So You Want to Help? Here’s What Makes a Bike Polo Tournament Happen
If you’ve ever been to a bike polo tournament and thought, “Wow, this is awesome,” that’s because a small group of tired, sweaty people made it happen.
Over the past decade, we’ve been to enough tournaments to understand what it takes to pull off a successful event. As a result, we sometimes end up doing a lot of the heavy lifting when we go to tournaments. It made us wonder — maybe others want to help but don’t know what to do. So we’re pulling back the curtain and sharing what it actually takes to run a tournament and how you can help. Whether you're part of the host club or just rolling in to play, here’s how you can pitch in.
🧱 1. The Foundation: Planning and Permits
Every tournament starts long before the first whistle blows. Organizers are often handling logistics weeks (or months) in advance — finding a playable court, talking to city officials or parks departments, applying for permits, and coordinating things like bathrooms, food access, and housing for out-of-town players.
These early-stage tasks aren’t flashy, but they’re what make the rest of the weekend possible. They often fall to one or two people in the club, and it's a lot to take on.
How to help:
Offer to email venues or follow up with city contacts.
Volunteer to design a flyer, manage RSVP forms, or build the tournament schedule in Challonge or a spreadsheet.
Ask your clubmates, “What’s left on your to-do list?” — even if it seems small, your offer matters.
🏗 2. The Build: Court Setup
Boards don’t magically appear and screw themselves together. Goals don’t carry themselves out and repair their own holes. On setup day — usually the night before or early the morning of — everything has to be unloaded, laid out, measured, assembled, and secured. It’s physical work, sometimes sweaty, sometimes challenging. But honestly? It’s one of the best ways to feel like part of the community.
Court setup sets the tone for the entire weekend. If things go smoothly here, the whole tournament runs better.
How to help:
Show up early with gloves, water, and a good attitude — even if you don’t know exactly what to do.
Ask what needs doing instead of waiting to be assigned. “What can I carry? Where do you need people?”
Stick around until the last zip tie is clipped. Don’t disappear halfway through — setup isn’t done until the goals are in place and the court is playable.
⏱ 3. The Run: Tournament Day Roles
During tournament play, things can get hectic. Organizers are managing the schedule, updating the bracket, answering questions, finding refs and goal judges — sometimes all at once, while also trying to find time to eat or have a drink of water. The folks who volunteer to fill in the gaps during the day make everything run more smoothly and keep the games on track.
You don’t have to be an expert or even a seasoned player to help out here.
How to help:
Sign up to referee, assistant ref, or goal judge between your games. Even doing just one or two shifts makes a difference. (We’ll share more about what’s these roles entail in a future post)
Learn to use the timekeeping app or scoreboard system — ask someone to show you if you’re unsure.
Check in with the organizer and say, “What can I take off your plate?” It might be as easy as grabbing lunch for a ref or tracking down a team captain.
🧹 4. The Clean: Tear Down and Trash Patrol
After the final game — or honestly, even before — people start disappearing. Bags get packed, players hit the road, and the court starts to empty. But someone still has to take everything down, collect trash, load the trucks, and leave the space better than we found it.
This part is never glamorous, but it is absolutely essential. The people who stick around for cleanup are absolute legends — truly.
How to help:
Don’t pack up your stuff and vanish right away. Stay an extra 30 minutes and see what’s left to do.
Walk the perimeter with a trash bag and gloves. Look for water bottles, snack wrappers, and forgotten gear.
Help take down boards and load up trucks or cars. You don’t have to lift everything — just being an extra set of hands speeds things up.
💬 5. The Spirit: Showing Up and Saying Thanks
There’s a lot of invisible labor that goes into every tournament — and emotional labor is part of that. Organizers often don’t get to actually enjoy the event they worked so hard to create. A simple thank-you or kind gesture can really help someone feel seen and appreciated.
You don’t have to wait until the end to express gratitude. You don’t have to say something huge. Just let people know you noticed their effort.
How to help:
Say thank you — directly and often. “Thanks for organizing” goes a long way.
Bring snacks, drinks, or coffee to share. It boosts morale and shows appreciation.
Post about the event afterward and tag the host club. A shout-out on Instagram or Bluesky helps give organizers some love and visibility.
Want to Be More Involved?
You don’t have to run the whole show. Just doing something — reffing or goal-judging, setting up in the morning, staying for trash patrol — helps lighten the load. And if we all pitch in, these tournaments get better, smoother, and more fun for everyone!
We’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes tips in upcoming posts. Stay tuned, and if you’ve got ideas or questions, drop us a message or pull us aside at pickup.
And if you’re interested in organizing someday, keep an eye on what works, take notes, and ask questions — we’re building a guide just for you.
🧡 Want to Keep Helping?
Supporting a bike polo tournament doesn’t stop here. This post is part of our series on what really keeps tournaments running — and how you can pitch in.
Next up: The Ultimate Pre-Tourney Checklist (That’s Not Just for Organizers) → Simple things you can do before the first whistle blows to make the whole weekend smoother.
