Category: NAH

Update on the 10th World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship

Posted on by Mark Aseltine

The World Bike Polo Organising Committee recently discussed hosting the 10th World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic that has disrupted the world for the past two years.

The results of the discussions are as follows:

  • The host city will remain Perpignan in France. They have told us that they are ready and willing to host when the Covid-19 situation allows
  • The 10th WHBPC will be held in 2023 at the earliest. This is because of the continuing uncertainty surrounding international travel, and the desire of regions to have time to re-establish their normal seasons and qualifiers.

If you have questions get in touch with the World Bike Polo Organising Committee, contact info below:

Últimas Noticias sobre el Décimo Mundial de Bicipolo

El Comité Mundial Organizador de Bicipolo se reunió para discutir acerca del Décimo Mundial de Bicipolo ya que la pandemia Covid-19 ha afectado a todo el mundo durante los últimos dos años.

Los resultados de dicha discusión son los siguientes:

  • La ciudad anfitriona seguirá siendo Perpiñán, Francia. El club ha comunicado estar preparadxs y dispuestxs tan pronto la situación relativa a la pandemia de covid-19 lo permita
  • El Décimo Mundial de Bicipolo tomará lugar en el año de 2023. Está decisión está basada en la continua incertidumbre relacionada a los viajes internacionales y en que las regiones han expresado necesitar tiempo para organizar y re establecer la temporada de clasificatorios.

Si tienen dudas o preguntas, les invitamos a contactar el Comité Mundial Organizador de Bicipolo:

Asia
Ai Tanaka
xxxaiaiaixxx@gmail.com
Member of the Japanese Bike Polo Association

Australia/New Zealand
Nick Dixon-Wilmshurst
xoqz01@gmail.com
Canberra representative on the Australasian Hardcourt Bike Polo Association

Europe
Gernot Gruber aka. Django
info@eurobikepolo.com
Member of the European Hardcourt Bikepolo Association

Latin America
Vero Enríquez Ruiz
vero.enriquez.ruiz@gmail.com
Member of the Latin American Bike Polo Association

North America
Mark Aseltine
mark@nahardcourt.com
NAH Tournament Director

2020 NAH Season Update

Posted on by Jennifer Spencer

Dear NAH community,

Like many of you, we are closely following COVID-19 developments. We are continuing to monitor the latest advice from our federal health agencies. Currently, the state of affairs is such that we are advising all of our regional reps to press pause on 2020 Regional Qualifier tournament planning. We are also strongly encouraging anyone hosting a tournament in the coming months to follow all guidelines put in place by your local or federal governing bodies. It is critical that we all do our part to help our health system to function as best it possibly can. This means avoiding all unnecessary contact with others.

Furthermore, we were informed last week that the WHBPC 2021, which was scheduled to be held in July 2021, will now be taking place in October 2021. This of course significantly impacts the schedule NAH announced on March 10th.

The NAH Executive team is working to reconfigure the 2020 and 2021 tournament season schedules given the concerns and information outlined above. We will be in close contact with your Regional Reps to work out how we would like to move forward in the coming months. Please stay tuned and most importantly stay safe.

The NAH Executive Team

New NAH Rules Director

Posted on by Jennifer Spencer

RULES Director announcement

Hi polo people,

I’m Joel Crandall based out of Asheville, North Carolina. I’ve been playing since 2012. Since then, I’ve helped officiate two World Championships, a handful of NAHBPC and regional qualifiers, as well as hosted a number of annual tournaments here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’ve been asked to step up as the new NAH Rules Director replacing Joe Rstom (Joe will continue to advise on rule development but play a less active role).

In the upcoming 2019 season, I plan to work alongside NAH and EHBPC leadership to draft a Rules Development System. This will clarify the process of implementing new rules and making amendments to existing rules. My goal is to have this system functioning by the 2019 World Championship in Cordoba, Argentina in September, however, no major changes will be tested for the 2019 season, as Qualifiers have already accepted the existing ruleset.

This Rules Development System will be the funnel which will help eventually create an International Bike Polo Ruleset in three languages: English, Spanish and French. I have ideas I will be sharing with the committee being formed to oversee this system, but my ears will always be at the club level.

I plan on being easily accessible in a professional setting while in this position. It’s exciting to participate in the bike polo community from a new perspective and I will do my best to serve the sport effectively.

 

Please feel free to contact me by email at joel@nahardcourt.com. 

Cheers, Ya’ll.
Joel

joel crandell

Seattle will host 2019 NAHBPC

Posted on by Jennifer Spencer

2019 NAHBPC

The NAH is pleased to announce that the 2019 NAHBPC will be held in Seattle, WA.

Seattle is one of the longest standing clubs in North America and the NAH is excited to work with a club with such rich bike polo history and experience to host this year’s NAHBPC.

Seattle’s bid includes significant overhaul to their current court facilities, aiming to provide the best court infrastructure possible for this event. The NAH Events Team has already began working with the host committee and will work closely with them in the upcoming weeks and months to provide a top-quality tournament experience.

The 2019 NAHBPC will be held on July 26-28th. The NAH encourages regions who have not yet scheduled their Regional Qualifying tournaments to do so as soon as possible.

Additional updates regarding the 2019 NAHBPC will be posted here on our website and via the NAH Monthly newsletter.

Thank you for your support and good luck on the court!

The NAH Events Team

Call for 2019 NAHBPC Bids

Posted on by Jennifer Spencer

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.