About Us
All about East Van Bike Polo
History of East Van Bike Polo
This is a work in progress - thanks to Scora for getting it started...
August 2006
- Bike polo was a side event to the Little 100 Race. This day marks the birth of EVBP. A number of us played for the first time and were totally hooked!
- We subsequently met each week at Strathcona Park to get our polo fix. According those early email call-outs, this group included: Simon, Jim, Patricia, Mark, James, Maitland, Darryl, Lora, Ifny, Bill, Robertrao(?) and Ifney
- James became the "Keeper of the Mallets" and diligently brought down a quiver each week for everyone to use
September 2006
- We moved from Strathcona to Grandview Park
October 2006
- Simon and Jim got the cyber ball rolling and started up the listserv and myspace accounts. Jim created our logo and coined the term East Van Bike Polo to distinguish ourselves from the group that plays grass bike polo at Jericho.
- Thanks Jim!! Our name and logo have become important to our identity
November 2006
- Pieter secured the bikepolo.ca domain
April 21-22, 2007
- The Last Riders of the Apoloclypse Tournament
June 2007
- A short video of polo was in the Bike Shorts night
- Bob also put it on his website: www.youneverbikealone.com/eastvanbikepolo
July 1, 2007
- The Northern Crown Tournament
July 10, 2007
- Sertac died in a climbing accident. Lisa made spoke cards in honour of him.
August 2007
- The Westender listed us as one of the 49 things you should do before the summer is over:
"Watch the anarchists play bike polo at Grandview Park. With its squeegee-grunge aesthetic and carefree, helmet-less approach to personal safety, East Van bike polo is about the coolest spectator sport viewable through a chain-link fence."
September 23 2007
- The Polorobics Tournament
- Happy 1st birthday EVBP!!
November 2007
- The Cascadia Fall Classic Tournament
February 2, 2008
- The Polo Inside, Undies Out Tournament
May 10, 2008
- The Yo Mama Bike Polo Tournament
June 2008
- Pieter extended bikepolo.ca to the greater polo community
August 23, 2008
- The Terrible Twos Tournament
- the level of play and consequently the rules of polo were evolving. We had a number of balljoint discussions at this time.
- Happy 2nd Birthday EVBP! Ken made an awesome cake!
August 2009
EVBP.ca launched
EVBP Club Rep 2010: Ken Regehr
Voting closed at 12 noon today (10 January) for the first East Van Bike Polo Club Rep 2010. There were two candidates standing for the position: Ken Regehr and Lisa Moffat. K-Dawg won with 17 votes to 10 against a fierce competitor. Thanks to all who voted.
EVBP Club Rep Duties
Here's a breakdown of the duties of the Vancouver Club Rep
Club reps will:
- Elect regional representatives.
- Participate in conversations pertaining to their region. For
example, club representatives would facilitate local discussion around
and then participate in a vote to select the host city for the ESPI.
Regional reps will:
- vote in the North American Hardcourt Championship bid process.
- participate in various subcommittes of NA Hardcourt (rules, sponsorship, tournaments,
- facilitate regional discussions and gather input on issues related ot the above committees.
- will remain the club rep.
Club and regional reps will:
- be invested and present in all relevant business brought before you. This means:
- communicating necessary information, participating in and/or
leading discussions, overseeing and/or participating in a vote, etc. - participate in every vote, even if it’s to simply to “abstain.”
- be held publically accountable for their votes and the reasons behind them.
- respect their constituents right to know how their representative voted and whether they were present.
- provide minutes from every meeting, be it region-specific or continental.
Who are we?
We are: social workers, labourers, business owners, urban planners, physicians, teachers, artists, students, bicycle messengers, dieticians, environmentalists, hydrologists, and parents. We are kids at heart.
Here is a sampling of some of the EVBP players
Where we play
Grandview Park - Saturday afternoons is general throw in play (show up after 2pm and there should be players tossing mallets), first Sunday of the month for women's polo (usually after 4pm to accommodate Scora Lora's weekend work schedule).
Currently Grandview Park is up for renovations as per the City's capital budget of $1 million for upgrades. A well attended open house was held on June 3rd with a majority of polo-istas representing.
You can find out more about the process through the Vancouver Parks Board's website:
http://vancouver.ca/parks/news/2009/090527_grandview.htm
Night courts (behind Britannia Arena to the west of the parking lot) - Tuesday and Thursday nights
Grandview Park
The tennis courts at Grandview Park on Commercial Drive where we've been playing for a while now.
Grandview Park Renewal
Grandview Park is scheduled for renewal in the Summer of 2010, so EVBP will be looking for a new temporary home.
Key Dates:
June 3, 2009 - Public open house
October 3, 2009 - Public open house.
January 19, 2010 - Concept design review
February 2010- Concept taken to Board for discussion/ approval
Summer 2010 - Construction begins
Contact:
David Yurkovich, Landscape Designer
606.257.6932
New Brighton Park Court
New Brighton Park, at the North-East end of Vancouver, is the location for the two-day East Van Crown event this year. The four tennis courts look out across to the mountains of on the North shore. It's not far from Hastings race track and the P&E.
The Night Court
This is where we play Monday and Thursday nights from dusk up until around 10.30pm when the lights cut out.
This is a smaller court than a regular court at Grandview, with a slicker surface. That means more skids, but less severe road rash from wipe-outs.
East Van Rules
The basics are the same from city to city but there are always slight variations on bike polo rules. Here are the East Van Bike Polo rules.
Shoot with the business end of your mallet - that's the round "end" folks - or else its a "shuffle".
Ball joint – pass to another player off a ball joint before your team can score.
If your foot hits the ground its called a "dab" and you need to tap out on either side of centre court to engage in play again. Two sided (something loud, high hats)
When your team scores, head back to your end and wait for the other team’s first player to cross half before engaging them in play again.
Three contact rules that are acceptable:
Bike on Bike
Body on Body
Mallet on Mallet
We don't appreciate contact combinations (i.e. mallet on bike) and you will be called out!! Also, even though bike on bike contact is okay, there are no t-bones! Mallet on mallet is okay but no wind up hacks! Person on person is good but no punches to the face!
One etiquette rule:
Play others as they play you (i.e. if a player isn't roughing you up, don't take them out).
Passes to your own teammate through the offensive goal can not be scored immediately. The ball must be passed first.
All bar ends and mallets must be plugged.
No own goals.
No mallet throwing.
We seriously encourage the use of a helmet.
Goals are at cone height.
Mallet Making
Think you are a dab hand with a mallet... share it here
Here is how some others do it...
http://www.hardcourtbikepolo.com/?page_id=6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylBl9qFsFLg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.googl...
Whatever you do, do not use PVC for your mallet heads. It shatters! Use ABS or HDPE (High density polyethelene) or MDPE (Medium density polyethelene).
Ski poles are the preferred shaft. However, some people like golf clubs, canes, crutches, other metal pipe, etc.
Whatever you do, find what works for you!
A few people in East Van have fully operational set-ups for making mallets. Contact James, Rawbie or L'Il Miss Used if you are interested in making a mallet.
Modifying bikes
Modifying bikes blurb, info, etc