Scott Schmidt
For the Sun Times
There are several reasons why the average Lethbridge resident doesn’t play polo.
For starters, we’re not in England. Second, riding a horse is hard enough; trying to do it one-handed while focusing intently on a small ball six feet below you is almost silly.
And last, most people associate polo with the wealthiest of classes, while the average Lethbridge resident — by definition — probably doesn’t drive a Rolls-Royce, employ a gardener or call their pomeranian Muffy.
However, if you could take away all the stereotypical reasons why someone in southern Alberta might not be able to play, the sheer sport of polo is quite intense and intriguing.
Discover bike polo.
The game is exactly the same as polo on horseback except for a few equipment differences — both obvious and subtle. And if Nathan Neudorf has anything to say about it, you’ll be seeing it played more and more around here, as he hopes to grow the sport as much as possible.
“At this point we’re just trying to get the word out there and get more players coming out,” says Neudorf. “Eventually we’d like to start a league. For now, I’ve got a blog started giving people information about how to play and what it is.
“If people are coming (to play) regularly then they can look on there to see where we’ll be and at what time.”
That blog can be found at www.lethbridgebikepolo.blogspot.com.
What might appeal to the masses most is how basic the sport is, as far as what’s needed to participate. If you have something to ride with only two wheels, you’re just about ready to go already.
In fact, Neudorf says helmets weren’t even sanctioned in the sport until just recently, which is interesting considering the most popular bike polo surface is hard-court, like a tennis court or arena floor.
“There aren’t too many rules either so it’s fun,” says Neudorf. “But it’s not really a contact sport, which is to say you’re not going to check somebody but you can kind of push them out of the way. You don’t check them; you nudge them over a little bit.
“Usually you play to five points and you can actually get to five pretty quick. On average, within 20 minutes or less.”
The mallets used are also quite simple. While regular mallets are long and generally made of wood or composite materials, a bike polo mallet is simply a ski pole cut down to a desired size, with a piece of pipe attached at the end.
And instead of a ball made from high-intensity plastic or inflated leather — as is the regular polo way — bike polo goes all-Canadian by implementing the orange hockey ball as its game piece and pylons as the goal posts.
It’s truly available to anyone.
“We’ve been out five or six times now just in parking lots,” says Neudorf. “It’s generally a three-on-three sport but we’ve played two-on-two.
“Right now I’m just in the process of finding places to play regularly. But anyone can drop in and play with us, I have enough mallets for anyone who shows up.”
A colleague of Neudorf’s, who also plays, has come up with a logo for Lethbridge bike polo and the two have put up posters in various locations around the city, including the university.
You can also contact Neudorf directly by visiting the blog. |
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