The story is believed to go something like this. Started in the Fall of 2009 when Alexis Mills, in cooperation with Chris Mills, brought some mallets to Waterloo to start a group. The first game was believed to have happened on a wet and cold day in the fall of 2009. The turnout was about 4 people but the sport has spread since. There was even a demonstration organized in Waterloo Town Square which we now consider Bikeapolooza 1.
During 2010 our primary location was the UW outdoor hockey rink. Since the surface was so poor, the club decided to move elsewhere. Trying a few courts in Kitchener, suggested by Jared S, the group eventually settled on George Lippert Park in Kitchener for the late summer and fall season. Again in the fall, Bikeapolooza happened at Waterloo Town Square. This time it was an organized tournament with approx 12 teams coming from Ottawa, Toronto, NYC, and Arnprior. Bikeapolooza 2.
The 2010-2011 winter Season was spent partially playing indoors and outdoors. The group maintained a pick-up game once every week almost.
The 2011 Summer season brought yet another court change. During that time our court is Guelph Street Park. Our average turnout was 6 or 7 people. Yet again, in the fall, Bikeapolooza happened in KW, in Waterloo town Square. The turnout was approximate 14 teams. Bikeapolooza 3
The 2012 Summer saw another court change. Currently our court is the new rink at the Bridgeport Community Center. Our current average turnout is 6 or 7 people. And of course, again this year on Oct 20+21, Bikeapolooza will happen in KW. This time at our new court, the Bridgeport Community Center. This year Bikeapolooza is expecting an estimated turnout of 25 people and the game format will be a bench minor. Bikeapolooza 4!!
In 2013 a committed core group of players continued to play and grow the sport locally. Players from out of town came and helped introduce the sport to new people. Bikeapolooza 5 had to be cancelled due to bad weather. This would later inspire the club to seek out and indoor space.
In 2014 the small but die-hard group continued to play, and we met several new members. Our courts were mainly Bridgeport and the partly-completed tennis courts at Montgomery Park. To help introduce new players to the game, some of us fixed up old bikes to loan out, so there's no longer a need to have your own polo-specific bike just to try it out! We continued our tradition of fall tournaments with our first Oktoberfest Open. 9 teams from across Ontario played at Conestogo Park for glory and fantastic donated prizes.
Our 2015 season started with a bang: we hosted our first ever Northsides Qualifier tournament! Some of the best players from Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, and upstate New York competed for a chance to move up to the North American and then World's competitions later that year. Despite the rainy, cold June weekend, we had a blast at the Bridgeport Community Center. The rest of the summer we played mainly at Bridgeport, and had great support from the community there.
In the fall of 2015, we didn't want to quit playing, so when we heard the indoor space at the K-W Badminton Club was ready to have a court built inside, we jumped at our chance! A group of about 8 players spent our Christmas break designing and building the boards just the way they wanted them, and now we have access to an awesome indoor court! We held a grand opening on Saturday, Jan 9th, 2016, for what we hope will be the first of many great days of indoor polo.
The 2016 summer season took place mostly at our Bridgeport location. Starting December of 2016 we were back indoors with our most attended indoor season yet.
The 2017 summer season is starting off with Thursday nights indoors and Sunday afternoons outdoors- either at our Bridgeport location or another location preferred by the majority of the active club members.
Several winters of play ensued, and all agreed that the Polodrome (TM pending) was the best indoor space around. There were many great days of indoor polo. We took breaks in the spring and fall, and played summer polo at Bridgeport Community Center.
The 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic put wrenches in everything, including our indoor space. We had to cut our winter 2020 season short, and while we were all staying home dreaming about polo, the Badminton Club rented the space to a more permanent gym-batting cage-thing, so the polodrome is no more.
Since then, we travel to London or Buffalo for winter practice. In the summers, we play mostly at Bridgeport Community Centre, which is a great court with just a small drainage problem.
The K Dub Polo Club In the News
The club has enjoyed some publicity on a few occasions
May 1, 2017, The Kitchener Citizen
Bike Polo Gaining Popularity
Nov 22, 2016, Rick Mercer Report
You Tube Link
Kdub Polo Club on the Rick Mercer Report
Jan 13, 2016, The Waterloo Chronicle
Bike Polo club finds a new home
Jan 11, 2016, The Record.com
New Court Ready to Go
June 27, 2015, CTV News
Road Hockey, meet Cycling
May 2013, The Record.com
Kitchener Bikefest appearance
March 2013, CTV News
Toronto International Bike Show. Look closely for Kdub at the start.
August 2012, Snap Kitchener/Waterloo
A few pics of some of the players at the Uptown Waterloo Bike Show.
Aug 2011, Kitchener Post
A small feature in the local newspaper, The Kitchener Post
Nov 2010, CBC Radio 1
A story on Bike Polo and its presence in Kitchener Waterloo
