By Kaity Brown
Kimberley is hosting first time bike polo tournament called Meat Draw, bringing together bikers from the area but also places like Vancouver and Calgary.
“A meat draw is a social event in many small towns where folks get together to have a sociable. In Kimberley we are going to continue this tradition to celebrate bike polo by having some fresh meat bike polo players,” said Kevin Wilson, event organizer.
“The Meat Draw has the social element as well as the fact that Kimberley is new to bike polo so there will be some fresh meat.”
First prize is cash and a collection of meat, but the ad on their website assures “vegetarians welcome!”
“Right now we have six teams registered. We’re hoping for a couple more but there could be as many as ten,” Wilson said.
The tournament will be in a round-robin fashion with a couple of elimination rounds and the Meat Draw champions crowned Saturday night, to allow contestants to also participate in this weekend’s Sullivan Shakedown.
The games take place on Saturday, August 24 in the parking lot outside the Visitor’s Centre between noon and 5 p.m.
“I would say that it’s a really good mix right now. We’re hoping for some more folks from Cranbrook. There are probably two or three teams from Kimberley, two or three team from Calgary and Vancouver and a couple teams from Cranbrook.”
But Wilson is encouraging all bike riders to come out, because he explains that bike polo is a sport for everyone.
“I think bike polo seems like a pretty far-out and abstract concept but, I mean, if you can ride a bike you can play bike polo. It’s not as inaccessible as people might think.”
“The rules are simple but they protect people’s safety and ensure the proper flow of the game. The game is a lot like hockey in terms of how it flows, so if you’ve played hockey before it is really easy to pick up bike polo. “
People who will like to register can do so by signing up Saturday morning at 11 at the event, either as a team for $25 or as an individual for $10 to be put into a team.
You can pre-register online by going to the Meat Draw Bike Polo Facebook page.
“If people want to just show up and just it a try on Saturday there might be some opportunities just to give it a shot with extra mallets an all the gear required.”
For more information about the event you can check out the Facebook page at Meat Draw Bike Polo or by going to https://leagueofbikepolo.com/meat-draw