2020-2021 NAH Competitive Series

🚨Please see our updated post about the upcoming season and COVID-19


This year we find ourselves in a unique position. For the first time ever we have significant advanced notice of the next World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship (WHBPC): it will be held in July 2021. With that knowledge, we are able to preplan two full seasons of NAH tournaments.

2020 Regional Qualifiers will be the qualification grounds for the 2020 North American Bike Polo Championship (NAHBPC) which in turn will be the qualification grounds for the 2021 WHBPC. This will ensure that all qualified teams have adequate time to raise funds, plan their trip, and collect any travel documents required for travel to Europe.

In spring 2021 we will, as usual, host our Regional Qualifiers. The 2021 Qualifiers will be the qualification grounds for the 2021 NAHBPC. The 2021 NAHBPC will take place after the 2021 WHBPC and will not be a qualification grounds for the 2021 WHBPC*. As in other years where we have not had a WHBPC to qualify for, the NAHBPC will be the climax of the 2021 season in North America.

Timeline

Tournament Dates Year
Regional Qualifier ‘20 April-July 2020
NAHBPC ‘20 Sep-Nov 2020
Regional Qualifier ‘21 April-June 2021
WHBPC ‘21 July 2021
NAHBPC ‘21 Aug-Oct 2021

*These decisions were made with Regional Rep support and after consideration of the scheduling logistics for this year and 2021 season. Logistically, we cannot use the 2021 Regional Qualifiers and 2021 NAHBPC to qualify teams for the WHBPC because there will not be enough time to host all required tournaments. In addition, this schedule provides qualified teams a greater chance of attending the 2021 WHBPC in Europe by providing them with enough time to get needed travel visas, arrange travel, request time off work, raise funds, etc.

For any questions regarding the NAH competitive series, please contact Mark Aseltine directly at mark@nahardcourt.com.

Call for 2020 NAHBPC Bids

Welcome to the official call for host bids for the 2020 NAHBP!

This year we are hoping to host the NAHBPC in the fall. Ideally, the event should occur in October or November. 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, March 23rd. The announcement of the successful host club will follow thereafter.

Amenities Needed

For a full list of the amenity requirements, please see the brand new NAHBPC Host Handbook. 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. Organizer 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.

How to Apply

We feel that with a year under their belts the NAH Events Team has the ability to support any club in North America to take on hosting the 2020 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.

Qualification to WHBPC 2019

Regional Qualifiers and the NAHBPC 2019 will be Squad. The process for shifting from Squad to 3v3 for WHBPC was discussed and decided on by Regional Reps and the NAH Tournament Director and is as follows.

Traditionally we use NAHBPC as a qualification ground for WHBPC. We have only ever needed this system when WHBPC is on North American soil. Every time WHBPC has been held abroad, there has always been more spots available to the main event than teams interested in attending. If that trend were to continue, all of the following information is irrelevant.

With that said, the NAH feels that it is important that the players interested in NAHBPC and WHBPC understand the process for selection if more teams are interested in attended WHBPC than NAH has awarded spots.

WHBPC 2019 spots will be awarded based on success at the NAHBPC 2019

This system will involve reaching out to qualified teams immediately following NAHBPC and working down the list as spots become available. If there are still spots remaining after going down the list of finishers at NAHBPC, a general call will be made. The process for qualifying from NAHBPC is as follows:

  • Team of 6 Will be awarded 2 full spots and will require 5/6 players attending
    Team 1 (Player A, B, C); Team 2 (Player D, E, + added player). Both teams qualifying.
  • Team of 5 will be awarded 2 full spots and will require 5/5 players attending
    Team 1 (Player A, B, C); Team 2 (Player D, E, + added player). Both teams qualifying.
    If only 4 players wish to attend please refer to ‘Team of 4’
  • Team of 4 will be awarded 1 spot with a maximum of 3 members from the original 4 attending
    Team 1 (Player A, B, C) qualify; Player D excluded.

Please direct any questions to Mark Aseltine (NAH Tournament Director) at mark@nahardcourt.com.

Seattle will host 2019 NAHBPC

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

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.