Currently we have two regular sessions of polo, both on the basketball court at Preston Park. The first is on a Wednesday night from about 5pm until dark and the second is on Sunday afternoons at 1pm. Feel free to come along and spectate, or bring bikes and beers and play!
See you on the court!
BHBPA.org
Event Timing
The tournament is scheduled to begin at 9:30am on Saturday May 7th and we expect all teams to be present on court for 9:00am for a rules briefing and bike/mallet inspection.
Location
Brighton is on the south coast of England, about 60 miles south of London. It’s easily accessible by train or road. For those of you flying from abroad the closest airport is Gatwick, about 30 miles north. This airport is well served on the main rail link between London and Brighton. By Rail from London, Brighton is served out of Victoria and London Bridge by Southern Trains and First Capital Connect respectively.
The map above shows the easiest route to the courts from Brighton train station. Those of you who have been to Brighton to before will know that it is a small city built in a valley. The courts lie towards the north of the city, in the bottom of the valley - if you find yourself going uphill at any point, you are going the wrong way!
Rail Disruption
Rail replacement bus services will be in operation between Brighton and Haywards Heath (on the London line) on Sunday the 8th. Only trains leaving at 18 minutes past the hour are accepting bicycles, it is advisable to contact the train operator in order to book in advance.
Parking
Parking is sometimes available for free on the small roads which are actually inside the park confines, they surround the park on its 3 sides and are accessible by gates on the north side by the Velodrome (yes, a velodrome!) off of Preston Drove and the south end off of the A23 Preston Rd/Stanford Ave junction. The main road, Preston Park Ave, on the east side of the park also has Pay and Display parking spaces.
Amenities
The park has a cafe with public toilets and also sells coffee/tea/cold drinks/snacks. Brighton is famed for its large number of high-quality bars and cafes so if you want something more substantial you can head a short distance into town for London Rd, the Laines and the North Rd area where everything is located.
Valuables
Brighton is a relatively safe place, especially compared to London, and we don’t expect anything to go missing. Try to avoid bringing anything obscenely valuable, but if you do have any particular valuables which you are worried about the we will have a locked vehicle nearby that you can use to store them.
Etiquette
The courts are located directly abutting a family play area. We have a good relationship with the users of this facility and we would like to keep it that way. We cannot tolerate any loud swearing or any anti-social or loutish behaviour. We understand the compulsion to heckle just keep it friendly, OK!?
Food
We hope to provide a vegetarian/vegan BBQ on the day and although we can’t guarantee to provide for 100 hungry players, there will be food available. As mentioned before a large number of eateries are a very short (2 min) cycle ride from the park.
Format
Tournament format will conform to the National Series standard Format. We will be awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd places as well as placings for the best UK teams from outside of London.
Rules
LHBPA stand rules will be adopted for this tournament. Details of these rules can be found here.
A few things we will be particularly tough on:
Cheater mallets are not permitted and any mallets with large side cut-outs must be swapped or taped-up.
Helmets must be worn.
Players can only play for ONE team during the tournament.
Questions
Any questions can be directed to brightonpolo@gmail.com or you can find us on LFGSS.
We look forward to seeing you on the day!
PW
Sunday 20th March 2011. Sunshine & polo. Sweet.
We’ve pulled our collective finger out and started organising a tournament!
We’re currently approaching the council, sponsors and other ancillary types to help get this beast off the ground. If you know anyone that would like to be involved or can offer support/prizes then please contact us at brighton.polo@gmail.com
We’ve got 22 teams lined up already with 50% of the places reserved for non-London teams. If you’d like to register then please head over to http://www.lfgss.com/thread61362.html
The date for all of this is May 7th 2011.
A more detailed plan with maps and all you need to know about Brighton will be following shortly.
This is gonna be great!
PW
It is the question on everybody’s (my) lips. Why is bike polo so compelling? Sidestepping comparisons with yeast extract, it’s quite a divisive sport. Even in the short time that I have been playing I’ve seen people come along to a session and leave swearing blind that they’ll build a polo bike and mallet that very evening, others have sworn they’d never get on a polo court again - usually as they rubbed their bruised shins and elbows.
I think it’s quite obvious that polo is dangerous. 6 lunatics careening around a basketball court in an orchestrated attempt to steer a rock hard ball into a small goal. Chasing hard, braking hard, getting up close to the opposition and their machines will inevitably lead to collisions but it’s in this overt danger that the element of control comes to the forefront. A calculated risk here or a deft turn there can make the element of danger become much more a display of skill and bravery than an outright hazard. This lends polo the thrilling atmosphere of a martial display with all attendant fantasies of crushing your opposition or emerging victorious from an even and pitched battle.
To supplement this, polo is both an individual and team sport. Individual skill is unquestionably needed but without your close-knit team you wouldn’t expect to get much done. Alliances are formed and rivalries grow, strategies are discussed and tactics are put to the test, moments of brilliance and moments of failure are shown every time one steps over the threshold of the court. The satisfaction of a swift passing move and the sharp THWACK of the mallet on a squarely-hit shot bring joy to those who are hardy enough to learn the basic skill set. The camaraderie in the polo arena is high and it has to be, you must trust your team and they must trust you or else your squad will consist of 3 disparate elements ineffectively trucking around the court. Everyone must be prepared to both attack and defend or you get nothing!
Polo is HARD. The difficulty is a composite of bike-handling, mallet/ball control and the bravery that was mentioned earlier. This puts a lot of people off, I’m sure, but therein lies a big chunk of value. No great artist realises their vision on the very first try and it is much the same with polo. I’ll have been playing for a year this summer and I am still learning each time I play. After experiencing crushing defeats at tournaments last year, my resolve to play, to learn, to adapt and engage with the difficulty has been strengthened. No great reward is ever won without great trial and for me, polo is just such a trial.
I feel I have barely scratched the surface of what I’ll call The Pop Philosophy of Polo but I hope you will find this post inspirational.
See you on the court!
PW
Brighton Bike Polo is currently every Sunday at 1pm on Preston Park Basketball Courts.
Sunday 13th March 2011. Slippery and wet. Mmmmmm….
This is the place to see what’s happening in Brighton Polo!
We hope to feature all sorts of amazing happenings with photographic evidence to boot.
As of March 2011 we play on Sundays at 1pm on the basketball courts in Preston Park and we are still searching for a floodlit venue for weekday evenings - if you can think of anywhere then please let us know.
We’re a varied group (although we are short on female members - please don’t let this put you off, polo is very much an equal opportunities sport!) with varied skill levels who just love to chase a ball around on silly bikes of an afternoon.
We’re always looking for new members and will happily let you borrow a bike/mallet/ball to get you started in this fast and ever-so-slightly exhilarating sport.
Also, we’re pretty good with mechanical knowledge so if your bike is playing-up then we’ll have a gander (we promise not to suck air through our teeth and tell you it’s gonna cost ya). Our association with the wonderful Cranks Co-op bike workshop http://cranks.org.uk/ on Chapel Street in Kemptown means that we can do repairs without the expense of paying a mechanic!
See you on the court!
