I’m battered, bruised, and have lost my voice. The true extent the how much fun I had this week end with our “Taupo Tap-Out”
I need to make a few shout outs because it is because of these people that the “Tap-Out” was a success. It’s a big list!!! Shane Blackmore’s unending energy, commitment to the cause and his skills with steel. Dude you made this shit happen!!! Randall Elliott Jody Green Sarn Elliott, Glen and Isla Sando Josh Joyce, Frank Sutton These are the Taupo Hardcourt Bike Polo crew, and have been the greatest group of people to have around when trying to organize something like the Tap-Out. Craig Johnston for help with the Tournament Draws. Steve and  Melissa Giles of Bikefest. Thank you for your hard work with getting us funding, and sorting out the transport for the overseas teams (yes Chch is overseas ) My Whanau. Who helped with supplying the volunteer muscle that is needed to make things run smoothly. Especially Nathan, who’s a legend on the stopwatch. The Sponsors The Dive Shack – Rapids Jet – Rapid Sensations – Rock’n'Ropes – and Sony. Thanks guys for giving the teams something to remember when they get home.
Last but not least the Teams them selves. Thank you everyone for giving everything they had for every game. It was a hot windy day, and It wasn’t easy playing that hard for as long as you did. Special thanks to the Finalists Triple Dutch Rudders (Brisbane) and Soju Fueled Instigators (Auckland) Your guys game in the “Stadium of Awesomeness” was a game to behold, and I could not have wished for a better game for the spectators to watch.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

I’m sorry if I missed anyone

HEY POLO PEOPLE!!!!

We are now a week away from our big event and I think it’s about time to make sure everyone has all the information needed to make your trip and stay in Taupo stress free.

1st. For over seas travelers remember NZ has very tight bio-security so clean mud from shoes and bike tyres and don’t bring food, snakes, Pauline Hanson, spiders or crocodiles over. When you fill in your form, declare your bike under sporting equipment, but tell people at the quarantine entrance that it’s a road bike. They will want to check ALL Mountain Bikes, and will more often than not check a ‘road bike’ all the same, but in some cases will let you go through without the search.

Rental car pick up: We will have 2 vans plus a trailer for people arriving into Auckland Airport. I suggest that the named drivers (people who gave me their license details) pick the vehicles up. Details of collection are as follows.

Free pick up from the Airport Terminal (During office hours)
Please phone us on             0800 73 68 23       press 1 and 1 again and we will come and collect you in our free courtesy shuttle. You will be brought back to our office located 3km away to sign the paperwork.

Pick up Auckland Airport (Out of office hours)
Once you have cleared customs please make your way to the I-site to pick up an envelope with you name on it. On the envelope will be the registration of the vehicle and the location of the vehicle parked in the public car park e g N1 (row N space 1).
Inside the envelope will be a copy of your rental agreement, drop off instructions for our depot or instructions of what to do if you have arranged to leave the car at the airport car park and the car park ticket which you will need to pay before leaving the car park.
If picking your car up from the Auckland domestic airport car park I-site closes at 21.00 you will need to contact us for instructions of where the key will be.

It is about a 4hr drive south on State Highway 1.

1st arrivals since there will be 8 of you will get the 1st van with the trailer. The 2nd van is for 4 people arriving late. I have asked for the back seats to be removed so it will be easier to get your bikes in the back.

When you get to Taupo:

(from the North)….come down the big steep hill across a bridge….through the 1st round about and the shops will be on your left…..follow this road until the lake is on your right…..then call me.
(from the South)…Come up to the round about with the airport on the right…take the left lane….follow this for about 5km the lake will be on your left….as you get closer to town you will see the Napier turn of on your right, keep going up the hill and take the next road entrance on the left…then call me.

My number is 02102561860. I will come down and get you all settled into your accommodation.

Late arrivals please call me when you get into town as well to make sure you have arrived safely and I’ll show you where you are staying. I apologize in advance for waking the people already asleep, but a few of the Brisbane guys won’t be arriving till 3-4am.

FRIDAY 25th NOVEMBER!!!!  TAUPO TAP-OUT Tournament:

Everyone will be staying roughly where the No:5 is on this map and is only a 5-8 minute bike ride to the venue at the Waireki Taupo Campus.

Breakfast: Sorry but we won't be providing a breakfast. Where you are staying there are cooking facility's, and a coffee cart on the lake front not far from where you are staying for those that need a coffee start. They are cash only. I suggest if you need breakfast to grab something on the way down. Our Supermarket closes at 10:30pm

6:30-7:30 -  Venue set up. If anyone wants to came and help they are more than welcome. We have some volunteers but more hands make light work. Our venue has both Male and Female toilets. FYI

7:30 -8:00 - Team T-shirts will be available for collection. Some people have already paid me for these t-shirts (thank you) and are the only thing that I need to have paid for. This is not for revenue collecting, there is not profit in these tees. It is for exposure of our sport. I want this event to be professional. We have a potential audience of 14'000 people and we need to look good!!

Race Briefing 8:00am: Race briefing will start at 8:00 am I will run over the rules. I would like each team to nominate a Team Captain. It will be the Team Captains job to make sure he knows who, where, and when his team is playing. We are on a tight time budget and need this to run as smoothly as possible.

8:30 Kick Off!!:   1st games kick off.  IT"S GOING TO BE A BIG DAY!!! We have two courts operating. So please be aware what court you are playing on.

LUNCH:  There will be no official lunch break and it will be up to the team Captains to figure the best time to take a break. Lunch will be provided for each team by us and there will be vegetarian options. There will also be water and Isotonic drink available. I haven't organized beers this year, and you are more than welcome to bring your own, I'll probably join you.

4:00 FINISH: We are expecting to finish just before 4:00. At this point we will have found the two teams that will be competing at the "Stadium of Awesomeness" in the main street. This is why we have time restaints. We need 1 court packed up and moved to the main street to have the final start at 5:00. Again more hands for this job the faster it will happen.

5:00 FINALS GAME: This is what you are all playing for people. The main event on the calender. The final game in the "Stadium of Awesomeness"
There are things about this that every teams needs to be aware of and I  apologize in advance for this. But to get our courts to fit in the main street they will be 600mm narrower than the courts you will be playing on during the day. There are also 4 cat eyes in the middle of the court with 7 meter eyes running down the right hand side of the court about 400mm from the right hand court edging. These will not affect bike performance but may affect the ball if they are hit. I ask the Finals teams to forgive us in the name of the greater good of our sport, as the exposure that this game will give us is unprecedented. If any team feels that these court draw backs in any way affect their performance or game out come please let me know as we can re-run the final on Saturday morning.

6:00 - 8:00: Our court will be locked down in the main street till 8pm. During this time there will be a street criterium which everyone is welcome to watch. There was talk of having some throw in games but the risk of the ball flying out and causing trouble for the crit riders is there. So I would like people to encourage anyone interested in having a go, to let them roll around in the court. Again trying to promote our sport, and the reason for the t-shirts. Lets be professionals.

8:30 Prize Giving: This is being held at the Spa Hotel.( http://www.spahoteltaupo.com/ ) This is Taupos Oldest hotel and just so you know, it has character. We have organized storage for the bikes and suggest riding there as this will be the easiest option. The Spa opens at 6pm if anyone wants a head start on the evening.
A main and a beer or wine is about $20 - $25. Attached is the menu. There will be a vegetarian option, but at this stage I'm not sure what the chef has planned, but hopefully it will have some imagination. Could I get the team leaders to pass this menu to your team so I can get an idea for the chef what meals we would like to have. I'll be meeting them Tuesday night so if I can get an idea of food choices by then please.

8:30 - Midnight: The Spa will be open till 12:00. From here the night is young. Just 10minutes walk is a thermal river that has a waterfall and a swimming hole for any one wanting an adventure.

SATURDAY: This is the reason for 14'000 people in town. Race start is 7:00am and worth watching for comedy value as that many people with that much nervous energy thinking about the next 6+ hours in a saddle is just great to watch. The prizes I have for the top 3 teams have been designed to be used before mid-day today. Most start at 9am and go for about 2 hours. Just so you know. I'm sorry but I won't be able to join you for the morning as I'll be the head mechanic for the the elite road race. I will be leaving you in the capable hands of my 2iC Shane. (Cheers Shane)
We have games of pick up organized for the afternoon for the players still around Saturday. Some of you will be leaving today and all the Taupo crew wish you all a safe trip back home.

SUNDAY: Like all hotels we have the accommodation till 11am Sunday morning. We have been asked to make sure everyone gets out ok, at which point we need to make sure the place is cleaned and handed back better than before. I know I don't need to say this but I will. Finding accommodation like we have for the time of year it is, is very rare and lucky. All fingers crossed this will be an annual event, and we will be able to have this venue again. Could I ask everyone to respect this place and treat it with care. I want to use it again. Also this is the last day for the Hire Van. And It will need to be back in Auckland this day. Those staying longer are welcome to so, but will need to find their own way back to Auckland. We can billet you out longer if needed. Please let me know if this is the case.
I want to say thank you to all the Teams and People involved. With out your guys support this wouldn't have been possible, and from all of us here in Taupo would like to say we hope you enjoy our event and are looking forward to meeting new faces.

Again Cheers.

Taupo Hardcourt Bicycle Polo.

For TAP-OUT we will be running two courts:  Briefing will be at 8am Finishing at 4pm Finals in the Main St at 5pm

The 14 entered teams will be given a preliminary grading based on what we know of their skill level (in discussion with visiting teams) and put into two hats, one of likely top half and one of likely bottom half teams, these will then be drawn to form two separate round robin pools which are as even as possible over the range of ability.  The round robins will be played in these separate pools, 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.  The points earned will then be used to seed the teams into a Single Elimination Bracket of 14 teams for the second part of the day.

Any ties in the seedings from the round robin pools will be sorted by total goals scored by that team in the round robin – (to encourage teams to keep scoring rather than sitting on a lead and letting the clock run down).  If there is a tie after that analysis then it will come to total goals scored less total goal conceded by a team, if there is still a tie then a coin toss will be done to determine the split.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!!

We are on a really tight time schedule and we need to keep the games rolling with minimal down time.  And I ask all teams competing to be organized and be aware of who your playing and be ready for your games  This is going to make the day full on for all involved but this is so we can set up a court in the Main St of town, to hold the final game. This game needs to start at 5pm on the dot, and can’t go beyond 5:45. So Management have the right to call a time limited final on the day. (Hope you all understand) We are hoping that everything will run to time which will mean we have found the top 2 teams at 4pm.

Good luck everyone!!! and see you in a few weeks. Any questions please contact me nigeltipene@hotmail.co.nz.

Cheers!

All games will be timed for 15mins or first to 5 goals. The Finals game will be un-timed.

Just wanted to say thanks to all the teams that have registered and are making the effort to play our tournament. Us all here in Taupo are getting excited, and can’t wait to check sticks with you all on the court.

See you all Thursday 24th November.

Accommodation has been sorted for all the people playing at the Taupo “Tap-OUt”. It will communal living right on the lakes edge. If you can bring a sleeping bag and a therma-rest just to make it a bit more comfortable. If you don’t have the room to bring these things let me know so we can try and do a round up of these items for you.

Also times running out to confirm with me your entry. I need Team name, t-shirt sizes, preferred team colour, and details of flights if your flying in. nigeltipene@hotmail.co.nz

Cheers.

Nigel.

There are only a couple of weeks till entries for the “Taupo Tap-Out” close.

We still have a couple of places left but they are filling fast. So be in quick. e-mail me at nigeltipene@hotmail.co.nz     to confirm your place.

watch?v=LzWwQ7tRGxI

Us here in Taupo have decided we’d like to spice the event up some what, and we are asking competing teams to pick a “Theme Tune” to be played as the enter the courts for battle. If you can get your theme tune in a Mp3 format on a stick of some sort we’ll play about 15-20 secs, so make sure what you bring can be played easily.

The T-Town Terrors have decided on Van Halen’s – Panama. Chur.

watch?v=w-NshzYK9y0

Hey Guys the Taupo “Tap-Out” Tee’s are confirmed. They will have your team names across the back, and in any colour you want. Some colours have already been taken so get your orders in fast. They will cost each player $25 and will be a souvenir from the 1st “Taupo Tap-Out”. Definitely a  collectors item for future generations of Hardcourt Polo players.

Sorry for the confusion.

We had applied for funding to help players from out side NZ’s Nth island get to our tournament. We didn’t get as much as we wanted so we have had to pull our flight subsidizes and focus it else where. The focus now is on providing transport from Auckland Airport and back. We have vans and a trailer on standby to get you to the “Tap-Out”. This includes fuel. The only consideration is when people are flying back. Some are leaving earlier than others.

Jane at the House of Travel can still find you all flights, and from what I’ve seen shes been able to get some great prices for people wanting to travel.

Few other things:

We aren’t charging an entry fee to the tournament, but we would like people to purchase a souvenir “Tap-Out” t-shirt with their team name printed across the back in a preferred team colour. (Can i get sizes as well, thank you) Costs to be confirmed but shouldn’t be that much.

Because of this fact ENTRIES CLOSE MONDAY 31st OCTOBER.

Accommodation will be at a premium due to the fact there will be an extra 20’000 people in town, so we are billeting people with friends. If you require any specific needs please let me know.

Any questions e-mail me sweetchillibudda@gmail.com

Cheers.

Nigel.