Bike Polo Banned, once again.

This past weekend was the All Florida Bike Polo Championship held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Bike polo players from all over Florida came to have fun, eat food, and play their friends. The Ft. Lauderdale community was complimented hundreds of times over the weekend for having such amazing courts, and beautiful park to play in. The weekend went smoothly with no injuries, no drinking, and no trash whatsoever at the park.


On Tuesday evening, we showed up to Holiday Park only to find that the lights were turned off, and our cones were in the middle of the court. Asking the park ranger why the lights weren't on, his response was "because you're not playing anymore." 


The FTL bike polo players have been playing at Holiday continuously, 2-3 times a week, for over a year now. We've had no complaints other than "open containers" but it is never the bike polo players, only spectators on bicycles. The bike polo players brought this unused court back to life, and now it's been taken away. 


The city has never complained about bike polo in general. Their reason now is "as of November 10th, 2009, it is $20 per hour for the permit for the court, and another $40 per hour for lights." A total of $60 per hour to use, otherwise unused, roller hockey courts. The All Florida tournament was held on December 5th and 6th, just about a month after the permits came into act. 


If you have any references, stories, or legal help for us, please write to me! FTL will not go down without a fight!


communitymallets@yahoo.com

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