Calgary hosts national Bike Polo tournament

It's polo with bikes instead of horses, tires instead of hooves, a rink instead of a polo grounds and never mind about those nifty polo pith helmets.

That's  the essence of bike polo, Calgary-style, iwhere three players per team battle on bikes, on a hardcourt, and in Calgary that means an outdoor hockey rink in August, where players try o score as many goals as possible.

The games this weekend at the national tournament are 25 minutes long.

“It's kind of interesting because the bike polo community is so tight knit that most of these people I know,” said player and unofficial event organizer Tenzin Blair.

Blair said players from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Mexico City were in Calgary competing for the top two spots at the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships.

That event was hosted by Calgary in 2011. The last continental tournament was in 2019, prior to the pandemic, where team Mosquito, from Saskatoon took home first place.

They are hoping to retain their title.

“When I didn't have a Seattle team, I would kind of mercenary myself out and go to some players and the team Mosquito was just a respected team for a long time,” said Sean Marsh, of team Mosquito who is from Seattle.

Marsh said the sports' birthplace is Seattle and  it was quite competitive in his city.

That’s when he branched out and met up with his now close friends from the Saskatoon team.

The last continental tournament was in 2019, prior to the pandemic, where team Mosquito, from Saskatoon took home first place.

“I was going through injuries and so people weren't really believing in my play,” Marsh said.

“They brought me in and made me a part of the unit. I've done so much stuff with them. It's so emotional coming back to this stuff.”

For Jessica Arndt, bike polo was challenging to start.

“I never really played team sports, but I did gymnastics growing up so a little bit like the athletic part of it, and the competitive part of it is really natural to me,” she said.

“The bike skills and the ball handling and the team aspect is a little hard to get used to, just for me personally, but I do see people come and play pickup for the first time and they just rip sometimes.”

Arndt said the community is very close and inclusive.

“Some of my best friends are actually people I only see a couple times a year at tournaments,” said Arndt.

“You can go to almost any city in North America and be hosted by them. They'll show you around. They'll pick you up from the airport. They'll let you sleep at their house.”

The national tournament in Calgary will wrap up at 7 p.m. on Sunday.