The Strange Evolution of Bike Polo

At the foot of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge in Montreal, a group of die-hard cyclists are taking part in a discipline that has endured anonymously in Quebec for over 37 years: bicycle polo.

This sport is, in a way, the little cousin of polo. But forget the distinguished etiquette, the immaculate outfits and, above all, the nobility. Bike polo is the business of punks. All the players at the Parc des Vétérans will proudly tell you that.

We see them arrive one after the other on their two-wheeled mounts, making a tight, stylish turn. The piercings, tattoos and flashy outfits confirm it: the bicycle polo players are different from the typical athlete. These individuals are all linked by a common passion: cycling.

On hard surfaces, bike polo was popularized by bicycle delivery men in Seattle in early 1999. During their breaks, the couriers came up with the sport as a way to have fun between deliveries.

Twenty-five years have passed and we still find delivery men, this time in the Montreal league. However, the sport has undergone significant changes.

“Ten years ago, there was a dynamic of bumping into each other. There was more contact,” explains veteran of the Parc des Vétérans, Raphaël Toulouse, who has been part of the group for 12 years. “Now, the game is different. We sometimes fall, but we rarely get hurt very badly.”

While participants may play with their shoulders, contact between bicycles is prohibited. Players are responsible for controlling their bicycles, even when in possession of the ball. It is also forbidden to put a foot on the ground.

The sport is played three against three, without any specific position. Games last between 12 and 15 minutes, during which five or six goals are usually scored.

Watch a video shot in Montreal

To score, players hit a ball with a croquet stick. The bikes used have undergone special modifications. There is only one brake, often on the left, for right-handers. The distance between the wheels is reduced to facilitate tight turns. On the wheels, protectors are added, to block shots more easily.

Most of the equipment was made by the players themselves, with whatever means were available, as Julia Dubé explains to us, adjusting the gears of her bike.

“It doesn’t take much to play, and that’s by design,” she explains. “It’s in our culture to make our sport accessible to all economic, social, ethnic, and gender profiles.”

Julia Dubé started playing bike polo when she was living in Victoria, British Columbia. She came across a poster promoting a league in a bike shop. Back in Quebec, she tried to recruit more and more female and non-binary players to the club. People who, most of the time, feel little interest in traditional sports communities.

Every week, the Montreal club organizes inclusive evenings, allowing the queer community and any apprentice to discover the sport. If a player shows up without a bike, they are lent one.

Community spirit

Sharing is an integral part of the bike polo community. With away tournaments in cities like Ottawa, Buffalo and Toronto common, players provide accommodations, making sure their “opponents” are well received.

This atmosphere is even found at the World Championships. William Thibault knows something about it, having participated in the last edition in Perpignan, France.

“The level of play was impressive, but it didn’t feel like a world championship in another sport. The atmosphere was more family-oriented, less official,” says the man who is recognized as the best player in Montreal.

William Thibault, like many other players, came across bicycle polo somewhat by chance. While still living in France, he tried the sport with friends, armed with objects that came to hand, such as ski poles and gas pipes.

Watch a Bike Polo Match (in English)

Fifteen years after he started playing bicycle polo, he found himself in a world championship. Not bad for someone who had never competed in any other sport.

“That’s the beauty of it: it started with something stupid, and I got caught up in the whirlwind of this niche sport, where everything has to be invented. It’s a good feeling to be part of this incredible community, to feel like you’re playing in something bigger than us.”

For both good players and beginners, this is the one thing that stands out about the Montreal community: the importance of team spirit. To make sure everyone feels comfortable, during tournaments, the worst players join the best, to form equal teams.

“That’s what’s good about a sport that isn’t institutionalized like ours, we take players under our wing, we show them things, but without imposing our knowledge on them. We like the competition, but the social aspect is more important here,” explains Elio Le Calvé.

He himself moved from Nantes, France. Bike polo helped ease his transition to Montreal and allowed him to build a social circle.

“I come from a well-off social class, but here, I rub shoulders with people who have three small jobs to get by, who come from completely different backgrounds. It allowed me to meet people from backgrounds I didn’t know, and it’s great. Despite our differences, I’ve developed a network that I can trust. For me, that makes all the difference.”