Julian Lowe (at right) rides with other Richmond cyclists in competitive bike polo matches.
On a humid Thursday afternoon in early June, a sort of dance on bicycles takes place on the tennis courts at Westover Park in Richmond’s South Side. Twice a week, these cyclists break out their mallets and specialized bikes to score goals and make friends in a two-wheeled version of the typically equestrian sport of polo.
“It has this fluid movement, like a chaos ballet circus or something,” competitor Hannah McHugh says. “It all looks really silly. It’s hard to feel cool. You can’t take yourself too seriously.”
The niche sport — which originated about 100 years ago, according to the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association — didn’t gain popularity until the 2000s, when a group of Seattle bike messengers began playing in alleys, parking lots and on rooftops. Bike messengers continued to publicize the game through word of mouth and online, reaching roughly 20 cities where clubs sprouted up. In 2008, Chicago hosted the largest competitive tournament with 35 teams. Tourneys now happen worldwide.
The game is designed simply, organizer Russell Sutton says: Three-person teams use mallets to control a ball and aim for goals on either side of the court. Matches can last as little as 15 minutes, or longer if it’s a tournament.
“There’s no set positions. You all just start on each wall, and you go for the ball. It’s called a joust,” Sutton says. “You don’t want to touch the ground. That’s considered a dab. When you shoot the ball, you have to hit it with the cap side of the mallet. It’s pretty straightforward.”
Richmond cyclists have been playing for 20 years, early organizer Emily Monroe says. “Bike polo came to Richmond through word of mouth,” she explains. “We didn’t know any rules. We used to go to Holly Street Park and just play. Everybody was making homemade mallets out of golf clubs and PVC.”
Fast-forward to today, where players use professional mallets and bikes modified specifically for protection from opponents. “I’m on an Enforcer, which is a bike-polo-specific frame. They’re made in Peru,” longtime player Julian Lowe says, adding that the wheel covers are also unique. “Some of them are screen netting, essentially [the type used] for bugs. I’ve [got] a plastic chicken wire sort of thing. In my travels, I’ve seen whole metal license plates used. Whatever you can throw in there [to] make sure it protects your spokes.”
Sutton says players meet every Thursday at Westover Park from 5 p.m. until sunset, and again on Sundays from 2 p.m. until dark, and they keep spare bikes on hand for first-timers interested in joining a game. The teams also host bimonthly pickup games exclusively for women, trans, femme and nonbinary athletes, and quarterly community days where groups from Charlottesville; Washington, D.C.; and Norfolk come to play and connect over the sport.
“What makes it so cool is you can actually go to any city, for the most part, in America and find someone that plays bike polo,” McHugh says.
