so i have had MANY e-mails over the last few days about the specific rules for playing bike polo. since the rules tend to vary from city to city, i figured i would lay down what will be the official shanghai bike polo rules.
naturally, there will be different and more specific rules found worldwide (especially for tournaments), but these should work well for our league. they have been adapted from the
nyc bike polo league!
check em, remember em, live by em :
1. there are 2 teams of 3 players per game.
2. any type of bike is allowed, but handlebars must be plugged for safety issues.
3. mallets must resemble a croquet mallet with a wide side and a round end. the handle of the mallet must be plugged for safety issues.
4. the ball used will be a hard plastic street hockey ball (or something very, very similar)
5. goal poasts will be a pair of orange cones (or something very, very similar) spaced one bike length apart.
6. if a goal post gets moved, it is the responsibility of the player who moved it to fix it.
7. a game lasts until one team reaches 5 goals.
8. to start a game, each team will be stopped behind their own goal lines and the ball will be positioned at center court. play will begin with a, " 3 2 1 GO! " from the sideline.
9. players may not play the ball with their feet at any time.
10. scoring a goal must be done from what started as a 'hit'. a 'hit' is made from the end of a player's mallet. a 'shuffle' does NOT count as a goal ; if the ball is shuffled through the goal, play continues uninterrupted.
11. after a goal is scored, the team who scored returns to their half of the court. the team who was scored on takes possession of the ball.
12. the score must be called out after each goal.
12. passing 'backwards' through the goal (from behind the goal line to the front of it) : when the ball is passed through the goal in this way, a goal CANNOT be scored by the first player to hit the ball. any subsequent player to play the ball may score. if a ball is shot from in front of the goal line and does not go through the goal but bounces off the back wall and comes through the goal, the ball is in play and can be scored. a ball that crosses a goal line backwards must be 'hit' before it can be score.
12. players must not touch the ground, or put their feet on the ground. each time a player puts their foot down that player is out of play and may not play the ball until they ride to the side line at center court and tap their mallet on the ground. then they may return to play. only one side of the court will be used to tap back into the game.
13. contact rules : 'like' contact is allowed. player to player (body to body), except grabbing or pushing with hands. mallet to mallet, and bike to bike.
14. everything else is NOT allowed : player to bike, mallet to bike, mallet to player, etc.
15. throwing of mallets is not allowed at any time, in any situation.
16. trash talking is allowed.
