Carolina Winter League, Day 1: A Wet Start in Asheville
The Carolina Winter League was a new idea for our region. Asheville, Charlotte, and Greenville teamed up to run a four-day league for six teams, moving between each club’s home court. The first three days were a full round robin, with every team playing every other team once. Day 4 would be seeded finals.
The league almost started a month earlier. Our opener was set for January 25 at Gateway Park in Travelers Rest, but a rare winter storm moved in that weekend, and we postponed.
We polled players for a makeup date; April 12 won out, and the league kept the same structure with an updated schedule.
That moved the opener to Asheville on February 15. The forecast called for about 45°F and light rain, and the forecast was right. We’d asked everyone to bring a water-resistant jacket, wool or synthetic layers, latex gloves to wear under polo gloves, and extra socks. Wet courts are part of winter polo, and people came ready for it.
The rain meant extra work on top of the games. Water pooled on the court throughout the day, making turns slick and the ball behave unpredictably, so volunteers took turns with squeegees to clear it off between games. It’s slow, repetitive work in cold weather, and it’s a big reason we could keep playing safely. Thank you to Chris, Dana, Kev, and Maggie who picked up a squeegee and kept the court playable!
Results
Purple Reign and Southeast of Heaven traded goals for most of the last game, and the winning goal came in the final minute after Kev dabbed, called for a pass as they rode like the wind, tapped it back in, collected the ball, and delivered it into the net.
Three of the five games ended tied or within a goal. Purple Reign went 2–0 and finished the day on top with 4 points, impresso followed with a win and a tie, and Southeast of Heaven split their two games. Good Luck With That! and The Golden Ghouls each played once and lost, so they had plenty of room to move.
Thank you to AVL for hosting, and to everyone who showed up in the cold and wet to play, ref, keep score, and cheer. Next stop: Charlotte.
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Come play with us
We play Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons at Gateway Park in Travelers Rest, and Sunday afternoons at Malvern Hills Park with AVL Bike Polo.
Loaner gear is available, and no one expects you to know any of this on your first day. Follow @GVLBikePolo on Instagram for updates.
