Bike Polo: Taking it to the Streets

The word "polo" conjures up many images – English riding breeches, boot-clad prep students, and posh Equestrian clubs of the exclusive variety.

But to some the word polo can mean handmade mallets, rubber balls and fenced-in courts. Uniforms are not proper, but standard, run-of-the-mill khakis and horses are not necessary.

Wait, no horses?

These polo players ride ponies of the two-wheeled kind. Rough, tough and Ralph-Lauren free, their sport is bike polo and it has charged into Pittsburgh.

Nick Hohman, one of the founders of Bike Polo Pittsburgh describes it as a fusion of hockey and polo on wheels. He decided to try the game out after reading about it on the Internet.

"I fashioned six mallets using plastic pluming," he says. "I invited Scott [Bruce] and my cousin, both of whom I was riding with regularly, to knock the ball around, just to try it out. We went to a little street hockey court and had a really good time."

"I enjoy watching people doing different things on their bikes," says Bruce. "It's just nice to see people riding around enjoying themselves."

Bike polo is a fun, fast-paced game, full of near-miss crashes and scrapes and bruises.

Watching it is like watching a hockey game, only with fewer players. In each sport, the objective is the same – move a rubber object into the opposing team's net. Stick checks, dramatic skid saves and even the occasional through-wheel pass are not only allowed, but encouraged. Unlike the on-ice version, players aren't met by any menacing Hal Gill like defenseman and typically overly physical play is frowned upon, but it takes a bit of grit, speed and maneuvering to get the ball in between the small pipes, a la Sidney Crosby.

A Few Rules
The "nets" are fashioned out of PVC pipe that can be dismantled and stowed in a backpack. Mallets can be constructed out of a ski pole or other aluminum shaft and an ABS plastic head. (PVC pipe could shatter when making contact with the ball.) There aren't any goal judges or referees, but there are a few simple rules needed to maintain a fair game.

"If you touch the ground with either foot, you are required to leave play and touch a point on the fence at half court," says Hohman. "To score a goal, the ball must be struck with the ends of the mallet."

Bike polo can be played in a fenced-in court, or on a grassy field – with any number of players. Bruce and Hohman's style is played with three players typically on a hard court park under the Bloomfield Bridge. The group obviously needed to find some more players to join their game, and so they began to advertise this different, yet addictive alternative to bike riding.

"We started to play regularly and would invite people riding by to try it out," says Hohman. "We put some postings up on the Bike Pittsburgh forum and found others who were interested."

That's how Bike Polo Pittsburgh came about. Complete with its own MySpace page, Bike Polo Pittsburgh has started more regular play – twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays according to Hohman – with tournaments peppered into the mix. Last July's tournament met with success as Hohman's wife and friends cooked food for the guests and players. More recently, the tournament tied into the Bike Film Festival, drawing teams from Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Lexington and elsewhere.

Bruce believes the game is enjoyable for all levels of bike riders, even novices. He got his friend, who wasn't even a biker, to love the game.

"If you can ride and bike and wield a mallet, you can play the game," he says.

And don't be fooled; there are girls who regularly play this game who are just as tough as the boys.

This urban, edgier version of polo started decades ago. According to the U.S. Bicycle Polo Association, the sport began sometime in the early 1900's. An inventive idea conjured up by English soldiers looking to hone their equestrian polo skills, they used bikes while stationed in India away from horses.

Check the website for updates on Bike Polo Pittsburgh's next tournament sometime in the fall, in the park under the Bloomfield Bridge. All are welcome, whether you want to play or watch.

Funny-looking riding helmets optional.

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Sources:
Nicholas Hohman: njhohman@gmail.com
Scott Bruce
http://www.bikepolo.com/

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Polo threesome: Brad Quartuccio, Jonathan Lomax and Rob Wolfe.
All photographs copyright Brian Cohen