Clash of the Mallets, Salinas – Monterey County’s First Bike Polo Tournament

Clash of the Mallets, the first bike polo tournament in Monterey County history, was held at Natividad Creek Park, Salinas. The organizers intend for this to become an annual event.

Below are scenes from the finals, held Sunday, March 15, 2015.

In addition, see scenes from Saturday’s games:

• Juan Villa’s photo gallery, published by the Salinas Californian: http://www.thecalifornian.com/picture-gallery/news/2015/03/14/photo-gallery-clash-of-the-mallets-in-salinas/24763703/, along with his summary.
• David Royal’s photo gallery, published by the Monterey County Herald: http://photos.montereyherald.com/2015/03/14/photos-clash-of-the-mallets-bike-polo-tournament/
• Royal’s video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0FdFz5EuVs.

Read about Clash of the Mallets in Dennis Taylor’s story in the Herald: http://www.montereyherald.com/sports/20150314/mallets-will-clash-on-bike-polo-field-in-salinas

Thanks to all of the above for covering this historic event.

Tip of the helmet to Clash of the Mallets organizers, volunteers, and supporters, including Nicholas Takashi Santana (“Tinman”), Rob Garcia, Bear Bikes, and many others.  Please contact organizers for a full list of sponsors and volunteers.

To contact organizers of Clash of the Mallets and otherwise connect with the Salinas bike polo scene, refer to info on Bicycling Monterey’s main resources/bike community page.

For more about biking Salinas, click here.

Missed this event because you didn’t know about it? Many such events are listed on Bicycling Monterey’s master calendar. (Clash was listed there since January 4.)

Short link to this post: http://bit.ly/ClashSalas

Below, in the Sunday finals, teams from

Melbourne, Australia vs Santa Cruz, California

All photos courtesy of Salinas bike polo player and Monterey County bike community leader Luciano Rodriguez.