage you to submit a bid. Interested hosts should consider how else they would fundraise for the NAHBPC in conjunction with NAH funds. Bids and questions should be submitted via email to (events@nahardcourt.com) with the documents provided here.

For any questions regarding the competitive portion of the event, please contact Mark Aseltine directly at mark@nahardcourt.com.

For any questions about the general running of the event, please contact Shannon Frey directly at events@nahardcourt.com.

For questions regarding hosting the NAHBPC, please contact former NAHBPC hosts Thanh Nguyen directly at morrowtvn@sbcglobal.net or Matt Krofcheck at thiscarcrash1@gmail.com.

Author: Jennifer Spencer