Why don't you play polo?

yeah... i wasn't meaning to be negative, just saying why i dont play!

I haz photos of you playing polo spagz…

bike polo looks like something they play in the third world where they ate all their horses due to famine and some charity gave them our shitty old bikes.

Unmistakable tribal tats... It's Hoops alright...

because it's lame. really fucking lame

bike polo looks like something they play in the third world where they ate all their horses due to famine and some charity gave them our shitty old bikes.

ha! thats partly right, it is played in the third world and on bikes because they're accessable. the evolution here from scrap/beater bikes to butterbeans and custom frames has been one of the real interesting aspects of this 'sport'.
bike polo isn't for everyone, but anyone who flames it without trying (like everything else in life) is being a knob.

i don't you mrs myth, of course.

it's purely an observation on how polo looks to me. if somebody not interested in cycling or polo stumbled across it being played it wouldn't be immediately obvious that it has a league, rules and i presume some kind of association. it looks like a backstreet game using old junk that has no desire to go 'mainstream' (i'm not saying that's a bad thing)
i guess it all depends on how serious people are about bringing bike polo into the mainstream to attract more participants. some people probably want to see it grow some probably like it the way it is?
either way any desired change will probably result in lots of handbags and flouncing and bike polo will remain in it's little niche.

it's fun but looks shit

can't wait to get back into it after a brief spell and a long break

sorry i didn't realise it royal approval from the original brakless hipster

Have you seen any polo recently? Gone are the days of ratty bikes cobbled together from begged/borrowed/stolen parts. Some pretty bling bikes are on the court now.

i enjoy participating in most sports.. i would 'have a go' at bike polo.. there you see, no excuses really, maybe put a novice team together, i can't track stand or do any clever tricks.. so next step.. get me a mallet, make a fool of my self, have a giggle.. drinks and socialising would be compulsory though. say once a week.

do we need to be in a league or worry about what anyone else thinks?

Sweet new avatar, Matt... I thought polo was a load of old shite for hipster east end cunts 'til I saw the Shoreditch tourney a few years back, that really turned my head... I became an enthusiastic spectator at loads of league 1 games, then I put my own totally shit polo bike together and played a few games, then I put another bike together and played a few more games, then I put yet another bike together and played a few more games and then I put another even more awesome bike together and played a few more games... Etc. etc.

I'm still absolutely shit, I don't play as much as I'd like/should but I have loads of fun when I do, and that's the important bit... Everyone in polo is awesome, everyone should try it...

i've played for a grand total of one day so far but haven't had the time to play again. i would like to start an easts beginners session but i don't have time for that either.

people chased me away to another country because they were envious of my natural good looks and awesome polo skillz.

I'm still absolutely shit...
this is good news, means there's still hope for me

Have you seen any polo recently? Gone are the days of ratty bikes cobbled together from begged/borrowed/stolen parts. Some pretty bling bikes are on the court now.

no. not likely to either.
looking at the old pics it looks like they had team strips and the bikes look the same.
it's the difference between a pastime or a serious sport (with rules, standardised equipment and referees) i have no idea where polo is or where it's going but it looks amateur, rules and standards will either see it grow or kill it off because it's seen as a bit serious. maybe that's what killed it off the first time.

I haz photos of you playing polo spagz…

Yes!

I have been persuaded into playing twice, and both times i just didn't really get it. It was fun for about two minutes, then i just lost interest.

If i had never played, I wouldn't have anything to base my opinions on!

as i went to play today i brought two friends along (who who ended up playing one who didnt) i had a league game so could not stand with them the whole time but they went and spoke to everyone and btoh commented on how welcoming everyone was and are keen go back

'cool story', i know

was that miguel? he was taking shots from the left and side of his bike by the end :)

i enjoy participating in most sports.. i would 'have a go' at bike polo.. there you see, no excuses really, maybe put a novice team together, i can't track stand or do any clever tricks.. so next step.. get me a mallet, make a fool of my self, have a giggle.. drinks and socialising would be compulsory though. say once a week.

do we need to be in a league or worry about what anyone else thinks?

don't have to be in the league, there are throw-ins most days of the week somewere in Ldn (throw-in means anyone welcome, teams randomly chosen).

don't have to trackstand*, you can rest your mallet on the ground so you have 3 points of contact with ground, it's as easy to balance as if you had one foot on the ground and no mallet! and most people play freelwheel anyway

*but trackstanding is very easy. have you actually tried?

i assume bike polo is no different than street hockey, five-a-side footie, basket ball, softball in the park..

spending one hour on a court, with minimal cost is what should be the motivation..

i organise touch rugby tournaments year (9th year), practice in the park mixed teams compulsory once a week, laughs and beers afterwards.. fix a seven style tournament in the summer BBQ and champagne.. not because i take playing very serious.. more for the social and fitness reasons.. fucking nightmare planning but having 100+ players turning up one saturday at a top flight club and seeing five hours of entertainment is quite memorable and worth it.

OLC.. thanks i think i will join in one day.. after tour of flanders 2/3 april..

Hmmm... Wasn't the MTB hack conversion a polo build? ;)

BTW, I couldn't care less... just adding Jalapeños.

Your friend came to have a look and as a pleasant introduction you hit him with a shot ;)

as i went to play today i brought two friends along (one who ended up playing one who didnt) i had a league game so could not stand with them the whole time but they went and spoke to everyone and btoh commented on how welcoming everyone was and are keen go back

'cool story', i know

I think EEI got an unnecessarily hard time. I know him to be a friendly, funny guy without social issues. He is not the only one with a story of this nature. There are even more established forum members that have said similar things. Worse still the attitude hasn't been at the court it's been in a boozer- what's meant to be socialising time. (I wonder if he'll chime in?)

Just like drinks sessions with regulars can be cliquey; you'll get youngbloods, whom, once they feel like they're 'in with the cool group', they'll start doing that sniggering thing at what they percieve as newbies, which I imagine would be very off-putting esp if its your first experience of polo and/or you've been on the forum for a period of years and are beyond being dowy eyed around new 'scenes'.

Like I said I personally have no issues.

I see a lot of people around on fixies and ss's, but there doesnt seem to be anywhere near the same amount of people that I would imaging playing it, or even coming along now and again to try it out.

^This is the reason I don't play bike polo.

Actually it's because I don't have the time or money for another sport in my life and have never been keen on playing ball games apart from cricket.

Same reason I don't play tennis; totally off my radar.