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Revised - Bike polo is one sport that doesn鈥檛 take itself too seriously.

To that end, the third annual Barrel Sider bike polo tournament rode again this past weekend.

It took place Sept. 2-3 at Liard Rink in the Riverdale subdivision of Whitehorse.

The Star stopped by the rink on Sunday afternoon to check out the action.

In one game, Ashwin Freyne of Peg Foo Young scored the tying goal, then his team won while enjoying a two-players- to-one advantage. (In the Golden Rule, or extra time, if someone falls, down, they are 鈥渄ead鈥� and are out of the game. The teams normally have three players each on the court). The final score was 3-2.

In the next game, Benjamin Bales of Snoezelen Room scored a hat trick, with his third goal tying the game. Snoezelen Room then won it in 鈥淕olden Rule鈥� time.

Scott 鈥淏S鈥� Hillier tallied his own hat trick in a losing cause.

The Star spoke with Bales after the thrilling match.

鈥淚t was a close one 鈥� I had quite a bit of a spill there, so I鈥檓 glad I was able to recover from that.

鈥淔itz鈥檚 bike kind of blew up at the end and we got Alice (Michaelson) in there on the mini bike and if she wasn鈥檛 there, we wouldn鈥檛 have cleaned it up at the end, so it worked out really well.鈥�

Bales, from Vancouver, explained what brought him to the tourney.

鈥淚鈥檓 good friends with Ashwin, who was the one who got bike polo started in Whitehorse, and we started playing together in Ottawa. I鈥檝e come to visit him a few times up here and eventually bike polo got going up here, so I鈥檝e been coming to the Barrel Sider tournament since it started.鈥�

Bales said the weekend was 鈥渁mazing. Meeting so many new people. Every time I come up here, I feel like I make new friends in Whitehorse and good to see old friends as well. And the games are really good and the bike polo has a really unique style in Whitehorse, so that鈥檚 what I come here for.鈥�

Bales explained how the format worked for the tourney.

鈥淭he first day is figuring out which players are A, B, or C, according to skill level and then a committee gets together and plans out those teams and then you wake up in the morning and find out what team you鈥檙e on.

鈥淲e had a rough start and lost our first game, which put us in the Losers bracket, but we鈥檝e been crawling our way out of it and we haven鈥檛 lost one since.鈥�

A Snoezelen Room, in case you鈥檙e wondering, is a type of therapeutic room for kids and adults.

Bales believed, at that point, they were two wins away from winning the final.

鈥淲e still have a chance but there鈥檚 some really good teams.鈥�

Bales added, 鈥淭his rink we鈥檝e got to play on in this neighbourhood is really awesome and it鈥檚 a great place to come and hang. I鈥檓 glad all the neighbours are OK with it and it鈥檚 just a really fun time. It鈥檚 a really cool environment.鈥�

Rasheeda Slater, of Whitehorse, was also playing in the tournament.

Her team was still playing in the main bracket.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing well. Lots of good play, lots of passes, some super-fun goals, just really great team communication.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really welcoming group of people out here. We鈥檙e all here to have a really fun time and everyone鈥檚 coming off the court with big smiles on their faces.鈥�

One of the tournament organizers, Marten Sealy, said the tourney was going well.

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 ask for better people to show up and better weather for it.鈥�

Sealy explained how he got involved.

鈥淚, by chance, attended the very first polo of the second year and was hooked. I didn鈥檛 miss a Thursday all summer.鈥�

Sealy said his team, 鈥淐aution! Meadowlark Crossing鈥�, was undefeated at that point.

鈥淲e played two games so far and we鈥檝e had tight games and they went well.鈥�

Regarding the unique team name, Sealy said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 because we have a very talented player on our team named Birdie. And the state bird of Oregon is the Western Meadowlark.

鈥淏irdie is used to playing at a very high level. She has well-functioning brakes. Here, not everybody has those fancy bikes. A lot of our bikes were claimed from the dump, so we don鈥檛 quite have those brakes, so we wanted to honour that and say, 鈥楥aution, we have a bird crossing.鈥欌��

Sealy said Birdie just competed in Perpignan, France last weekend at the World Championships.

Birdie was one of two players at the tourney that made the trip from Perpignan to Whitehorse.

鈥淭hey cut their teeth in Paris and now they鈥檙e ready for the Barrel Sider,鈥� joked Sealy.

Bernadette (鈥淏irdie鈥�) Watts, from Portland, Oregon, has been playing bike polo for about 16 years.

She scored a late goal to make it a 3-1 final for the Meadowlarks in their game. The goal counted, although time had expired before it went in.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still in the winner鈥檚 bracket. Feels good,鈥� said Watts.

At that point, they were going into the winner鈥檚 bracket final.

鈥淚t鈥檚 my first time in Whitehorse,鈥� related Watts. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard a lot about this place and the community and I鈥檓 happy to finally make it up here.鈥�

Watts came straight from the 2023 World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship in France.

鈥淚 was in Perpinan, where the world鈥檚 championship was. I flew out of Barcelona, but my bike didn鈥檛 make it back, so I鈥檓 sharing a bike with Dev right now.鈥�

Watts explained how she ended up in Whitehorse.

鈥淢y husband is the regional rep, so they were communicating about some vote that was happening with NAH (short for NAHBPC, North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association). Then we heard about this wonderful tournament.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so chill. It reminds me what it was like when I first started playing, I was always on like, Frankenstein bikes, it was before polo bikes were made.

鈥淭he better your brakes are, the more like, nimbly, you can be.

鈥淭he top players at Worlds, there鈥檚 no one who can鈥檛 move nimbly like that. If you want to compete at that level, you have to play really tight defence but then turn around immediately.

鈥淪o play around with your ratio, see what makes you like feel like you鈥檙e fast without spinning too much, but also, we want to be able to pick up speed really quickly.鈥�

Watts added, 鈥淚 love Whitehorse. I want to come back.鈥�

The 鈥淒ev鈥� Watts referred to is Devora Barrera Gonzalez, from Guadalajara, Mexico. It was her second time in Whitehorse, having come to the first edition of the tournament in 2021.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see the club, how much it has grown. When I came, I feel like there were mostly men. And now I feel like there are over 30 people and half of them are women, transgender, non-conforming folx. It鈥檚 pretty exciting to see.鈥�

Gonzalez and Watts conducted clinics on Thursday and Friday.

鈥淚 hope we gave them some good tips. Everybody was very receptive and I personally see a huge difference with how they touch the ball. They seem to pass more.

鈥淚 see more team play but also like, a little bit more smart and create more space. Better positioning.鈥�

Gonzalez has been playing for about six years.

鈥淚 live in Anchorage. And the folks from Anchorage knew about this tournament because Ashwin had gone to the tournament we host in July. And he invited everyone and I just tagged along with the boys.

鈥淚 originally lived in San Francisco and then I moved up to Seattle and then from Seattle, I moved to Anchorage.鈥�

Gonzalez obviously liked it in Whitehorse.

鈥淭he folks are great, the weather鈥檚 very similar to Anchorage. The courts are awesome. And it鈥檚 just a 12-hour commute. It鈥檚 not that bad.鈥�

Gonzalez added, 鈥淭hank you to the club for everything they鈥檝e done to grow the sport.鈥�

Gonzalez鈥檚 team lost 2-1 to Snoezelen Room, which meant they dropped down to the 鈥淪uper-Losers鈥� bracket, after losing in the 鈥淟osers鈥� bracket. After all that, they still had a shot at the final.

Peg Foo Young won another Golden Rule game, with Freyne netting the tying and winning goals.

鈥淲e managed to score one with one second left and then from there, we managed to win in the overtime. So we鈥檙e going up pretty high, I think we鈥檙e coming to the semi finals,鈥� related Freyne.

鈥淲e lost one and we鈥檝e won four games in the Loser鈥檚 bracket so we鈥檙e just climbing our way back up.鈥�

Freyne said the weekend was a 鈥渂ig hit. Lots of people come by to check it out and it鈥檚 a lot of people just having a good positive time playing sports and hanging out.鈥�

Barrel Sider organizer Meredith Pritchard also said the weekend was going great.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been really fortunate. We鈥檝e received a grant from the City of Whitehorse, recreation grant, so we were able to bring up two world famous, I will say, polo bike players, one who is from Mexico, Dev, and one from Portland, Birdie, who just competed at worlds in France, that offered some coaching sessions this past Thursday and Friday evening, which has been really great.鈥�

Forty-two players were registered for the tourney. The players were organized into 14 teams and played at least three games each.

鈥淢y team has already played three games and we鈥檝e had a great time. There are other bike polo tournaments out there that are a little bit competitive, but in Whitehorse, our main focus is on fun and building skills, so win or lose, it鈥檚 just about whether you have a great time or not.鈥�

Half of the athletes were from out of town.

Half of the players were also women, transgender men, or non-binary players.

Eleven players came from Anchorage, nine from Vancouver, and two each Vancouver Island and Portland.

鈥淐aution! Meadowlark Crossing鈥� (Watts, Slater and Sealy) took the title. 鈥淚鈥檇 Rather Be Devouring Dumpster Nuts鈥� (Chris Poland, Arthur Roots and Tara Fallat) were the runner-ups.

Pritchard added, 鈥淏ike polo is a really inclusive sport that Whitehorse Bike Polo plays every week.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been fortunate enough to partner with Queer Yukon and offer a monthly Queer polo meet up for people that identify within the queer community umbrella and want to try out a team sport.鈥�

That takes place the first or second Sunday of the month.

The Whitehorse Bike Polo Club plays every Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Liard Rink in Riverdale.

Info on the club can be found on Facebook and Instagram by searching for Whitehorse Bike Polo.