Mediocre Polo, Epic Fun? Mediocre was a bit unfair, but epic was a huge understatement!

Friday night, while players from Manchester, Sheffield, Aberdeen and Edinburgh were making their way across the country in cars and trains, and as the sun set (quite beautifully) in Glasgow, the Growel in yer Bowel alleycat got underway. Aaron’s sub-10 mile route took us from our polo court in the West End right across town to the Merchant City, before heading back west to the final checkpoint/pub. Clues led us to some of the city’s most famous landmarks, a few of GBP’s favourite local businesses, and a quick chance for riders to have a go showing off their polo skills, scoring a goal with the help of/against Clem. Balloons, padlocks, pens to the face, pubs, squiggly bridges, a Tall ship, polo, a TARDIS, a big mad guy on a horse who can’t spell Afghanistan, and some IPA. The alleycat’s results are below, and each racer received some prizes donated by our sponsors, topping off a brilliant wee evening.

1st – Brickman
2nd – Ally
3rd – Ali
4th – Stuart
5th – Dunc
6th – Matt

Not long after the Alleycat wrapped up, Manchester blasted into town and we got down to some well earned catching up and beer quoffing. Then bed.

Glasgow, in September? And the sun was shining?! Yup, the weatherman brought us a bucket load of sunshine that lasted the whole day, which might have had something to do with the number of spectators we attracted throughout the day, who joined us for a chat or just sat on the grass and watched.

After sweeping the court and getting our new goals built up, we kicked off the tournament at a decent hour and played four swiss rounds, which seeded teams for the double-elim knockout. The Manchester guys were instrumental in organising the format, and games were switched over quickly and efficiently. As well as everything going exactly as according to plan, the atmosphere courtside was really relaxed and fun, and it was really nice seeing old old faces and new, and gabbing away in between games while munching a tonne of Tunnocks.

On the court there was some damn good polo being played, and an equally friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere. You could tell we all loved playing our polo.

Every team got at least seven games, which aint half bad for a one day, one court, ten team tournament, and due to a team having to pull out last minute, three players who hadn’t previously had a team got together and got a chance to play. (And their result wasn’t too shabby!)

In the end, Team Skuid of Edinburgh took home the much coveted, golden S.H.I.T. VII trophy. Congratulations to the guys! The full results are below.

WINNERS – Skuid.

2nd – Spokey Dokeys
3rd – Flowery Tw*ts
4th – Manchester B-Team
5th – Multiple Scoreg*sms
5th – The Beard’s Last Stand
7th – Lock Up Your Sisters
7th – Shuffle!
9th – Septic Tanks
DFL – Stevie’s Bearded Wonders

But the day was still not done; after trophy giving came the prizes, and thanks to the massive generosity of our sponsors (who you can see on our poster below), EVERY player went home with something, with teams winning cycling equipment from local and national businesses, and polo equipment from both Throw in Polo Co and Magic Bike Polo. It might not seem like much, but being able to thank players for traveling hundreds of miles and playing their hearts out with a mallet head, or a cycling cap, or a tshirt, is hugely appreciated, and really added to a great weekend.

Then of course we had a tap-out game by way of farewell to two of our Glasgow players; Trish, who joined us earlier in the year and will be missed when she leaves in October, and James, one of Glasgow’s founding players who has been guiding us through the beardy hallways of polo since 2008. This will be his last tournament as a Glasgow resident, and I hope we did him proud.

After we packed up, where did we go? Aye, where else?

We got the mezzanine booked off in Coopers up the road, and made sure we were properly fed and watered. It was an absolute pleasure spending the evening with such a great bunch of folk. Then, clad in glad rags, we hit the dancing.

Unfortunately, the weather was just too damn Scottish for us to do our planned Polo BBQ the next morning, but we poured ourselves out of bed and headed down to our friends Siempre for some all day breakfast and great coffee.

The day just wasn’t long enough, and soon we said our farewells as teams had to head off home. But what a weekend we had.

Thank you to everyone who put it together, including the weatherman, all our sponsors, and to everyone who came to play polo with us. I hope you had as much fun as we did. It was absolutely awesome, and you’ll always be welcome in Glasgow. There will be even more photos on their way, and a video is being edited together for your pleasure as we speak. If you have any snaps, share them on the facebook page!

See you all at S.H.I.T. VIII!

Love from Glasgow.