Other Sport / bike polo
Welcome to the wacky world of bike polo
Think of the sport of polo and images of majestic, thoroughbred horses, pristine grassy lawns and (rich) people in tight trousers probably come to mind. Bike polo is a little different.
Fast-paced, mixed-gender and refreshingly free of rules, it’s a “DIY sport” with a fascinating history and an unexpectedly thriving scene in Bristol.
“No one has ever heard of it, unless they’re embedded in a cycling scene,” Bristol Bike Polo member Kat Caldwell tells me. “And even then, people are often surprised.”
Player Kat Caldwell (left) is proud the club attracts “a real mix of people”
Despite its obscurity today, I am intrigued to learn that bike polo is far from being a new game.
Invented in the late 1800s, it was even played on grass at the 1908 London Olympics.
It was revived in Seattle, USA, in the 1990s, with bicycle couriers playing a hardcourt version of the game between jobs.
What started off as an excuse to hang out and crash their bikes became something riders took seriously and the format we see today was established.
Rich Miller introduced the game to Bristol after discovering it on holiday in France in 2009, and for years, the driving force behind Bristol Bike Polo has been Zsofia Bundai, who moved to our city from Hungary 15 years ago.
Its roots in the courier scene are visible today in the club. While admitting “it’s a bit hipster” with “lots of tattoos and mullets”, Kat is proud that Bristol Bike Polo attracts “a real mix of people”.
“We’ve got engineers, accountants, carpenters and posties – anybody and everybody. It’s a real range of ages, too. We’ve got guys in their 60s, and I was 35 when I started.
“If anything, we struggle to get younger players in Bristol, even though in Europe, they’ve got a lot.”
The club is actively recruiting new players and says anyone is welcome
The rules of the game are simple. It begins with players jousting for the ball in the centre of the court, three-on-three. Players use mallets to dribble, stabilise themselves and hit the ball into the goal.
Oh, and don’t put your foot down. Dabbing a foot on the ground requires the player to “tap out” at the side to get back in the game.
“It’s most similar to hockey, but you’re a bike,” Kat explains. “There’s lots of hopping and jumping around. One minute, you’re sprinting and then you’ll stop suddenly and change direction.”
Players generally ride special bikes with only one brake, freeing up a hand to hold a mallet, often homemade from ski poles, golf clubs, or pipes cut down to size.
The bikes have short wheelbases and low ratios to be as manoeuvrable as possible, and are often assembled from a hodgepodge of cheap parts.
Betty Woolerton tries out the wacky game of bike polo
But, to really understand what it’s all about, I need to have a go, so I venture to Southville Primary School on a recent Sunday to join a session.
The sun is shining and there’s a hum of excitement in the air as people begin to glide into the site on Myrtle Street in dribs and drabs.
Kat gives me a run-down of the rules and lets me use her bike to practice knocking the ball about. Soon, it’s my turn to join a game.
Wielding my mallet in my left hand, my right one clutches the handlebars and I wonder how I will possibly be able to balance, steer and pedal at once, plus not forget to brake.
“One, two, three, polo!” is cried out, and the match begins with us all charging towards the plastic ball. The game mostly consists of me cruising around in circles and trying to avoid crashing into other players.
Despite a tumble from my bike and many misses, once I hear the satisfying “thwack” of hitting the ball, I feel myself become more confident and realise why people enjoy the game.
“There’s no money involved and that helps keep it about the community and the people”
What is the best thing about the game for Kat?
“It’s different for different people,” she muses. “For me, it’s the community aspect, the fact it’s mixed gender and the grassroots, DIY element too.
“It can get very competitive with world and European championships, but there’s no money involved and that helps keep it about the community and the people.”
The perk of it being an unofficial “sport” is that players can bring in new rules. At Bristol Bike Polo tournaments, anyone who argues with the referee gets sent off for 30 seconds.
“We just want to discourage that kind of atmosphere,” says Kat.
One issue for the club is access to facilities. They ideally need a tarmac court surrounded by a cage with floodlights for nighttime sessions.
But there is a real lack of suitable spaces in Bristol and the UK in general, Kat says, and the club relies on public courts or informal agreements with schools to use theirs.
What about injuries, I wonder? “That’s the first question people ask,” Kat laughs. “It’s a fast-paced game and there are crashes fairly often.
“There is always an element of risk because you’re on a bike, there are six people on a court, and you’re charging around the place.
“But we’ve really worked at our tournament to make it as safe as possible. We wear safety gear, insist on helmets and have introduced a buddy system. But I have seen broken noses, which is why I wear a face cage.”
Bike polo is the urbane, gritty version of traditional polo
Despite the dangers, Bristol Bike Polo aims to keep the club as inclusive and welcoming as possible for new players, of which they are always recruiting – especially FLINTA players (female, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender individuals).
Kat says: “To me, there’s space for everybody. It was a steep learning curve, and it took a long time just to get the basics, but now I’m at a level where I really love playing. I’m never going to be like a hotshot player, but I enjoy the sessions so much.”
Bristol Bike Polo is a running session for beginner women and LGBTQIA+ players on December 14 at Southville Primary School from midday to 3pm.
The club holds regular sessions on Thursdays from 7pm-9.30pm at Begbrook Green Park, Fishponds, and on Sundays from 2pm-5pm at Southville Primary School.
For more information, visit @bristol_bike_polo on Instagram or email via [email protected].
This article originally appeared in Bristol24/7’s November/December 2025 magazine
All photos: Rob Browne
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