Bike polo allows some contact, but not all of it. This post covers where the ruleset draws the line on charging, holding, extension, head contact, trapping, and flagrant fouls, plus how the Ref judges each one.

Your mallet is for the ball, not for other players. This post covers slashing, high sticking, jamming, hooking, throwing, and dropping your mallet, and what each one looks like on the court.

This month we're focusing on rules and reffing at pick-up: understanding the ruleset, calling fair games, and building confidence behind the whistle. It's a chance to get comfortable with the parts of the rulebook that come up most at pick-up, and to try reffing if you haven't yet.

Put a foot down and you're out of the play until you tap in at half court. This post covers dabbing, toppling, and bike-on-bike contact: what's allowed, what isn't, and how the Ref calls it.

Some penalties have nothing to do with contact. They're about timing, attitude, and positioning. This post covers delay of game, unsportsmanlike conduct, interference, illegal substitutions, and crease violations.

How a Ref decides how serious a foul is, and what happens next. This post covers ball turnovers, minors, majors, player advantage, penalty shots, and how repeat fouls escalate. Start here before the posts on specific penalties.

Who has possession, what counts as a shot, and how long you can hold the ball in your mallet. A guide to shuffles, scoops, ball-jointing, and the 2-second rule, so you know why a goal did or didn't count.

From the opening joust to the final whistle: how games start, when the clock stops, how play restarts, and what counts as a goal. Section 4 of the NAH Ruleset, with diagrams.

How teams get ranked, how brackets work, how long games are, and why tournaments ask players to ref. A guide to Section 3 of the NAH Ruleset for first-time tournament players and anyone thinking about organizing one.

Who's on a team, what an official court looks like, and what your bike, mallet, and ball need to pass a tournament gear check. New to polo? You don't need any of this to start. We have loaner gear.

At pickup we call our own fouls, but at tournaments a crew runs every game. Here's what the Referee, the Official, and the Goal Judges each do, where they stand, and what the whistles and hand signals mean.