Polo Rules

and for me, if both players break a rule, just let the game go on if there is no serious injury involved...

I think it depends on the exact situation, but, in general, if you're reffing, you should always play advantage where possible.

and for me, if both players break a rule, just let the game go on if there is no serious injury involved...

Completely agree with that.

Of course Greg and me don't represent entire Europe, I prefer democratic system to take decisions, and I really like the idea of a European Comitee but if each country doesn't find 1 or 2 person to speak, it will be hard to find a way to take decisions (30 people giving their opinion is great, to see what players think, but 1 or 2 people only should speak with other country rep.

In France we had an election to have a French Comitee with 7 people (players from all around the country), a democratic way to take decisions regarding bike polo in our country (rules are internationals so Greg and I just give our opinions as European and World rep for France).

Completely agree with that.

Of course Greg and me don't represent entire Europe, I prefer democratic system to take decisions, and I really like the idea of a European Comitee but if each country doesn't find 1 or 2 person to speak, it will be hard to find a way to take decisions (30 people giving their opinion is great, to see what players think, but 1 or 2 people only should speak with other country rep.

In France we had an election to have a French Comitee with 7 people (players from all around the country), a democratic way to take decisions regarding bike polo in our country (rules are internationals so Greg and I just give our opinions as European and World rep for France).

I would be a lot happier if there was a European body to which I could refer to as a ref! When I'm reffing, I want to apply internationally accepted rules, and to attempt to meet an internationally agreed standard of reffing.

We in London have been pushing the rest of the UK polo to sign up to a UK-wide representative body, unfortunately without success so far.

BTW, William, your english is so much better my french, j'ai honte!

Periphery polo against censorship

Are these rules proposed?

Not at all, they were one of the "solutions" we came up with (on the spot) when considering over-arching rules that could cover legal (and illegal) bike-to-bike, etc.

There were others, none of them were that good, but London's "playing the ball" method will need revising in the future if we're to have a united ruleset... we're all playing the same game really, but the way we ref is different.

There are some pretty heavy hits and flailing arms.
I had seriously underestimated the amount of contact going on in NA. How representative is this vid regarding contact?
If this were the norm over here in europe I think it would deter a lot of people esp new/young/female players.

World Class Polo on Vimeo

It's a compilation video, so don't let it fool you too much.

The shoulder-to-shoulder contact is legal and is present in "top" European play/finals.

The other dirty stuff (high checks, pushing, etc) is illegal, but is down to the ref to see/call.

I thought high-checks are ok on high boards, but we just don't have high boards? (In competitive play obviously)

I meant more when a shoulder check becomes a revenge neck/head check, there were a few in the videos put out from Seattle... the "angry" player usually uses their forearm to inflict maximum damage/impact... not cool.

But again, not that common and would normally result in a penalty/ejection from the game.

I know it's been posted a hundred times, but where is the link to our complete ruleset?
Would like to read.

http://www.lhbpa.org/resources/LHBPA_Bike_Polo_Rules.pdf

could you put the link on the OP of 'polo rules to ponder'?

sure

ta.

Probably worth having a look at this:
leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/rules/2012/04/03/nah-ruleset-v2-draft

NIce one Ray.

The NAH rules will be voted in (or not) by the end of the month. They are likely to become the Euros/Worlds rules so please digest them now and flag any issues:

http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/rules/2012/04/03/nah-ruleset-v2-draft - LOBP thread
http://leagueofbikepolo.com/sites/leagueofbikepolo.com/files/NAH-rules-v2-DRAFT.pdf - Rules PDF

There will be modifications before they're voted on, based on feedback.

London feedback coming soon Kev, people are reacting to the rules in the LHBPA forum (nothing bad, although we think the helmet certification is silly).

London feedback coming soon Kev, people are reacting to the rules in the LHBPA forum (nothing bad, although we think the helmet certification is silly).

Cool, yeah that was a typo or some artefact of collaborative editing, it's something we had decided to get rid of, not sure how it slipped through....

Cool, yeah that was a typo or some artefact of collaborative editing, it's something we had decided to get rid of, not sure how it slipped through....

I just posted pretty much what I said on LHBPA to LOBP. Would have done it earlier, except I was at work...

I've just finished writing a list of ref's equipment for the National Series.

I'll post it here for comments:

The following items are recommended for the successful refereeing of a UK National Series Bike Polo Tournament

1 designated head ref. Please make sure that this role is filled at least 1 week before tournament. If in doubt, please consult me (Bill). This person will have last word on ALL reffing decisions, but principle task is to make sure that all games have a full complement of refs, to answer questions about reffing & rules, to remain sober during the tournament, and will almost certainly ref the last 2 or 3 games (i.e. finals) on the last day. Ideally, this person will have reffed & played at several tournaments, and is fully conversant with the rules. This person does not have to be me (Bill) or Jono.

5 copies of rules, laminated. 1 copy per court, secured to court by zip-ties at reffing position, 1 copy to be held at registration, 1 copy each for tournament organiser & tournament head ref.

3 X Whistles, 3 X Stopwatches (1 per court & 1 spare)
I like the following: Acme Thunder Brass Whistle & XLR8 Electronic Basic Stopwatch

6 X flags for goal refs - we used flags for goal reffing at the London Invitational; they worked well, as it was clear not only when a goal was scored, but it also made it clear who the goal ref was. These were the ones we used, they were ok, but not especially brilliant.

loads of baby wipes (for cleaning whistles between games, prevents transmission of nasty stuff)

**clipboards, pens & paper **so refs can make a note of score during & at end of game, and hand the note to results collater.

scoreboard - no recommendation here. The LHBPA is still working on purchasing combined scoreboard / clock. Ideally, large numbers, visible from both sides, easily operated by ref - this is important! - and close to centre of court, but not right on the centre, as players will mistake it for tap-out.

tape measure or electronic measuring device, preferably capable of measuring up to 15 metres or half the length of your court, whichever is longer.

line paint - I have used this to mark goal-lines on London courts but you can use anything you see fit.

measured & clearly marked centre line essential for tap out & restarts - I think that tap-out point is unnecessary, and often annoying - they almost always seem to break during tournaments, tap out will be in the centre in any case, so optional tap-out point, mandatory centre line.

**measured and clearly marked centre spot **as close to dead centre of court as possible.

measured and clearly marked goal line - goal line should be at least 2.5 metres from back-board, and should be aligned with centre-spot, and no more than 50 mm wide.

2 goals per court - see elsewhere in NS ruleset for dimensions. If you do not have your own set of goals, check to see if another polo assoc (eg London, Cambridge etc) has a set they can lend you.

2 sets of 3 training bibs of the same colour - for use when one or both teams do not have matching shirts, or teams have similar colour shirts, eg both teams are in black. For those that don't understand why matching & non-clashing shirts / bibs are necessary, it makes it easier for the refs & non-involved spectators to work out who is on what team. Playing with shirts off, ie 'skins', is not an option. Team to wear bibs to be decided by coin toss. I can’t remember where I got mine from but these look ok.

ice box for balls, 1 per court (ice box not necessary for Cambridge tournaments)

ice (not necessary for Cambridge tournaments)

**cloths for cleaning balls, **at least 4 per court.

new balls, density appropriate to expected weather; 3 balls per court + 1 extra ball for last 3 games

There’s other stuff that is useful to have around the tournament, such as first aid supplies (and an actual qualified first aider), brooms, gaffer tape, marker pens, desks, power, someone who understands brackets, and is willing to sit at a desk diligently updating whilst all & sundry are hosing his (or her) phone etc but these are not really ref things.

All of the above are recommendations, not obligations, but are founded in a year’s experience of NS events.

**cloths for cleaning balls, **at least 4 per court.

Fnar.

But all good points.

I'd in fact go as far to say a copy of the rules should be supplied to each team, and when signing their waiver, they also have to sign they have read the rules. I'm going to do that for the qualifiers.

All that paper. Think of the trees.