Official NA Hardcourt Bike Polo Rules

http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/rules/2010/04/01/north-american-hardcourt-bike-polo-official-rules

New ruleset for North America has been released, and is being discussed at the thread above. Copy pasting here for discussion. Personally I think they are pretty close to perfect for the coming year, but i think max 2.5" outer diameter for mallets should actually be 2 3/8" (2.375"/60.2mm)

i particularly like the yellow card/red card system as previously it has been difficult to enforce good play on out-of-line players.

minimum court size (100x50' or 30.5m X 15.25m) is great, nearly all the courts at tournaments in europe are too small. i also think that there should be a minimum goal line to rear wall distance of at least 2m

anyways here they are:

Equipment

1 - Teams will consist of three players.
2 - Any type of Bicycle is allowed.

2.1  - Must have at least one mechanism for stopping. (ie: handbrake, fixed  wheel)
2.2 - Handlebars MUST be plugged. 
2.3  - No exposed chainrings, pegs, or other protrusions. 
2.4  - Helmets are mandatory. 

3 - Mallets must resemble a croquet mallet with a wide side & round end. (Modified ski poles, and plastic pipe are the most common materials.)

3.1 - The  head of the mallet will be a maximum of 18 cm (7 inches) in length and  2.5 inches in Diameter (outside diameter) . 
3.2 - The  Head of the mallet should not have any sharp edges.
3.3 -  The handle end of the mallet MUST be plugged. 

4 - The ball will be a street hockey ball.

4.1 - The ball will not be a  liquid filled ball

5 - The Goals will be nets.

5.1  - The opening of the net will be 180 cm (72") and the height will be 80  cm (32 inches) (measured between the inside edges of the posts.) 

6 - Courts will be of a hard surface. (usually concrete or pavement)

6.1  - Boards of at least 40 cm (16 inches) in height should surround the  court to keep the ball in play. 
6.2 - The minimum court  size will be 30.5m X 15.25m (100' X 50') (Tennis court or basketball  court) and maximum size will be 60m X 26m (200' X 85') (NHL rink) 

General Rules of Play

7 - Start of a game:

7.1  - Each team will begin behind his/her own goal line. 
7.2  - The ball will be positioned at center court.
7.3 - Play  will begin with a "3 - 2 - 1 - Go" from the sideline. 
7.4  - left hand vs right hand jousts are not allowed. 

8 - Scoring a goal must be made with what started as a "shot"

8.1  - a "shot" is defined as a ball that is struck with the end of the  players mallet. wrist shots, or scoop shots are not considered a "shot"
8.2  - "Ball dragging" is allowed, however the ball must be passed before a  goal can be scored. 
8.2 - a "shuffle" is defined as a  ball that is striked with the side of the mallet.
8.3 - a  ball that is "shuffled" into the goal does not count as a goal. 
8.4  - if a ball is "shuffled" into the goal the defending team will get  possession of the ball. 
8.5 - if a player scores on his  own goal in any fashion (shot or shuffle) it will count as a goal for  the opposition. 

9 - After a goal is scored:

9.1  - The team that scored returns to their half of the court. 
9.2  - The team that was scored upon gets possession of the ball.
9.3  - Play will not resume until both teams have returned to their half of  court. 
9.4 - The defending team may not attack until the  ball or an offensive player has crossed half court.

10 - Players must not touch the ground, or "Dab"

10.1 - A "dab"  is if the player puts his foot on any horizontal surface. (the ground,  his mallethead, a bike, another player.) 
10.2 - Each time  a player "dabs" That player is out of play,  and may not interfere with  the ball or other players until they "tap in"
10.3 - If a  dabbed player stops a shot from going into the net at the ref's  discretion it may be ruled a goal. 
10.4 - The "Tap in" area will  be at center along either side of the court. 

11 - Games are played to five points

11.1 - If there are time constraints  games may be timed. In this case the game will stop at a set time, of  five points whichever comes first. 

Contact Rules

12 - Body contact is allowed.

12.1 - holding (with hands,  elbows, or mallets) is not allowed 
12.2 - Pushing with  the hands is not allowed. 
12.3 - Mallet to mallet contact  is allowed. (however it is poor etiquite to hit another players mallet  if he is not playing the ball or in front of the goal.) 
12.4  - Mallet to body contact is not allowed. 
12.5 - Mallet  to bike contact is not allowed. 
12.6 - Body to bike  contact is not allowed. 
12.7 - Bike to bike contact is  not allowed. (incidental contact/blocking is fine. deliberate hitting or  T-boning is not) 
12.8 - Intent to injure another player  is not allowed. 

13 - Throwing of mallets is not allowed at any time, in any situation.

13.1 - If a thrown mallet  stops a ball from going through the goal the referee may use his  discretion to call the play a goal. 

14 - Kicking is not allowed.
15 - Trash talking is allowed. Trash on the courts is not allowed.

Referees

16 - There will be a goal judge at each end of the court to rule on goals.
17 - A referee will enforce the rules.

17.1 - If a player  does not "tap in" or violates a contact rule the referee will issue the  offending player a "yellow card" 
17.2 - issuing a "yellow  card" or warning will not stop the play of the game. 
17.2  - a player may receive two "yellow cards" after that the player will  recieve a "red card"
17.3 - a referee may use his  discretion to give a player a "red card" at any time. 
17.4  - if a player receives a "red card" play will be stopped. The offending  player will be ejected from the remainder of the game, and the  non-offending team will get possession of the ball. 

Time Outs.

18 - There are no timeouts until a goal is scored.

18.1 - After a goal is scored a short time out  can be called for a mechanical, or water, etc. 
18.2 - If  the ball goes out of play, the game will be paused until the ball can be  retrieved. The defending team will then get possession of the ball, and  play will be resumed. 
18.3 - a timeout will  automatically be called by the referee in the event of a serious injury.  

Rule Changes

19 - All major North American and Regional tournaments will use these rules.

19.1  - The rules will remain unchanged for each year. With the exception of  rules that are deemed urgent to protect player safety. 
19.2  - Any suggestions, modifications, additions, or deletions of rules can  be submitted to the rules comittee and once per year they will be  reviewed and rules will be modified accordingly. 
19.3 -  The rules will be posted at [www.leagueofbikepolo.com](http://www.leagueofbikepolo.com/)

[URL="http://www.leagueofbikepolo.com/"][/URL]

7.4 - left hand vs right hand jousts are not allowed.

About time.

About time.

That is bullshit and discriminating!!

I also like the mixed use of striked/struck.

Would be tricky for an all lefty team.

Ha, epic.

That is bullshit and discriminating!!

That's my opinion. I have nothing against Left handed players, but I think a left/right charge is pretty dangerous.

I was just about to post about that point.

Where does the responsibility lie with sorting out who is/is not allowed to charge? I can't see an effective way of policing it.

But there are far more dangerous moves in polo than the charge. If you ban this then where does it end?

I say good on them for putting it out there... rules like this need to be made... and changed.

19.2 - Any suggestions, modifications, additions, or deletions of rules can be submitted to the rules comittee and once per year they will be reviewed and rules will be modified accordingly.

... no where do they say any of the points are set in stone. I think these are pretty good IMO.

I think intent and ref judgement calls are a tricky one to pick up but has been worded in the right ways. (points 13.1 and 12.8)

I think the way a foot down defensive player in the goal stopping the ball with his/her foot could be dealt with in the same way....the referee may use his discretion to call the play a goal.

It doesn't say lefties can't charge. Or that righties get priority.

All lefty team (againt all righty) means no one can charge. Most boring game ever.

But there are far more dangerous moves in polo than the charge. If you ban this then where does it end?

Im not sure there are to be honest, nearly all of the most gnarly crashes ive seen have been head on righty vs. lefty charge collisions. it does pose a problem for all left/right teams but i suppose that in those instances you'd just have to make an exception...

I nearly all of the most gnarly crashes ive seen have been head on righty vs. lefty charge collisions.

really? I've only seen one in 3 years.

I've seen lots of gnarly crashes though and separately seen hundreds of l v r charges.

I've had 2 near misses this week from Dave practicing lob shots. High sticks and high balls are more dangerous than a charge that you know you are going into.

Why do the head of the mallet have to be 7 inches?!

a maximun of 7", it could be shoter

haha reading fail. makes much more sense! i was wondering if everyone in america plays with massive mallets or something

7.4 - left hand vs right hand jousts are not allowed.

About time.

That is bullshit and discriminating!!

that this mean that Aidan is not allow to charge anymore???

These rules are great.

Righties charging lefties is dangerous and should be outlawed.

They outlawed bike to bike.

hard rule to enforce though no? what if both teams have a leftie, but their best 'charger' is a leftiy on one team and a rightie on the other, who decides which team get to use their charger?

Who decides which side of the court to get? Toss a coin, I guess. The charge is a pretty minor part of the game, and most people treat it simply as a chance to hit the ball really hard.

Worst crash I ever saw, and resulted in serious, chronic head inury, in polo was a lefty vs righty charge.

worst charge i ever saw was idiot charging against idiot. If you go balls out and can't stop your a dick regardless of what hand you write with. Stupid rule.

worst charge i ever saw was idiot charging against idiot. If you go balls out and can't stop your a dick regardless of what hand you write with. Stupid rule.

Who is responsible for stopping? Whoever is slowest? What if people are going the same speed? Right on left charging is basically a game of chicken. Not a fan, but whatevs.

i think max 2.5" outer diameter for mallets should actually be 2 3/8" (2.375"/60.2mm)

Have you measured the blue/yellow piping that a lot of people are using? Why do you think its unacceptable?

Not a fan of these rules.
Not so much in the content as the wording and lack of some content.
I disagree with the lefty/righty charge rule, it's completely up to the players IMO.
In the ehbpc 2009 rules I think I originally put in 20cm for maximum mallet head dimensions of length and/or circumference. Whatever the outer circumference of basic gas pipe is should be the max length of the head as it's somewhere around the 20cm mark.
These rules also makes no provisions for footdowns in front of the goal. Or deflections.

Not a very well thought out set of rules.

12 - Body contact is allowed.
12.1 -12.7...
12.8 - Intent to injure another player is not allowed.
13 - ...
13.1 - ...
14 - Kicking is not allowed.

Why the separation of kicking from body contact or intent to injure? Why not include headbutting or hard elbowing?