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Whitehorse Bike Polo hosted the second annual Barrel Sider tourney at the Riverdale rink in Whitehorse Sep. 3-4.

36 players participated, with three players aside.

12-minute games were played during the tournament.

Emily Jones of Whitehorse was participating in the tournament on Saturday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going pretty well,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is like, a lot of games. There鈥檚 like a lot of people who鈥檝e come from out of town, like from Anchorage and Vancouver for the tournament, so there鈥檚 a lot of really good players, too, so I feel like I鈥檓 learning a lot from these players.鈥�

This is Jones鈥� first bike polo tournament.

鈥淚 just started playing in May. I鈥檝e just been coming out weekly to the pickup practices on Thursdays.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 going to play in the tournament initially, because I thought ... I wouldn鈥檛 be good enough to play in it. But then everyone was like 鈥榊ou should sign up.鈥� So then I did and now, here I am.鈥�

Barrel Sider II is for players of all abilities.

鈥淓veryone is welcome and everyone鈥檚 really encouraging,鈥� related Jones. 鈥淟ike, today ... you鈥檙e playing with different teams every time, so Ashwin (Freyne), who鈥檚 been organizing it mainly, ranks players and then tomorrow I think there鈥檒l be more set teams but it鈥檒l be organized so that there鈥檚 players of all abilities on each team, which is kind of cool, so today it鈥檚 getting a chance to play with different people every game.鈥�

The action on the court went all day.

鈥淚t鈥檚 cool because you just get to play a ton of bike polo,鈥� said Jones. 鈥淚 have not played this many games before. Normally when I come on Thursdays, it鈥檚 like I play two or three games but today ... 9:30 was the first game and (it) is just going all day.鈥�

Jones was expecting to play until about 5 p.m. on Saturday.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got pizzas over there, so I think we鈥檝e got food sorted out and then I think we鈥檒l go check out some Wonder-Horse stuff later. All the people that have come from out of town are taking advantage of the weekend activities too, so we went to the art crawl last night, did a big bike mob through there, which was awesome 鈥� it was like, 20 bikes.鈥�

Jones added 鈥渋t has been really fun. There鈥檚 just lots of nice things going on this weekend.鈥�

Following the interview, Jones took a tumble during a game but bounced right back up, with no apparent injuries.

Organizer Ashwin Freyne explained what was going on Saturday.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got players from both local and out of town competing for a chance to win the coveted grand prize.

The grand prize consisted of special bike polo soap from Anto Yukon Soap and of course, a trophy.

Freyne said players come from all over.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a ton, of course, from in town but this year we have Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage and one guy who flew in from Berlin. Dedicated.鈥�

The 36 players in Sunday鈥檚 final competed in a double-elimination bracket.

Freyne said it was going 鈥減retty good. Last year was the first one and we definitely noticed that players weren鈥檛 鈥� they were learning. And this year it鈥檚 really impressive how good our locals have gotten compared to some of these traveling players that have been playing for years. It鈥檚 been exciting.鈥�

Ashwin said he鈥檚 seen a raise in the level of play.

鈥淒efinitely. Good sportspersonship but everyone鈥檚 just more skilled on the court. It鈥檚 really fun to learn and master a new sport like this. It鈥檚 pretty cool to see people do that.鈥�

Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

鈥淭otally,鈥� agreed Freyne. 鈥淧izza Daddy is slinging pizzas, we have music, we had breakfast food this morning. It鈥檚 so important to have all that stuff available, so that people want to hang out at the court. Otherwise, they鈥檒l just leave during the day. It鈥檚 about so much more like creating a nice community to hang out in than it is necessarily running a super tight bracket for a lot of these kinds of events. It鈥檚 worked out super well, thanks to everyone who鈥檚 helped out. The entire club really pulled together. I did so much less this year, almost nothing. Everyone else has been great.鈥�

Freyne added 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a really good collaboration with the Wonder-horse Music Festival as well. They鈥檝e kind of supported us. It鈥檚 on the same weekend. A lot of people who came up to visit for the tournament were pretty excited to see some of those bands. So, yeah, it鈥檚 a great tie-in. A great weekend to have it.鈥�