Darryl has been keeping this trophy safe “in the pool room” since Team Black won it last year – it’s all dusted off and ready to be re-presented to the Shuffle ii winners.
Time to “Shuffle” again and this year we’re inviting the whole of the South Island (Te Waka a Maui) polo scene, it’s going to be a Bench Minor format and there’s a sweet trophy lurking around for the winning team.
Bench what? – A Bench Minor format involves teams made up of 6 or more players – 3 players on court and a “bench” of substitute players. Games last 60mins and the team with the highest score wins (not just the first to 5 goals). We’ll play a round robin and the team with a ‘bye” will be the referees, score keepers and hecklers.
Do I pick my team? – Nope, the pre-nominated team captains do that a week or so before the tournament, you simply register your attendance and the names go into a “draft”…kind of like how school yard teams are selected for cricket at lunchtime in Standard 3… kinda.
Team Colours? – Yep you bet! Custom printed tees of good quality for $15 and they’ll be colour coded by team to help remember who’s with ya. Check here for sizing and let me know your size when you register (just flick me a reply email). Colours will be chosen in a lucky dip by team captains and ordered up.
Why a draft? – If this goes to plan the teams should be fairly evenly matched and make for some epic polo on the day. It also accommodates players of all abilities and styles to do well as part of a strong team [ this tournament is for all players and relies on players of all abilities attending!!!!!].
Different Rules? – Only a small handful and a referee with a whistle to keep things sane during player substititions.
Team Captains, who? – TBA but will be people who’ve got a handle on the scene to enable a fair draft / team selection, actual “leadership” can be decided once the teams are formed.
Sunday 12th Feb – is a regular polo session date so we don’t need to book the courts but let’s get there at 1:30pm to set up for a 2pm-ish first game.
Let’s BBQ too – BYO for this of course.
Hopefully we can put together 3 or 4 teams for this ‘cos it’s going to be freakin’ awesome! Please “register” by 29th January, then drop $15 bucks into the group account for your tee shirt and let me know your tee size.
Dates for Winter Whack 3 are all nailed down – Kicking off with Friday Night Knife Fights at 8pm. This is Queens Birthday weekend here in NZ so there will be Epic Pick-Up on the Sunday (3rd). Loads more details to come. This is strategically placed halfway between AHBPC and WHBPC, get here!
No prizes for guessing who created this one, a classic none the less:
The results of your creative efforts. There’s another 24 stickers out there in the polo-dom, would love to see what they say about your polo rig!
Click the pic to make it bigger
One of our most missed Quake refugees Marc has been spreading the Bike Polo love down in Timaru and has established a good polo scene down there on the courts at Caroline Bay. Having another South Island scene is a huge step for Bike Polo in NZ and we’re going to have the opportunity to play them really soon at a Timaru Sports Demonstration Evening on Wednesday 26th October… mid-week road trip!
They’ve put together this little helmet cam movie, which reminds me of our own similar efforts 2 years ago. Watch both, they’re a great reminder of how new scenes start out.
Timaru Helmet Cam 2011
Christchurch Helmet Cam 2009
A big thanks to Dead End Derby for allowing us to showcase Hardcourt Bike Polo infront or their spectators. CBS arena has the best playing surface for bike polo ever, super smooth! I’m looking for more images of us playing – they’re out there somewhere. For now this time lapse by Charlie Fox is really cool and we star in the first 20 seconds.
CHC Hardcourt now has a Facebook page – it may (or may not) become the hub for communications on all things bike polo in CHC, get over there and give it a like!! We’ve also put together the flyer below for the Derby Demo, showcasing the new CHC Hardcourt Logo (Thanks to Matt from So-Yo Polo in the UK for some help on the flyer). You like?
