At Dero, we love celebrating the passions and achievements of our team members—both on and off the job. Recently, one of our own wrote about their involvement in the hardcourt bike polo community, including their experience providing commentary for the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship (NAHBPC). Read on to hear firsthand about this unique sport and the community that makes it special!
First, let’s start with the question, “What is bike polo?”
Hardcourt Bike Polo is a fast-paced, gender-inclusive team sport played on a hard, smooth, often trapezoidal court generally enclosed with 4-foot boards. Think of a slightly smaller hockey court with angled corners—honestly, it resembles street hockey on bikes more than traditional polo.
Three players per team ride bicycles and use mallets to hit a small ball into the opposing team’s goal while avoiding physical contact with the ground. If you touch the ground with any part of your body, you’re out of the play and can’t resume until you tap your mallet against the boards at center court. Emerging from the Seattle bike messenger scene in the 1990s, the sport gained momentum during the bike boom of the 2010s. Regional clubs sprang up across North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. Drawing from both team sports and cycling, hardcourt bike polo’s unique blend of brutal difficulty, flashy bike handling skills, physicality, and exciting gameplay attracts spectators and players alike, fostering a passionate and vibrant sporting culture.
To organize the regional teams cropping up all over North America—from Canada to Mexico—the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association was established in 2009 to create a standardized ruleset for clubs to follow at regional qualifying events. Teams from each region battle it out in their local qualifiers for a spot at the final showdown of the year: The North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship (NAHBPC). This past championship marked the 14th annual culmination of talent and grit.
My husband is known as the originator of livestreaming and archiving bike polo, gaining quite a bit of celebrity within this niche community. Besides playing in our local club here in Minneapolis, Twin Cities Bike Polo, I joined the affectionately named “Stream Team” alongside “Mr. Do” as “Sweet Jenn” in 2012, and my off-court bike polo legacy was born. After livestreaming national and even world tournaments for about 10 years, we took a break as more people began livestreaming on their own. With both of us being long-time bike polo veterans and passionate sports enthusiasts, we felt we could bring a voice that would resonate beyond just other bike polo players, helping to explain the action in a way that could draw in new fans. So, when the livestream was announced for this year’s NAHBPC, we eagerly jumped on board to run the commentary for the broadcast.
Standing courtside on the scaffolding with our mics on and eyes glued to the action, we delivered about 11 hours of polo commentary each day for three days straight. Friday’s round-robin matches narrowed the field from 28 teams to the top 16, setting up the bracket seeding rounds. As the double-elimination bracket played out, teams fell while others advanced, with new favorites emerging along the way. Many of the more established teams faced unexpected challenges from up-and-coming players who had clearly learned from the sport’s veterans. We had a blast sharing these exciting moments and celebrating the players who have helped grow bike polo into a community that now spans the entire continent and beyond.
When I told my boss what I was planning to do with my PTO for this event, he was more than supportive. Dero even pitched in with sponsorship money to help with the trip, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I’ve been with Dero for 8 years, and I’m continually reminded of how much the team here genuinely cares about each other and supports our quirky, bike-related passions. Thank you so much!
