North American Championships 2013!

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

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 2013 Structure is Approved!

The North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association has officially approved a structure for 2013!

With only a few addendums, the original structure was approved. In case you missed it, the complete proposal is available on the blog here.

The additions that were discussed at the board meetings were as follows:

1. “Trade Deadline” Date

The relevant date for a player’s regional identity is the qualifier registration date. A player’s regional identity is maintained for the entire season, regardless of subsequent relocation.

2. Regional Status of Teams

Team Regional Status is determined at the Team level. 3-Region Teams adopt the Regional Status of the qualifier that it chooses to compete in. Teams must maintain their regional status throughout the entire season. To the extent that a player must be replaced, the replacement player must share the Regional Status of the replaced player, or of the Team.

  • Example 1: Three Eastside players, replacement must be an Eastside player.
  • Example 2: Two Eastside players, one Northside player. Eastside players must be replaced by Eastside player. Northside player may be replaced by Northside or Eastside player.
  • Example 3: Eastside player, Northside Player, Midwest player, qualified out of the Eastside (and therefore an Eastside Team for NAHBPC). Eastside player must be replaced by Eastside player. Northside player may be replaced by Northside or Eastside player. Midwest player may be replaced by Midwest or Eastside player.

3. NAHBPC Bonus Slots Determined by Team Regional Status

For any Team of any composition, the Bonus Slot for a top-24 finish goes to the region out of which the Team qualified. A Northside player on a 2/3 Eastside Team, qualified out of the Eastside (required in that situation), does not gain any credit for the Northside out of top-24 finish. This is intentional, and will hopefully create some interesting meta-game between the regions, wherein the regions should want to discourage talent drain. At the same time, attempts at sandbagging “less skilled” regions, will only serve to enhance those regions’ chances to gain bonus slots at the NAHBPC

Think we did a good job with this? Hate it? Let us know in the comments, on facebook or through twitter..

World Class Polo

If you start wondering why you haven’t seen your favorite polo player out and about in August, it’s probably because they’re going to the World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships in Geneva!

These are the teams going to compete from North America at Worlds, let’s keep the title of world champs in North America again! Wish your favorite players good luck and try not to take them out too hard at pickup.

Team Name Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
The Guardians Dustin Riggs Cody Riggs Julian Aristeo
Crazy Canucks Rory Chris Alex
No Big Deal Kev Ngaihon Maija E
TBD Joey Halvorsen Koyo Maeda Anthony Gallou
TBD Jonny Hunter Pierre Delamare Nick Kruse
BeerPoint Nic B Machine ToBeDetermined
MFPU Eric Crandall Arlyn Bement Jason Stevenson
No Name Shannon Frey McKenzie Hart Geoffrey Tomlin-Hood
Bourbonic Bacon Jake Newborn Chris Simpson Nick Dellwo
Grandma’s Bath Water Aaron Hand Tiffany Morrow Christian Losciale
Put a Beard on it Nate Zach Ace
TBD Chris Hammersley Eric Nick Iwanyshyn
Clobber Politics Ben S Robbie E Joe Panizzo
Beaver Boys Brian Dillman Kremin Joe Burge
TBD Cherri Diego Bob

Have a name for any of the To Be Determined teams going to worlds? Let us know them in the comments.

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NAHBPC Results

If you didn’t see all the action in Milwaukee last weekend, we missed the best polo in North America this year! You’ll just have to wait for the videos and pester your friends for details about it. However, if you just want to know how everyone came out, we’ve got the results of the tournament for you.

1st Beaver Boys (Eric, Brian, joeMKE MKE)
2nd Guardians (Cody, Julian, Dustin SEA)
3rd The Means (Chris NYC, Alexis OTT, Nick RVA)
4th Portland United (Arlyn, Jason, Eric PDX)
5th Clobber Politics (Ben, Joe CHI, Robie OTT)
Jagwolves (Koyo, Joey, Scooter SEA)
7th Crusaders of Love (Seabass, Hugo Paris, Leon SEA)
The Game (Christopher ATL, Jason, Sterling SEA)
9th Slab of Bacon (Guthrie, Jake MKE, Nick MPLS)
NickChrisPaul (Nick, Chris LEX, Paul NYC)
Hotdog (Ken, Martin VAN, Henry VIC)
MANTHOUSAND (Chris CHI, Jonathan PGH, Rob Philly)
13th Le Tonnerre de Fer (Matt CHI, Pierre DC, Jonny MAD)
The Walsh Diaries (Kev, Adam, Ngaihon TO)
WEST COAST WARRIORS (Alex, Pistolero LA, Mike SEA)
Crazy Canucks (Rory, Chris, Alex VAN)
17th Synergy (Pelon, Robert ATX, Travis BLM)
Fluffy Ducks (Nick, Charlie COMO, Ben STL)
The Royals (Chandel., Miguel ATX, Mack NYC)
Put a bird on it (Matt, Sam MAD, Bernadette MKE)
JavierJakeJT (Javier, Jake BOS, JT RVA)
Sweet Treat (Tiffany, Trunks LEX, Rob Paris)
Put A Beard On It (Nate, Ace, Zach NYC)
Mitten Polo (Adam, jon, Piet ARB)
25th Toronto City Bowers (Lewis, Maija, Nick TO)
3rd Times a Charm (Brian CHI, Dustin, Meg MPLS)
My Dixie Wrecked (Rob CHI, Marco Philly, Maxxx SEA)
Border State Bullies (Tim COMO, Jared LEX, Nick STL)

Can’t wait to see how the World Bike Polo Championships play out this year!

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