London goes hard for polo. This afternoon in East London I was surprised to come across a Hardcourt Bike Polo match. Never seen the sport played here until today. Being so curious, I had to find out more about this particular collective of urban riders. For those who are unfamiliar, this is a street game that leans more towards hockey than actual traditional polo.

The object of the game is pretty self explanatory – two teams of three riders try to get the ball between their opponents set of cones. Sounds easy peasy right? Not exactly.  The crew started to school me on the different ways of hitting the ball and various penalties no-no’s, but i just got too distracted by the DIY genius constructs of the mallets and funky wheel covers. They looked like Ikea designs on a good day!

The UK Bike Polo Championships is on next weekend in Manchester. Peep this video from last years tournament and get yourself rolling.