organizers and the NAH are able to enforce.
Those abilities were not lost on competitors. “The locals were great, they did an amazing job organizing a massive event and getting behind all of the small things of a tourney. The ladies bench worked really well. The live streaming was amazing, for us who’s friends and family are on the other side of the Earth it is amazing they can tune it and watch our games and spectate along with us,” explained Ollie Wykeham of Brisbane, Australia. Indeed, the ability to bring a live feed over the internet successfully would be unimaginable in 2009, not because the technology didn’t exist, but moreover because bike polo as a culture was not concerned with broadcast—at least not enough to consider it alongside court surfaces and assuring that matches happened when they should.
The event in Florida is spread out over four courts—only one of which is modified by the organizers, and only then because the original court would be too large for play. In short, the location is as close to ideal as the sport can hope for without a player winning the lottery and building a polo court compound, and another far cry from some of the courts seen in previous World Championships (hay bales in Philadelphia, pallets and plywood in Geneva).
The polo players—33 teams in the wildcard tournament and 48 teams in the main event—learn to acclimate to the court surface almost immediately. While in the past players and organizers were happy to secure even a fair space to operate (and not always with the cooperation of townships or park authorities), the bike polo champions of today expect a certain level of quality to the space they compete in. This Championship is a far cry from the humble beginnings of our sport, at least in this respect. These players, with the exception of a few local teams who are shoe-horned in to compete, qualified through regional and national tournaments throughout the year. They are not just fly-by-night hobbyists who happen to find themselves in the same location because of another event (as it was with the 2008 World Championship in Toronto). These players are competitors who are present solely to challenge the best from around the World, and they do so in perhaps the adolescence of a new age in bike polo tournaments.
Unlike other tournaments I’ve attended, this one is as expansive as it is DIY. Chandel Bodner, tournament organizer for the NAH, is clearly and deliberately orchestrating the event. By her side is Jerod Scott Waltz, whose voice joins her in calling out upcoming matches, reminding people about rules and updates, and generally adding to the sounds that have become so familiar with a bike polo tournament at