Allocation to NAHBPC 2019

Regional allocations for the 2019 season are official. Below you will find your regions allocations based on a two-court NAHBPC. If the number of courts changes, the number of spots awarded will be adjusted accordingly.

For an in-depth explanation of the prorated ranking system used to determine Regional allocation, read here. Questions? Email the Tournament Director at mark@nahardcourt.com.

NAHBPC 2019 Regional allocations:

  • South West (SW): 3
  • Cascadia (CS): 3
  • Great Plains (GP): 2
  • Eastside (ES): 2
  • Mexico (MX): 2
  • Heartland (HL): 2
  • Great Lakes (GL): 1
  • South East (SE): 1
  • South Central (SC): 1
  • Northside (NS): 1

As regions announce their Qualifiers, info will be posted on the Qualifying Series page.

Reminder that for all qualifiers you must adhere to the following regulation unless your region agrees to any variations (subject to approval by the NAH):

  1. Follow the current NAH ruleset (2017).
  2. Qualified teams shall take greater than 50% of that team to NAHBPC or else their spot shall be forfeited to the following team from their region.
  3. Regional Reps are responsible for delivering names of successful teams to the NAH Tournament Director (date TBD pending NAHBPC).
  4. Regional Reps are required to make very clear to their region how teams will qualify for the NAHBPC.
  5. Qualifiers must be open to players outside of the region, but regions have the option of making restrictions during the first two weeks for “in-region-only registration” followed by open registration. See policy definition of “In-Region” below.
  6. Regions are responsible for collecting their own registration fees. More information about collecting fees with legal and financial protections from NAHBPA.

In-Region Status

A team can have up to 6 players, but can only dress 5 of those players in the squad for any given match. You must declare “in-region” wherever the plurality of your players who are attending the tournament are located. You are only allowed to register during the “in-region” registration period for the region in which you have declared or otherwise fit into! If you want to register in additional qualifiers, you have to do so after the “in-region” window has closed.

So, for example, if you have 3 members from “region A” and 2 members from “region B”, you are considered “in-region” in A. If you have 2 from A, 2 from B and 1 from C, you get to declare A or B. Here is a chart to help clarify:

Players, marked by region “In-Region” status

AAABB* Region A
AABBC Declare A or B
AABCD Region A
ABCDE Declare A, B, C, D or E

*If you do have a roster of 6 people, use the same logic, but with the players who are traveling and planning on playing. So if your team looks like AAABBB, but you are only playing 5 people, use the plurality to declare your region. If you are traveling and playing all 6, you can declare A or B but all of those 3 players must attend that tournament.

Multiple Qualifiers

If your team decides to travel to multiple qualifiers and successfully qualifies in both, you must choose the region for you to have “in-region” status. If you only qualify out-of-region, you will represent that region and the points system will allocate points to that region.

For questions regarding the schedule, format or allocation, please contact Mark Aseltine directly at mark@nahardcourt.com.

Call for 2019 NAHBPC Bids

ball for bids

Welcome to the official call for host bids for the 2019 NAHBPC. This year, the NAH would like to introduce the new NAH Events Team who will help organize and coordinate this year’s Championship. Shannon Fey will be our new Event Director. She will take over as lead organizer, supervisor, and point-person for this year’s NAHBPC. To help her with organizing, Dan Vee will act as an Event Coordinator. Davey Kim will work with them on sponsorship and as in past years, Mark Aseltine will work on the competitive aspects of the tournament as the Tournament Director. Together they will work closely with the NAHBPC host to deliver an excellent tournament experience this year.

NAH event team

The Events Team has already begun working on organizing and planning the 2019 NAHBPC and are working to address feedback the NAH received from past hosts and players. In addition to organizing the NAHBPC, the team will put together a number of Standard Operating Procedure documents and resources for the NAH Events Team and host clubs to create clarity on expectations and responsibilities of hosts and NAH when organizing and throwing these kinds of tournaments in the future.

what we need

The specifics for the NAHBPC 2019 are as follows; The event should start no earlier than July 10 and end no later than July 28, 2019. If you would like to host outside of this time window, please contact Mark, the NAH Tournament Director, to discuss the feasibility.

Call for bids is open effective immediately and will close on Monday February 25th. The announcement of the successful host club will be on Friday March 1, 2019.

The 2019 World Championship in Argentina will be held as 3v3 instead of squad. The format of NAHBPC 2019 is still under review by Regional Reps and the NAH Executive Team. The NAHBPC format and allocation method for WHBPC spots will be announced before the NAHBPC takes place.

Sponsors

The Events Team has already secured a couple “early bird” sponsors for the 2019 NAHBPC! We’re excited to have Black Star Bags, Enforcer Bikes and Donata Bike Polo as some of our podium sponsors this year!

NAHBPC podium sponsors

Amenities Needed

For a full list of the amenity requirements, please see the bid submission form. A minimum of two courts is required but ideally three courts are made available. The facility should also have basic player amenities such as shade, water, toilets, and access to food for purchase. Organiser amenities, such as power and reffing stands and tables, should be provided. The NAH Events Team will work closely with the host club to outline responsibilities and requirements and help supervise and assist in organizing the tournament.

Funding

Hosts can plan to have up to $4000 (two court) or $5000 (three court) for this year’s NAHBPC provided to them by NAH. The budgeted amount provided to the host club will be recouped by the NAH by collecting reg fees from players; if host club need more than the initial budgeted amount they will be responsible for fundraising extra resources. Registration fees are collected and kept by NAH. The NAH can provide these budgeted funds up front to assist a host club in quickly and successfully meeting the 2019 NAHBPC tournament and event requirements.

How to Apply

We feel that with the new Events Team we have the ability to support any club in North America to take on hosting the 2019 NAHBPC and we encourage you to submit a bid. Interested hosts should consider how else they would fundraise for the NAHBPC in conjunction with NAH funds. Bids and questions should be submitted via email to (events@nahardcourt.com) with the documents provided here.

For any questions regarding the competitive portion of the event, please contact Mark Aseltine directly at mark@nahardcourt.com.

For any questions about the general running of the event, please contact Shannon Frey directly at events@nahardcourt.com.

For questions regarding hosting the NAHBPC, please contact former NAHBPC hosts Thanh Nguyen directly at morrowtvn@sbcglobal.net or Matt Krofcheck at thiscarcrash1@gmail.com.

 

Big Monday

The 2018 NAHBPC is done, and another season of North American bike polo is complete. We would not be here without the hard work of many people. First, a thank you to this year’s host of NAs, Milwaukee Bike Polo. They worked hard to provide a great space for this year’s event, and their work resulted in a reinvestment to bike polo infrastructure that will surely strengthen the region and help players for years and years to come. We should also be thankful to the ten hosts of the regional qualifiers who helped make this year’s qualification series. It is a lot of work to coordinate regionally and provide an accessible tournament for all those who are eager to compete for the North American Championship title.

I’d like to personally thank Mark Aseltine, who was not physically at the NAHBPC, but was quietly supervising remotely from out west. Mark designed the entire tournament, qualification system, and documentation for the event. Will Robbins helped make sure the event had scheduled refs and helped track all the volunteers for that labor. Joe Rstom helped with on-site event management when I was not there and also helped provide some tech support for the live stream that was setup by David Barthod. I’m very glad to have a quality video record of some amazing matches from this year’s event. I’m sure that this model for live streaming will become more and more popular in the future, and the NAH encourages events to try and budget for this kind of media coverage. If your event is interested in doing this, reach out to us for more information about costs, supplies, and how to host on the official NAH YouTube channel.

At the closing ceremony, I announced that I was done with being President of the NAH. While I am stepping down from that role, I plan to remain in support of the NAH in two other roles. I will continue to support the NAH as Treasurer and as Governor. The latter title is not a functional position in the NAH, but rather it means that I am the point of contact for the U.S. Government for the NAH in managing and maintaining our 501(c)3 non-profit status as an organization. With the help of Meghan Shoop earlier this year, the NAH created a roadmap document for clubs who are interested in formal incorporation and establishing themselves as their own 501(c)3 non-profit. If this interests your club, please do not be shy about asking questions or seeking advice.

My former teammate Greg Russo calls the melancholy Monday after a bike polo tournament “Big Monday,” and last monday was one of the biggest I’ve had in a long time. Although I have stepped down from the role of President, I have a few outstanding agenda items. For the benefit of the community, I’ll outline what work remains to be completed.

1) NAH Census

The need for good data on the status of bike polo has been asked for of the NAH for a few years. This data could be useful to future NAH leadership rebalancing regions, providing targeted support, and reviewing existing policies. The NAH has created a census form. This form is not like previous surveys that the NAH or others have produced. The census was designed to be a repeatable questionnaire to help track the health and development of bike polo at the club level. What makes this questionnaire different is that only one entry if filled out per club. It is not a form for individual players.

The census will be administered through the NAH’s Regional Reps and local club leaders. The census will open soon and we hope to collect all responses by the end of December. Regional Reps will be given early access to the form in the near future. The result summary will be made public and raw data will be made available to all Regional Reps.

2) 2019 Survey of Players

Forms forms and more forms, but this survey is for all players who attended the 2018 NAHBPC and the NAH Regional Qualifiers. This information will be provided to the NAH’s new leadership to help inform their decisions on the design, format, and schedule of the 2019 NAH Qualifying Series and how players will qualify and be certified for the 2019 WHBPC in Córdoba, Argentina.

This form will be sent to all team captains from the 2018 NAH season starting with the captains from the NAHBPC and later the captains from the Regional Qualifiers. Captains will be responsible for dissemination of the link to all members of their team roster.

3) New NAH Leadership

Perhaps most obvious is the need to fill any vacant positions in the NAH and reorganize as needed. In addition to myself, Joe Rstom and Will Robbins will also be stepping down from their roles in the NAH as Rules Director and NAH Head Ref respectively.

The NAH will provide descriptions for the roles and responsibilities on our website in the next week. If you are interested in filling any of these roles, you should start thinking about your experience and qualifications. Once we have collected information about interested nominees, the NAH will publish short profiles of each person online. More information about the selection process will be published in the near future.

This is not Goodbye!

As I look back on the times I’ve spent with the NAH, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together and with groups like WTF-FRST. I’m proud of the last two years of development and the kinds of changes we’ve seen new rules and the squad format. Change can be uncomfortable and sometimes letting go is hard, but I have full confidence in our community. I know that whoever steps up will do great things.

Lastly, some unsolicited advice from me, leadership is not merely having opinions and it’s not measured solely in what people like (although trying to make people happy should always be at the front of one’s mind in a service position). You will make hard choices, and you will face criticisms, but worse is existing in a state where nobody is let down because nobody expects anything from you. Criticism means that people agree that you’re in a position of responsibility and one of consequence. I’ve tried to take criticism and constructively focus it into my decisions over the last few years, and I hope that my legacy will read charitably of my judgment, candor, and optimism for what we can be. Last year I asked that we all make bike polo special for someone else, and I want everyone who made it special for me to know that I’m forever in their debt. Thank you for letting me have the honor of your service, and I look forward to seeing you all on the court, wherever it may be next.

If you have questions about the Census, email Alias Tagami at alias@nahardcourt.com.

If you have questions about the Player Survey, email Joe Rstom at joe@nahardcourt.com and Jenny Spencer at jenny@nahardcourt.com.

2018 NAHBPC: Control Three-peat

Milwaukee was rainy and chilly, but we witnessed some of the best bike polo the world has ever seen! San Francisco’s very own, Control, beat Bob Ross in a dramatic final game. This is a Control three-peat at the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship!

2018 NAHBPC Standings:

1st – Control
2nd – Bob Ross
3rd – Superpolo
4th – Mosquito
T5th – Peanuts
T5th – Quietly, Once
T5th – Les Beehive Baes
T5th – 🔥🙃

Most Valuable Player – Andrew “Shitty” Wayland (Control)
Most Fair Player – Patti Youn (Les Beehive Baes)

Thanks to all of our referees, goal judges and time/scorekeepers!

Huge shoutout to David Barthod from SLC for throwing together the live stream last minute! Also, thanks to everyone that chipped in money to help and all of the people who helped run the equipment!

You can watch the raw live stream on our YouTube channel for now. Soon we will be posting full games from Court A in the following weeks as we edit them. If you subscribe to our channel, you can get notifications when new videos are posted!

2018 NAHBPC Format, Schedule & Groups


For the full schedule, groups and results, follow along here:
https://goo.gl/7i2jQY


Next weekend is the 2018 NAHBPC in Milwaukee! Here’s what you should know about the schedule and format of the events.

Friday Sept 28th

Phase 1: 3 groups of 8 teams, round robin play

The field of 24 teams will be divided and balanced into 3 groups (see groups below). Teams will play 3 or 4 matches on Day 1.

Saturday, Sept 29th

Phase 1: continued from Day 1

Teams will remain in their same groups and play the remaining 3 or 4 matches. At completion of Day 2, all teams in a group will have completed a round robin and will have played every other team in their group. The top 4 teams in each group advance to Phase 2.

Sunday, Sept 30th

Phase 2: 3 groups of 4, point-based competition

The top 12 teams will be divided into 3 groups. Teams play 3 matches. At completion, each team’s Phase 2 record (win/lose/tie, goal differential, etc) will determine ranking across all three groups in one list. The top 8 teams will advance to phase 3.

Phase 3: Single Elimination Bracket

The top 8 teams will be seeded into a bracket based on their Phase 2 results. All ties at the end of regulation time will be played out in overtime until golden goal.


Phase 1 Groups:

Group 1

  • Control
  • Quietly, Once
  • Hodag
  • Ursa Minor
  • Superpolo
  • Hannya
  • Deadfish Handshake
  • Lottery Winner

Group 2

  • Bob Ross
  • Mosquito
  • Peanuts
  • The Low Fives
  • 🔥🙃
  • Alek’s Greek Burger
  • Camp
  • Moon Dust

Group 3

  • Judgement
  • Spooky
  • MUCHO
  • Les Beehive Baes
  • Malort Politics
  • Paul’s Bunyan’s
  • Slack is Wack
  • Fine Thanks

For a list of players on each team, visit the official NAHBPC website.

If you have any questions regarding schedule, format or grouping, send an email to mark@nahardcourt.com.