Polo Without A Feedbag
POLO WITHOUT A FEEDBAG
HEINZ-J. SCHNEIDER
ONE WAY to get your jollies is to take your bike out to a smooth field and kick a ball around. If a couple of friends join in and split into teams, you have a bastardized version of polo. But it’s cheaper to play. Motorcycles don’t need stables, or eat hay.
In Europe they have made an official game of it, and they call it motoball. The idea is to push a 16-in. ball into the other team’s goal. Motoball has its own rules and is sanctioned by the FIM. They hold regional championships, national championships and tournaments for a European Cup. Even industry is involved in the game: Maico, for instance, manufactures special machines for motoball.
But hardly anyone watches. In 1967 the European Cup went to a German team. The smashing victory went completely unnoticed by the public, and the press. Polo enthusiasts apparently find that motoball falls somewhat short of the sport of kings. Motorcycle purists just don’t take it seriously. Dyed-in-thewool footballers aren’t impressed. Apparently that makes no difference to motoballers, who don’t take motoball
particularly seriously either.
The bikes must be somewhat specialized. The displacement limit is 250 cc with a minimum weight of 198 lb. As the rider must have his feet free for kicking the ball, the bikes have hand shifts. The rear brake is actuated by either of two foot levers, one on each side of the bike, so the rider may be able to stop, no matter from which side he is kicking. Most motoball machines have a rigid rear end, and there is tubing around the footrest to help guide the ball once you have it.
Playing technique is simple. Let fly across the field until you come across the ball. Guide it and kick it with either leg and start heading for the goal.
The task is not as easy as it would seem. The riders on the other team will do their best to snatch the ball from you. But in most cases they’ll be too late. You’ll have lost the ball long before they get to you.
Teams in official FIM play consist of six riders. Five of them play in the field, and the sixth waits at the sidelines to act as a substitute in case one of his mates oils a plug. In a typical play, a man will take control of the ball, and two teammates will ride guard behind him, because it is inevitable that the man who has the ball will lose control of it. The fourth man plays a sort of defense, rushing to and fro, keeping his opponents worried about the imminent prospect of collision.
The fifth man is really ridiculous. He acts as goalkeeper, and never moves more than a few feet. But the rules say that motoball is a motorcycle game. So the goalkeeper must lean on some sort of motorcycle. It is invariably a junk moped. A turkey. The goalie may not even bother with the farce of putting a gas tank on it, which may be a good thing, for as soon as the ball is fired at the goal, he is allowed to drop the bike and jump for the ball.
The game is supervised by a few referees (who may outnumber the crowd). You must love motoball to be a referee. You are on foot. At the mercy of the riders. So, motoball referees are usually marvelous sprinters. Trying to keep from being run down by a motoballer may take more skill than actually playing the game.
