Yep, Segway Polo is a sport, and they just had the world championship

As if I had to tell you, the Balver Malmmuts beat the Blade Pirates 2-0 to win the gold medal at the Official World Cup of Segway in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday. We’re talking about Segway polo — a sport invented in 2004 by none other than Apple’s Steve Wozniak, and from 2006 until this year known as the Woz Challenge Cup.

Although invented in the San Francisco Bay Area, Segway Polo is popular in several countries: among them Germany, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Austria, Barbados and yes, Lebanon. Fun fact: New Zealand’s team is called the Pole Blacks.

was in a buoyant mood with the tournament in full flow. He gave the low-down on what exactly spectators can expect from the biggest showcase on the Segway polo calendar:

“Segway polo is a little like a combination between horse polo and ice hockey, but with five players on each team,” Stockholm Segway Polo Club Chairman Alexander van Riesen told The Local.

“It’s a new, exciting, intense sport that everyone can enjoy and it’s very similar to other action sports.”

Seems to me this has an awesome awful potential to end up like amusement park bumper cars.

“There is a gentlemanly code of conduct and though incidents do occur, Segway polo is a relatively safe sport to take part in.”

Rules? Two teams of five players attempt to put a Nerf ball through the opposing team’s goal. The field is 200 feet long and 128 feet wide. There four eight-minute periods, or chukkas.

As far as I can figure, the sport was invented in Sunnyvale, CA, just a short distance from Apple headquarters in Cupertino. A charter member of the Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group, which first organized the sport, is Victor Miller. That would be the same Victory Miller who wrote the film Friday the 13th.

And yes, there are mascots.

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Segway Polo World Cup comes to Stockholm [The Local]