WHBPC 2010 – Berlin

if you cannot watch youtube because you are in china

YouTube – World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships 2010 __ BROOKS ENGLAND

after some delivery complications we finally managed to send the frame on its way to the midwest, here it is:

thanks to manuel and leader for their support!

We would like to thank everybody for their fantastic support and help that made it possible to have the biggest and best bike polo event yet take place in the beautiful city of Berlin. Espiacially those hardworking international poloplayers that helped set up the courts Kico, Tom, Rik, Dan and many others.

Most importantly we’d like to thank all the volunteers who kept the whole thing up and running, there are too many names to mention them all but they know who we are talking about ;-)

We also would like to thank all the teams from around the world that showed up and played some world class bike polo here in Berlin.

A special thanks goes to all the refs: Paul, Amanda, Lewis, Chris, Jono, Ben, Zach, Martin, Nick, Florian, Kev, Angie and many more who made sure everybody used common sense while on the court and outside of course.

We would also like to thank in particular

• The City council for letting us use the area.
• Brooks for their financial support and their high quality saddles.
• Irie Daily fot their longterm support for berlin bikepolo, their prizes and also their financial support
• Bikelove for the pink blb-frame and their terrific free repair shop on site – you guys rock!
• Chunk for their stylish shirts
• IC Berlin for their fancy shades
• Eighthinch, Bagjack, Fixie Inc., Freitag,  Chrome Bags, Bagaboo, Leader, Schwalbe, Dodici, Kryptonite, Starshot for all their Prizes.
• Marco from Roma for the trophy and Jess from Berlin for the medals
• Wibke  ”Chefdesignerin” for her wonderful artwork
• Geneva and Karlsruhe Bikepolo for bringing their awesome goals

One more thanks goes to Montana, last years worlds organizer, he donated some of the money left from last year, this money was equally distributet among the following people:

• Kevin, for his great work with the leagueofbikepolo.org
• Drew from Seattle, who broke his hand at the worlds and will need the money to give to greedy us medics
• BriBri for being Torschuetzenkoenig, all five goals of the final game were his!

One more thing: we still haven’t collected the money of those who slept in the Gym, tent or RV. Please make sure to paypal the money to stefanlech@gmx.de it was 2 euros per person per night, not much for the individual but the total amount (1440 Euro) puts our balance sheet way out of balance, so please pay asap.

Pictures: we know that you all took loads of pics and shot films and of course we want to see them and you to share them with the rest of the polo gang. So we thought to announce a little photo competition: please send your favorite three pictures or your favorite film to: martin@whbpc.org and we as organizers will declare 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place , present those on the page and will send out prizes. Deadline for pics sent is Tuesday 24^th of August. We hope to receive loads of pics! Of course we still want your links where all your pics of the worlds are.

Hope to see most of you at one of the many upcoming polo tourneys.

Berlin Berlin!!!

to all refs:

tonights ref meeting will take place on the roof top terrace of ic!berlin, the adress is saarbr?cker str. 37 5th floor, we would love to meet all the refs for the tournamnent, we will start at 8pm bbq and beers will be there, if you are interested and capable of beeing ref just come around. any questions? see us at the courts

work in progress…. oli and his crew work their asses off to prepare some of the best polo courts ever…
btw: wheather for the worlds looks fantastic: 26 degree celcius (high 70s in Fahrenheit)and sunny

The link is to the PDF for printing. This will also be included in each teams registration packet.

Games: will start at 9.30 am sharp everyday (also for the prelim-tournament since 40 teams have now registered for it, registration is closed but you can put yourself on a waiting list). Exact playing schedule will be released one week before the tourney starts. For the games itself: no excuse for being late! Check rule no. 3.4.

fixed bikes: German traffic law does not recognize fixed gear as a break, you should have at least one hand break. If the cops stop you without brake they can fine you with up to 80 euros, depending on the cops’ mood and your negotiation skills. Best thing to do: talk to them in English and tell them you’re from the States and that this is not a bike but technically sports gear…

balls: tournament ball will be franklin super high density AGS (the one without liquid was no longer available, so we just drilled a little hole and released the liquid…) if it does get too hot we do have a freezer to keep’em cool.

Court sizes:
court 1: asphalt 40 x 20m (130ft x 65ft)
court 2: concrete 40x20m (130ft x 65ft)
court 3: asphalt 32x15m (105ft x 50 ft)
2 pick up courts: asphalt 32x12m (105ft x 40ft)

Refs: we want experienced polo players as refs, so if you think you are a good ref, know the rules and make sure to enforce them, we would love to receive an email @: info@whbpc.org from you letting us know you will support us. Free food and drinks and an extra shirt will be for refs and the best refs will be awarded with some cool prices. first ref meeting will be on wednesday august 11th 8pm to talk through the rules and discuss stuff.

money: if you haven’t paid your registration fee, please do so until 6th of August, 60 euros per team. For all the prelim teams: make sure to pay until August 6th or let us know why you can only pay later and we can work something out otherwise your spot will be filled with a team from the waiting list immediately!

okay guys, keep checking this page for updates, we are getting more excited and it seems to be perfect polo weather for the worlds.
3-2-1 polo!

Unfortunately (for them) 4 teams have dropped out. Good for you though because now 14 teams are going through. Check the Preliminary Tournament section for more details and teams registered so far.