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London: Hard Court
June 16, 2009
**We now have a look at cycling from across the Atlantic. Will Melling is our voice over in London. He was nice enough to share his thoughts and photos from the London hard court polo scene.**
Until recently I was a bike courier. Bike couriers are suspicious of journalists because over the years the journalists who write about couriers keep getting it wrong. A similar feeling seems to exist amongst bike-polo players so I'm reluctant to write much in case I annoy or alienate my polo playing friends. I don't play, I just hang around and take pictures. I'm not an expert on the game, not an expert on it's history and it's development. I asked a few players to write me with their experiences and thoughts. Not unreasonably they mostly ignored the request. Playing is the thing. These men and women love to play, four, five times a week. In the last year the number of players has got larger and the standard of play has got higher. These players are good, really good.
I love the way that they take the game seriously, they are competetive but it still feels like a bunch of friends having fun, just doing it because they love it. It's sport played for the love of sport. Even though there is a league and a European championships being held in London in August there's no money in it and it's all DIY. Maybe it'll grow to the point where sponsorship will become available, maybe it'll become like skateboarding with professionals making a good living at it. It's an exciting sport to watch, there's no reason why it couldn't be popular. But for the time being I feel lucky to have been allowed to wander round the courts - and quite often on to the courts - to photograph a friendly, enthusiastic bunch of men and women playing a game for it's own sake with no ambition beyond enjoying themselves and drinking a few beers along the way.
Photos and text by: Will