There is sometimes blood. But this is Kona, where the local club plays beneath a molten sunset; libations, laughter and yoga set the pre-match scene; and participation is more about community-building than winning. With Kona Bike Polo, any blood is inadvertent.
First played on grass over a century ago, bike polo languished in obscurity until bored bike messengers took the sport to the hardcourt in late-1990s Seattle. The rules are deceptively simple: Two teams of three attempt to hit a ball into the goal with the narrow end of a mallet (using the flat side is a "shuffle" and doesn't count) without a "dab," i.e., letting their feet touch the ground. If a foot does touch the ground, the player must exit play and tap out courtside before reentering the mayhem. From Cairo to Quito, drop in on one of the world's five hundred bike polo clubs and you will be welcomed with instant camaraderie-and, at times, ferocity.
Unless you play bike polo, you might not know how popular the sport has become nor how intense it can get. Alix Nelson wanted more aloha than aggro, so he started Kona Bike Polo, which now pedals, shuffles and dabs amiably at Old A’s Skate Rink (SEEN ABOVE).
"I got sick of the competitiveness and 'slayer players' at tournaments and with the other clubs I founded," says Alix Nelson, who founded a club in his native Florida and revived another in Alaska before starting the Kona club in 2014. "In Kona I wanted to start something fun and chill, without the aggression."
He succeeded: Several players wearing rubber slippers take to the court at Old A's Skate Rink under a double rainbow from a rare Kona drizzle. With about twenty cyclists hurtling around a cement rink in pursuit of a caroming plastic ball, this hardly seems appropriate footwear. Meanwhile, more experienced players coach newbies, feeding them tips mid-play-never mind that they're on opposing teams. Jawaiian vibes pour from the sound system, and often, dogs have to be herded off court. Chill indeed.
Stars blink to life as club regular Tony White eludes a defender and shuffles the ball into the net. Good-natured razzing ensues from all sides, including from Alix, who responds with a wheelie pirouette, crashing to the ground mid-spin. Crimson rivulets course from a nasty gash on his forearm. Alas, bike polo blood does flow in Kona tonight, but Alix pops up smiling and pedals on.
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