Rules
The hardcourt format of bike polo is known for its simplistic rules.
- Don’t put your foot down
- Score with the small end of the mallet head
- Contact should be restricted to ‘like for like’ i.e. body to body, bike to bike, mallet to mallet
- Everything else just comes down to good behaviour (see below)
You don’t need a referee in an informal game as the players and spectators can be relied on to enforce the above and generally keep the game safe and fair. This is usually achieved by shouting at and trash talking the offending player until they stop.
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For official tournaments where there is something at stake, there is the requirement to formalise the rules. These are the latest rules for the European Hardcourt Polo Championships hosted by London on 1-2 August 2009. They are designed to represent the way the game is already played, and to allow disuputes to be resolved.
- Bike:
-You can ride any bicycle you like, handlebars must be plugged and you must have at least one brake. A fixed drive train counts as a brake.
-Wheel covers are allowed but any defense oriented frame additions are not. - Mallets:
-Referee will have the final say in mallet safety.
-Mallet heads cannot be made of metal or any material that is sharp and/or could obviously chip, shatter or splinter.
-The handle end of the mallet shaft must be securely plugged. - Start of the Game:
-Players will start at their goal lines with the ball placed at centre court. At the referee’s shout of ‘3,2,1, Go!’ any or all players from either or both teams can charge the ball for possession. - Play of the Ball:
-Play of the ball is considered to be anything directly related with the process of blocking possession, gaining possession, passing, traveling with and putting the ball into your opponent’s goal. - Scoring:
-Goals will have width, height and depth restrictions. They will be netted with no traveling through the goal. - Shuffles & Hits:
A ‘Hit’ is only made from the end of an player’s mallet. A ‘Shuffle’ is hitting the ball with the broadside of the mallet or the shaft of the mallet.
-An offensive shuffle does not count as a goal. If the ball is shuffled into the goal by the offensive team, play continues uninterrupted. The offensive team can take control of the ball but cannot score until any second player has handled the ball.
-If a team puts the ball into their own goal, it is a goal for the opposing team.
-An offensive hit directly into the goal is a goal. - Reflection & Deflection:
Reflection means a hit coming off of a offensive player’s bike or person whether purposeful or accidental.
Deflection means a hit coming off of a defensive player’s bike or person whether purposeful or accidental.
-If an offensive player adds momentum or direction purposefully to a reflection it is not a goal. All other reflections are goals.
-Deflections, not starting from an offensive shuffle, count as a goal for the offensive team. - Ball Joint:
Cupping and/or Scooping the ball with an open end of the mallet.
-It is legal to travel with the ball using this style of carrying the ball but you cannot score with it. - After a goal is scored/resetting the game:
-After a goal is scored, the scoring team must return to their own goal area and cannot come back across center court until the ball and/or any player of the conceding team has come past center court. Goal area may depend on court. This will be clearly marked.
-The conceding team takes possession of the ball. No conceding player with or without the ball can then pass half court until at least two players of the scoring team have returned to their goal area, one of these players can be a ‘goalie’ who was already in the goal area. In the case of the scoring team taking undue time returning to their goal, the referee can call ‘game on’.
-In case of the ball ricocheting from the goal past half court, the conceding team must possess the ball before scoring team may touch it.
-A player is not required to tap out for a foot-down after a goal has been scored but must return to their goal area. - Fouls:
-Players must not touch the floor with their feet. Touching the wall or barrier with your feet is allowed; feet must not touch the floor. Each time a player does foot-down, that player is out of play and may not play the ball until they touch either sideline at center court. The player must immediately tap-out and not purposefully obstruct play. Intentionally obstructing play after foot-down will be considered a strong penalty. A possible goal that is blocked by a player out of play due to foot-down is not a goal.
-Throwing your mallet is not allowed at any time and will be considered a strong penalty.
- T-bone’ or charging. Intentional, forward moving bike contact that is perpendicular or near perpendicular (resulting in a maneuver similar in shape to a letter ‘T’) will be considered a strong penalty.
-Overly aggressive behavior such as grabbing, pushing, punching with hands, pushing or kicking with feet, and headbutting will be considered a strong penalty. -
“Like” contact that is allowed:
-Non-aggressive Body to body, mallet to mallet, and bike to bike. Apart from the fouls listed above.
-Contact is only permitted within the play of the ball. Contact away from the play of the ball can result in a tap-out or penalty. -
Non-like contact that is allowed:
-Ball to body, mallet or bike.
-Body to ball is allowed if you are sat in the saddle, feet on the pedals, hand holding mallet, other hand on bars. You cannot intentionally restrain, nor add momentum to the ball with your body. This can result in the ref calling a tap-out.
-If the ball becomes trapped within your bike or person play continues but please be aware that any legal play towards your bike or person will be considered as play towards the ball and therefore legal. -
Time outs:
- Can be called by a player only after a goal is scored.
- May be called in order to tend to physical injury.
- May be called in order to tend to a mechanical failure.
- Will be limited to five minutes, one per game per team.
- Refs can call and extend injury and mechanical failure timeouts over and above these rules, but is under no obligation. The ref can also call game-on if the timeout is unnecessary. -
Referees:
At least two refs will be appointed per game. They will be informed and assigned ahead of time. Refs will:
- Determine what is and is not a goal.
- Determine what is and is not a foul that can result in a penalty and what the penalty is for such foul.
- Correct the goal if it is moved.
- Keep track of score. Score must be called out after every goal.
- Keep track of time.
- Call injury time outs for major injuries.
- Provide an extra ball at point of exit if the ball is knocked out of play.
- Have the final word. -
Players have the responsibility to keep legal play on the court. If they are unable, the ref can demand the offending party to, depending on the seriousness of the wrongful act:
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- Tap out at either the sidelines or either goal line.
- Do a lap around the court before re-entering play
- Be removed from the game for a set time or even permanently.
- In extreme cases any form of public humiliation will be considered proper punishment for offenders.
Reproduced from http://www.ehbpc.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=5&page=2 ( Mike[trampsparadise] )
