hells belles WAR & PEACE ON THE POLO COURT Watching the three players from Tornadoes, a Hardcourt Bike Polo team from London ecstatically hugging each other in the middle of the court brought tears to my eyes. They had just won Hell’s Belles Vol. 2, London’s second all-female bike polo tournament after a nail biting final against Europe’s Rolly Polly Dollies which went into extra time. Not only that but two of those girls, namely Erin Giuliani and Nik Hamilton had organised the Hell’s Belles Vol. 1 tournament which had encouraged so many female players to get involved in the sport and develop their play competitively in the past year. To say that the roaring crowd and I were proud of them would be an understatement! Hardcourt Bike Polo has been played in the UK since 2008. It’s a fun and dynamic contact sport predominantly played on single-speed bicycles with low gearing. The aim is for the teams of three players to score on their opponent’s goal until the time runs out (usually ten minutes). There are polo scenes in most cities worldwide and the community is growing larger every year. The sport has always been mixed and is very welcoming to both male and female players, however, women used to be a rare sight on the court. I started playing in early 2011 and was the only girl in the Birmingham polo scene at the time. At my first tournament, I met other female players from London and started to visit when they all got together to play. Soon, a few of those girls started to talk about how much fun it would be to have a female majority polo tournament and the idea for Hell’s Belles was born. It was the first of its kind in the UK and news spread quickly. Before the London Ladies Polo Club knew it, players were registering from scenes such as Brighton, Manchester, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Geneva. Those who didn’t have other girls in their local polo scenes were matched up with each other to form new teams. The idea was not to exclude male players or to segregate the sport by sex but to promote the continued growth of female players in hardcourt bike polo and to provide a route for women into another sport traditionally seen as ‘testosterone fuelled’. The message was essentially; “We’re here, we’re awesome players and we want you to join our polo community!” Hell’s Belles Vol. 1 took place in October 2011 at Newington Gardens in South London. Twenty female majority (two out of three players) teams battled it out over two days with a team from Seattle and Vancouver eventually being crowned champions. The skill level was varied; beginners played alongside more experienced players and the best girls definitely inspired those of us with less experience Words: Jess Duffy / Photos: WIll Melling
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