Player Profiles” is a new blog series Davis Bike Polo will be doing to feature its players, their stories and experiences in bike polo! Stay tuned to meet the crew here in Davis! This week you get to meet, Abe! Abe is one of the founding members of Davis Bike Polo and a lefty to boot!

How did you first get involved in bike polo?

I stumbled across a reference to it online and looked up some videos and it looked amazing. I got some friends together and we made mallets from PVC and golf clubs and gave it a try.

What was your first impression of bike polo?

It was tricky, but amazing fun. Everyone who started that day played again and at least stuck with it for a while.

What’s it like to be a bike polo player?

It’s like being a superhero or at least like an alternate reality. You can have a bad day at work or whatever but after a game or two that all just washes away.

What do you find most challenging about playing bike polo?

It’s sometimes hard to juggle my time. I spend a lot of my life on this and it can feel like there isn’t time for anything else, but I guess that’s how I choose to approach it

What do you like best about bike polo?

I like the change of scenery from other parts of life. The competitiveness and the fun make it easy to fully focus on but it’s great that it’s bigger than just the local club and there is a whole world of bike polo too see

What would you tell someone who is thinking about trying bike polo?

Go for it! Especially now since you don’t even have to make an initial investment in gear and can loan stuff. You’ll meet people you never thought you would and even get opportunity in life that you might not have.

What’s your favorite bike polo and/or bike brands and gear?

I think Chris Arena makes the best heads, Milwaukee has the best shafts and connector system, and Jai does the best bikes, oh and TIME pedals.

Who are your bike polo heroes? Why?

I’m bad at having heroes. I guess the Control are since they’ve pushed so far in the worldwide scene but are also down to earth and fun; they make it a small world.

What do you think will (or needs to) change in bike polo over the next few years?

I like it a lot where it is but i do feel like we need to figure some things out in terms of reffing and organizing. A lot of weight can fall on the few. I would be OK with higher tournament costs and with association dues.

If you weren’t playing bike polo, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?

I’d still be biking. Maybe I’d have gotten into cyclocross or something. I’d be motorcycling too.

What do you do when you aren’t playing bike polo?

I like to get outside. I like MTB. I think the only thing that’s taken me away from polo for a weekend has been chances to do some remote camping.

Any goals you’ve set for yourself this coming season?

I’ve got to get my long range shooting dialed in. I also want to get better at figuring out strange courts more quickly. Every court has its quirks and they can be for you or against you.

What piece of advice would you give someone just starting out in polo?

Don’t be proud. Try to learn new things and listen to teaching and advice. Practice. Don’t wait to go to tournaments until you think you’ll do ok; you will get better much faster from the experience. Don’t let a lack of gear keep you from playing, but get decent gear as soon as you can.

“Player Profiles” is a new blog series Davis Bike Polo will be doing to feature its players, their stories and experiences in bike polo! Stay tuned to meet the crew here in Davis!

This week you get to meet, Adam! He’s a lefty and is planning on playing in the Davis Bike Polo Rookie Tournament in May! Watch out for this slayer!

How did you first get involved in bike polo?

Learned about it from an old co-worker,  went to Sunday pickup and was hooked.

What was your first impression of bike polo?

This looks tricky.  Everyone I saw playing was at a pretty high skill level.  My bike skills were ok as I had been riding a road bike for about 3 years prior, but I had never ridden in a situation where everyone was riding so fast right next to each other… with mallets.

What’s it like to be a bike polo player?

It’s great!  You become much more confident and comfortable riding bikes, as well as improve your hand eye coordination.  You get to meet a lot of great players from around the country and the world.

What do you find most challenging about playing bike polo?

Going fast, playing against really good players, not falling.

What’s do you like best about bike polo?

Going fast, scoring goals, meeting new people, eating snacks.

Who are your bike polo heroes? Why?

Abe and Jen for introducing me to the sport and being so awesome with knowledge and lending equipment and overall enthusiasm and encouragement.

 

What would you tell someone who is thinking about trying bike polo?

Give it a shot, you’ll meet some pretty cool people.

What do you think will (or needs to) change in bike polo over the next few years?

Players will get faster, the community will grow. What needs to change- better organization, better reffing, more bike polo specific products.

What do you do when you aren’t playing bike polo?

Go surfing, ride my bike, work on bikes.

Any goals you’ve set for yourself this coming season?

Go faster, score more goals, gain confidence riding clipless.

What piece of advice would you give someone just starting out in polo?

Ask questions, have fun, surround yourself with awesome players.  Don’t get discouraged as the learning curve is pretty steep. Have fun!

 

“Player Profiles” is a new blog series Davis Bike Polo will be doing to feature its players, their stories and experiences in bike polo! Stay tuned to meet the crew here in Davis!

This week we’d like to introduce you to Jai! You can find really pretty pictures of Jai’s amazing welding and bike builds over on his instagram @donexdeal. Full disclosure: a number of the photos for this post were directly stolen from his ‘gram 😉

How did you first get involved in bike polo

When I was in Hawaii, in like 2010 my good friend Chris, that i played hockey with, was like “dude we should play bike polo. And I was super interested, and after some Ally cat race one day, it ended where people were playing polo.

What was your first impression of bike polo?

It was like the best of both worlds. I was into track bikes, hockey, and hanging out. And then Bam! All in one. I was Hooked!

What do you find most challenging about playing bike polo?

Telling people what you do. And that everyone is getting so good.

What do you like best about bike polo?

Hanging out and everyone is fucking awesome and cool as shit.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about trying bike polo?

Come try it, we got food and it’s dope.

 What’s your favorite bike polo and/or bike brands and gear?

My own shit !!! I build bikes so I pretty much try to ride my own!

Who are your bike polo heroes? Why?

Really I rarely pay attention to people I don’t play with in person. But that dude Zach in NY that plays fixed and rides a blue

What do you think will (or needs to) change in bike polo over the next few years?

Shuffle shots need to count. Mallet sizes need to decrease (in diameter)

If you weren’t playing bike polo, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?

I would be playing hockey. But I would have much less friends.

What do you do when you aren’t playing bike polo?

Work.

Any goals you’ve set for yourself this coming season?

I still play double open end mallets, kind of want to get used to a real mallet. Besides that I want to build more polo parts and more bikes. And really just hang and travel.

What piece of advice would you give someone just starting out in polo?

Who the fuck cares if your not good, or the best. Just come hang out, play once in a while. Have fun and do cool shit.

“Player Profiles” is a new blog series Davis Bike Polo will be doing to feature its players, their stories and experiences in bike polo! Stay tuned to meet the crew here in Davis! First up, is Aidan, DBP funny guy, on and off the court!

How did you first get involved in bike polo?

The first I ever heard of bike polo was through Stella Clark from Humboldt. I used to be roommates with her daughter, and after many attempts to get me interested, i finally gave in and tried it out when i saw an event on Facebook. I started coming every couple of weeks, then fell in love with the sport.

What was your first impression of bike polo?

INTENSE. Wow, seeing what folks could do on the court, something I’d never seen done on a bike.

What’s it like to be a bike polo player?

Personally, it’s a cool feeling. You get to talk to people about it constantly and explain it, cause 9.99 out of ten people have never heard of it! 🙂 It’s also amazing to be involved in a sport with such fantastic, supportive, and smart-assed peers.

What do you find most challenging about playing bike polo?

The learning curve is so steep, it feels discouraging. Learning effective plays and passing lanes/ habits, and offensive ball handling. Also, trying not to spend too much money on awesome bikes.

What do you like best about bike polo?

The challenge, as well as the fact that I get to play sports on bikes. A huge component of what makes it attractive to me also is just the scene surrounding the sport and it’s players. Tournaments are a great way to make new friends, play awesome polo, and watch some of the greats do what they do. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience meeting and playing polo with the people I have in my own club and in various others.

Who are your bike polo heroes? Why?

Oh man, there are so many great players out there that i aspire to, but my polo heroes are my clubmates and Abe and Jenny for all the work they put in to keep this club alive, well and constantly recruiting. Hauling the trailers with loaner bikes+ gear and tools is a step above and beyond. Shh, don’t tell em I said so though.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about trying bike polo?

I would tell them that not only through polo would they have an amazing time learning and playing the game, you also get connected to a vast network of really great people, and fantastic experiences + opportunities to travel. Everyone is welcome, and that’s one thing I love so much about it.

What’s your favorite bike polo and/or bike brands and gear?

I LOVE Velocity 48H rims, And the Milwaukee Hubs at Ben’s Cycle. I love Ben’s Cycles’ website for their wheel builder feature. FREE wheel building labor for a full build. I’m really loving my Swallows mallet with the FixCraft connector.
I really dig TRP’s brake I’ve been using as well.

What do you think will (or needs to) change in bike polo over the next few years?

I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into it, however I’d say that increased promotion of the sport would lead to more spreading.

If you weren’t playing bike polo, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?

WHO CARES?????? I can’t imagine my life without polo. Anything else is MEANINGLESS 🙂
In all seriousness, I would probably not be getting enough exercise and still searching for my favorite way to ride bikes.

What do you do when you aren’t playing bike polo?

I work at a local bike shop, play music with my bandmate Sam, and make music of my own on the computer. Getting back into school very soon..

Any goals you’ve set for yourself this coming season?

Place higher in a tourney. Improve my passing, plays, all around skill and teamwork on the court. Aside from that, I really want to go to my first qualifier for Worlds. Even if i didn’t qualify, it’d give me something to shoot for in the next year.

What piece of advice would you give someone just starting out in polo?

I would tell them that if they didn’t play their life would be meaningless. JK! I would tell them that polo Is an amazing way to work out, get outside, play a sport, have fun workin’ on bikes, and of course, the friends make it AMAZING! So stick with it, play when you can, ask questions, watch games, and have a good time, you’ll definitely get hooked 🙂 But take it slow, never try to put too much pressure on yourself to be good. Practice, practice, practice.