Segway HT Polo is a spin off sport which fuses a new generation of high-tech, self balancing transportation, the Segway HT, with a 2000 year old game usually reserved for players on horseback. The game is played much like horse polo but on the Segway HT.

History of Segway Polo

The Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group (Bay Area SEG) has been playing Segway HT Polo for more than a year and has at least 20 players.

Segway polo wasn't created by Bay Area SEG. At least one other group had played a version of the game at a Minnesota Viking's half-time. Bay Area SEG got involved with Segway HT Polo when one of our members, Jonathan van Clute, suggested that we try to put together a polo match. While there was interest, it took Alex Ko to actually put together a couple of mallets and get out there with Jonathan to see if polo on the Segway would really work and, more importantly, be fun. It turned out to work very well and was a lot of fun.

After a couple of months of talking about it and working with everyone's schedules they organized the first actual "match" on July 11, 2004. Five Bay Area SEG members (Jon Bauer, Paul Costa, Alex Ko, Stuart Moore & Jonathan van Clute) showed up to that first match and played a 2-on-2 game. Everyone had a great time so they planned more games and more people started to show up.

A simplified version of the rules was formalized shortly after that and the players have worked as a group to continually update and change them as necessary. A new rules version tailored to tournament play can be found here.

Since it's inception there has been interest in playing Segway HT Polo throughout the U.S. as well as other countries such as; New Zealand, UAE, France, China, Germany and Switzerland.

The First Match - July 11, 2004

History of the Woz Challenge Cup

The Woz Challenge Cup came about when, in 2005, an American living in New Zealand met Bay Area SEG member Steve Wozniak at a book signing. Their conversation turned to polo and ended with a challenge to Steve to bring a Segway Polo team to New Zealand to play their Segway Polo team. It didn't matter that the Kiwis didn't have a Segway Polo team, they are sports crazy and up for any type of competition. Steve came back to the Bay Area Segway Polo players and told them about the challenge. Not only were they up for a match but they also thought it would be great opportunity to travel to New Zealand.

A team was put together and a name was chosen, the Silicon Valley Aftershocks. The organizers (Steve Simms and Philip Bendall for the Pole Blacks and Alex Ko and Stuart Moore for the Aftershocks) also chose a name for the tournament - the Woz Challenge Cup and it was determined that the tournament would become the international Segway Polo championship.

The Aftershocks traveled to New Zealand in 2006 and played the first Woz Challenge Cup against the New Zealand Pole Blacks before a large, somewhat partisan crowd at the New Zealand Polo Open. To their credit, the Pole Blacks tied the Aftershocks 2-2.

The Woz Challenge Cup has become an annual event that will hopefully continue to grow as the popularity of Segway Polo grows.