If you’ve been to pickup at Gateway Park lately, you may have seen some new painted wooden signs. We made six of them to help organize pickup games. This post walks through what each one means and why we made them.

How pickup works

Many clubs use a mallet system for organizing pick-up: when you want to play, you put your mallet in the fence. Your mallet is basically holding your place in line for an upcoming game. It’s simple, and it works.

The downside is that the same group of players can end up playing together game after game. There are a couple of ways around that. Sometimes a player sits out a game to change up the mix or to make room for a certain kind of game. Sometimes we do a Big Toss, where all the waiting mallets get pulled together and randomly selected to set the next games.

The six signs

Adding these signs doesn’t add new rules. They name things most clubs already do. They are simply a visual reminder so everyone can see where we are in the rotation and when they’ll play next.

Look for them on the fence by the gate we use to enter and exit the court. You’ll probably see a few mallet heads poking through the chain link.

Three signs determine a fair rotation:

Big Toss. When you arrive at pickup or just come off the court, your mallet goes here. We draw six mallets at random for each game and split them into two teams of three. Those fill the next games: On Court (playing now), On Deck (playing next), and In the Hole (the game after that).

On Deck. You’re up next. Get your gear on and be ready to roll onto the court when the current game finishes.

In the Hole. You’re two games away. Keep an eye on the game in progress so you’re ready when it’s your turn.

Everyone gets one mallet in the fence at a time. That keeps things fair, since a second mallet would give you twice as many chances to play as everyone else.

What if there aren’t enough mallets?

Say On Deck has six mallets, but In the Hole only has three. In the Hole waits with three open spots, and everyone coming off the court keeps putting their mallet in Big Toss. From there:

The On Deck game goes on the court. Move the three mallets from In the Hole up to On Deck.
When that game ends, those mallets go into Big Toss.
Draw three mallets from Big Toss to fill the open spots in On Deck. That game goes on the court.
Draw six mallets for the new On Deck. Put any leftovers in In the Hole.

Those are the three signs we put out at every pickup. There are three more that we can put up when someone wants a particular kind of game.

Three signs describe a kind of game:

We play themed games after the current Big Toss rotation finishes and before the next Big Toss rotation begins.

Learning Game. For newer players, or anyone who wants a slower, more relaxed game. It’s a good place to try a new skill without worrying about keeping up.

WTFNB Priority. WTFNB stands for Women, Trans, Femme, and Non-Binary. This sign sets aside a game for players of underrepresented genders in polo to play together and connect. WTFNB players are welcome in every game. This one is an intentional chance to find each other on the court.

Tournament Practice. For faster, competitive games. If you have a tournament coming up, you can practice with your team, or if you want to work on harder play, this is the game to look for.

How to request a game

Want a Learning Game, WTFNB Priority, or Tournament Practice game? Put your mallet under that sign instead of in Big Toss.

Note: choosing a themed game takes you out of the regular Big Toss rotation. Since everyone gets one mallet in the fence at a time, having a mallet in both places would give you twice as many chances to play as everyone else.

If the game doesn’t have six mallets yet, ask around. Recruit the people you want to play with and have them put their mallets in.
If more than six mallets are waiting, we’ll do a toss to pick who plays. Sometimes someone will choose to sit out instead. If you don’t get tossed in, we’ll offer to run another one later.

Why we made them

People come to pickup for different reasons. Someone on their second day wants room to figure out how to stay on the bike with a mallet in their hand. Someone with a tournament in two weeks wants to be pushed. Both belong at pickup, and the signs give each a way to find the game they want.

They also cut down on a lot of “wait, am I next?” conversations. You can look at the fence and know if you have time to go to the bathroom, grab a snack or drink, or build a new mallet.

How we made them

The signs started as plain wooden blanks. We used acrylic paint and stencils to add decorative details and lettering. If you want to see the process, the reel is up on our Instagram.