“Cirque du Sydney” is an action packed double header weekend guaranteed to entertain. Getting back to our roots, the tournament will be relaxed, all-inclusive and filled with events for both the players and spectators to enjoy. Come one, and come all, embrace the inner clown.

“Carney Carnage” is the big top event on the Saturday. After a single round robin, teams will be divided into a top and bottom half group, to then battle it out with similarly skilled teams in a single elimination final. After trying this out at Christchurch’s successful Winter Whack ii, we feel this is the best way for both the serious and non-serious players to compete in an encouraging environment. As we only have a single court, there will be a 20 team limit. Teams registered can play in their own uniforms, but will have to have a team name in the theme of the weekend; think circus, animals, tightropes and women with beards. Referees are banned (goal refs only).

“Sideshow Slaughter” is the relaxed individual tournament on the Sunday. The tournament will be a throw-up format, with each game randomly drawing two teams of three. Each game awards points to the players of the winning team. At the end of the day, the top 12 players will compete in knockout finals to the sledging and heckling of the masses. Dress up in your sideshow best as COSTUMES ARE MANDATORY!

We are still in planning for the Friday night party, and will hopefully have a warehouse shin-dig and 1v1 ‘knife fights’ court running. Saturday will be from 9am to 6pm (we have lights in case it runs over) and Sunday begins at 10am with a stricter 5pm finish for those heading to the Airport.

Rego info will be posted in the next week so check back for details. Also check out our page dedicated to the tournament.

Cirque Du Sydney: Tournament Poster

Never fear, we are still here! We have just been super busy to update on the world of polo… “why?” did I hear you ask? BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN ORGANIZING A NEW TOURNAMENT FOR SYDNEY! We are happy to finally announce dates for our next tournament to be held on the weekend of February 25+26th 2012. It will be over an entire weekend (and maybe a surprise for Friday night) and feature a team tournament on the first day, then a throw-up tournament the following day to loosen up and kick back with all our polo buddies.

We will be releasing more information over the next couple of weeks on format, setup, events and other details. We are super excited and have some great ideas to make this an epic weekend to remember!

MKE Bruiser

Milwaukee Bike Polo Club are holding a fundraiser in early December by holding a raffle of a prototype MKE Bruiser. These bad-boys make an amazing polo frame and are praised around the globe for their great geometry, handling and importantly, their quality.

Click on the frame for a link to their page if you want in on the action. The money raised will go towards insurance, facilities, and a possible indoor court during winter.

Frame is a medium with BMX rear dropout spacing of 110 and unfortunately, those of us outside the US will have to cover the cost of shipping.

The teams for the new Sydney League have now been drawn up with 6 full teams. There are also a number of spare players that have not yet been assigned a team so still plenty of room to form additional teams.

The first round will begin either this Thursday or Sunday and run up until Christmas. Teams are welcome to pick a team name too, so let Virginia or Brook know next session. Teams are as follows:

Team 1: Locky, Martin, Jesse
Team 2: Virginia, Eddie, Danos
Team 3: Brook, Daniel, [Michael + Fancesco]
Team 4: Tsz, Tom, Jack
Team 5: Shifty, Robin, Jamahl
Team 6: Doddy, Ben, Wulfman

Wildcard players: Belle, Larry, Stephen, Gavin

Sydney Bike Polo is about to begin a short league leading up to the holiday break. Teams will be randomly drawn with seeding to get an even spread of experience.

It is a casual, chilled out environment and a great way to pick up experience for those who haven’t played, or are just beginning.

Each Thursday night or Sunday session will involve one or two ‘league games’ with the rest of the night casual ‘pick-up’ as normal. Teams are allowed to pass their turn if a player is away that week, or can substitute for an equally skilled player.

Run down of structure and teams will be this Sunday (6th November) and posted here and on the SBP facebook page. Games will commence Sunday the 13th November.

IF YOU WISH TO BE PART OF THE LEAGUE, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!!! Or you can sign up over on our Facebook page and check out more info. If you aren’t quite sure about it, don’t worry, our sessions will still mostly involve normal games as usual.

London held its first womens (majority) tournament the other week to the toast of the international community. The talk was that it was a huge success both on and off the court. ‘Fish and Chippeys’ took out top spot [Valley (Van) / Leslie (Seattle) / Seabass (Seattle)] with the organizer and superstar from Brisbane, Erin, taking out fith spot with her all girl team “Tornadoes”. More results to follow.

Finally so excited to see some of the footage from the weekend! Thanks to Chan from Manchester for the great video!

Hell’s Belles Vol. 1 from Chan on Vimeo.

This Sunday, the 16th, we will be having a day of relaxed polo and encouraging first-timers to jump in. We will fire up the BBQ, have some cold ones ready and plenty of spare mallets and bikes to use. Usual time and location of 2pm @ Alexandria Park. Get in early for maximum games!

Afterwards, we will be heading to the closest pub to watch Aus v NZ in the Union!

The wonderful Mr.Do has just released two more full games from the final day of the World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships. First up is the play-off to join the Crazy Canucks in the grand final, with the loser taking out third place.

The second video is of Europe’s three time champions L’Equipe, taking on Portland United. This was near the end of the lower bracket play-offs. L’Equipe went on to finish fifth, with Portland United coming in at seventh.

Worlds Semi Final from Mr.Do

Portland United v L’Equipe from Mr.Do

Landscape Magazine, a free Wuropean alternative bike magazine has a great article on the recent London Open 2011 and Rooftop Lausanne 2011 Tournaments. It’s available online to read for free and has some good pictures and interesting interviews with some of the top European players. Click the link to open it up, starts on page 78.

“Hardcourt” from Matthew on Vimeo.

Matthew Sipple from Seattle Bike Polo has been busy working on a feature length documentary “Hardcourt”, of the birth of hardcourt bike polo up to its current state, through the eyes of the key players in Seattle such as Messman, Dustin, Seabass and Leon. Check out the teaser sample above!