New London Polo Courts + Lights

Excellent News!

:o

What is happening with lights at Downs (and London Fields)? We need another night court for winter.

I'll go find out, probably same old story (waiting for maintenance site/payment system to work properly after they changed services/suppliers).

Ha, brilliant news!

I'll go find out, probably same old story (waiting for maintenance site/payment system to work properly after they changed services/suppliers).

Jono you are the energizer bunny inside the head of a hamster running around on a wheel on amphetamines.
If you want, I dont mind contacting the council and hassling them to install the lights. You do more than enough work & organisation already for London polo!

PS brill news about London Fields - potential for a lot of exposure / new recruits there.

So I had a look around some other courts in Lambeth, I needed to get out of the house last Saturday.

The first one is at Kennington Park near the Oval, mentioned previously. The surface is good and the size is fine, maybe about the same size as Newington, possibly a bit smaller - but the gaps in the fence are bigger than a ball, so every time the ball goes off the fence, there's a good chance it will slip out. There's also a huge gap beneath the fence at either end where the goals are, and this also slopes down, so this would have to be boarded up or blocked somehow. Its a potential for use at a stretch but not great, and also the smaller height of the fence around the edges could see people going over the top of it if there's a bit of checking / crashing going on. The curved posts also stick out a bit, like Downs. Not ideal.

The next one was at Lawn Lane in Vauxhall Park. Its nicely closed off from the rest of the park, but the surface is not great, quite scratchy, the whole court is on a slope, the goals are pushed right up against the wall with no space behind them. A non-runner unfortunately.

The last one then is at the back of the Vauxhall Tavern (Tylers Street) - next to the slope where there are always people still caning it from the night before. I was there at 11 in the morning and there were still about a dozen people, off their faces, having some cans and talking saucer eyed nonsense... (I'm just jealous, thats all).

I saw it and thought, fuck - this could be the best court in London. Unobtrusive fencing, floodlights, no goal posts in the way, really big size, brand new as well from the looks of things... and then I stepped onto the surface. Its some sort of rubberised / spongy surface, like the stuff you see in some kids playgrounds. I vaguely remember someone here saying that they played on it before in a court, maybe somewhere in Bermondsey. What's it like to play on? I was on a road bike with no mallet and ball. Maybe it might be good for a beginners court? Shame it isnt a harder surface, I think it would be brilliant otherwise.

Nice, Kev. That last one does look pretty good.

MUGA surfaces (the red court looks like a turf-type MUGA to me):

Pladek - ok for bikes
An acrylic coated porous macadam gives good service for tennis, netball, soccer and basketball. Not so good for hockey and roller skating.

Tenniturf - no good for bikes
A range of porous sand filled polypropylene carpets ideal for tennis, soccer, hockey, boule. Not good for netball and roller skates.

Sporturf - no good for bikes
A porous needle punched polypropylene carpet with minimal sand filling, good for soccer, netball, hockey, tennis. Not recommended for roller-skates.

Rollaplay - good for bikes
An impervious dense macadam ideal for roller skating, tennis, soccer, hockey and netball. However, its impervious nature, necessary to achieve the strength required, does mean it will develop puddles in wet weather.

Evolution - good for bikes
This surface is made of sand dressed dense, Polyethylene texturised monofilament fibres with narrow blades. Evolution is designed to meet the FIH Standard category and is therefore suitable for hockey, up to and including international standard.

MUGA surfaces (the red court looks like a turf-type MUGA to me):

It is a basketball court though, so maybe its the Pladek stuff?

I can get in touch with the Lambeth sports guy next Tuesday and ask him about the surface.

Shows how I don't pay attention most of the time, I ride past that one by Vauxhall City Farm all the time... Hope the surface works out, that would be awesome... I've seen a lot of lunchtime/evening football in there, maybe it's a booked court?

No afaik its a turn up and play court.

Its a community site, so yeah, just turn up and play.

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/80E6711A-AA6F-424A-9545-D3661316F159/0/ParkSportsSiteClassification.pdf

I have pictures of the court in Giessen, i'll get them up later.
It's a roller hockey court and is easily the best court i have ever played.

where is Giessen?

ps. it can't be the best court you've played, downs is the best court in europe*

*according to snoops

That Vauxhall court is right by an estate full of drunk white trailer trash types (generalisation). But it's also behind the Vauxhall Tavern which is a well known 'bear' gay bar gay bar. They once had a charity sports day which was very colourful (big hairy men in tutu's) and the locals were sat watching quietly drinking their strong lager.
What I'm saying is the locals might well be ok.

beer goggles?

There would never be enough beer.

Giessen:

the reasons this court is so awesome:

the surface is an absolutely perfectly smooth concrete, which is the right amount of grippy without being slow. (apparently it is still grippy and playable in the wet...)
The boards are a really good height, and there is a thick fabric attached to the top so that you cannot hurt yourself on them.
The bottom of the boards has a running plank all the way round, so the ball rebounds totally consistently
The corners are rounded
There are 6 floodlights, so there is no shadows
2x 'Roll-in' gates, which seal of seamlessly when closed.

bonus features:
clubhouse with toilets and storage facilities
BBQ area
Speakers on all the lamp posts, so you can listen to music (in surround sound) whilst playing

Where is it Josh? Germany?

yes.
Although it is not a new london polo court, i thought i would be useful to show what (in my eyes) we should be ultimately aiming for, and that roller hockey courts really do make perfect polo courts.

Cool, it'd be good to scout the major London clubs then and ask about access:

There are a surprising amount of places where Roller Hockey is facilitated in London, below are the main and largest locations where you can find sessions to suit your needs. The clubs that have been selected have been picked because they’re spread out around London so no one will have to travel too far to get to them:

Firstly Battersea Inline Hockey Club, who provide open sessions every Friday between 8 and 10pm for a cost of £5 per session. These sessions are non-contact, intermediate puck level hockey with goalkeepers. They insist on minimum kit requirements, however that’s common and we’ll get to where to buy the kit needed later. These sessions are at the Battersea Youth Centre on Hope Street, SW11 2DA.

Next is Plumstead Skater Hockey Club, who run sessions every Wednesday night and welcome players of any ability for a contact session, which offers up a different challenge to non-contact but equally as fun. Cost is £3 per session and they run from 8.45pm to 10.15pm, helmet and gloves are required to play. These sessions are run out of Plumstead Leisure Centre which is on Speranza Street, SE18 1NX. You can phone them on 020 8855 8289 for more details.

Thirdly there’s Beckenham Inline Hockey Club, a large club with teams spread across different age groups, which would be of interest if you have children. Senior sessions run from 8.30pm to 10pm every Saturday and they’re non-contact. Cost is £5 per session and they’re based at 24 Beckenham Road, BR3 4PF.

Lastly we have SkateZone Skater Hockey Club, 020 8737 5689 who play skater hockey and are therefore full contact in the same vein as Plumstead and Battersea. You can find them at Hounslow Manor Sports Hall on Prince Regents Road (off Cecil Road). You can get there very easily as it’s located close to Hounslow East on the Piccadilly Line.

From: http://sportylondoners.co.uk/roller-hockey-in-london/