THE TENTH annual Segway Polo World Championship will be hosted by local club Warwick next year as the popular tournament comes to the UK for the very first time.
Warwick Segway Polo Club (W.S.P.C.) has confirmed this week that it has been awarded the right to host the ‘Woz Challenge Cup’ at the New River Sports & Fitness Centre in North London from July 27-30 in 2017.
The tournament has been played overseas since its inception back in 2006 and due to the scale and size of the event, it will be played in the capital.
“To be able to arrange this prestigious event in one of the greatest cities, if not the greatest city in the world, is a dream come true for us,” said Steve Chidlow, chairman of Warwick Segway Polo Club.
“The newly founded W.S.P.C is incredibly proud to have been awarded the hosting of the 10th World Cup Championship and in true British style will put on a great sporting show to celebrate the occasion.”
The Woz Challenge Cup is named after Apple co-founder and long-time Segway Polo player Steve Wozniak and it was first played in 2006, when his team ‘Silicon Valley Aftershocks’ famously challenged the New Zealand based ‘Pole Blacks’ to a game in Auckland, which ended in a dramatic 2-2 draw.
Having been previously held in other key locations including Washington DC and Indianapolis in USA, as well as Barbados and most recently Cologne in 2015, the tournament now attracts up to 20 international teams.
Warwick are keen to present an equally outstanding competitive environment and the New River Sports and Fitness Centre will provide incredible facilities, boosted further by a recent £4m refurbishment, which will allow for between 24 and 30 teams to play across four pitches over four days.
“The UK will be entering several teams providing players with the opportunity to compete against some of the World’s best and most established teams,” Chidlow continued.
“For those new to the sport, they will witness one of the fastest-moving, high-tech sports out there, thrilling for both players and spectators alike.”
W.S.P.C. was formed back in April at St Nicholas Park, although it holds events across the whole of Warwickshire, and has become a leading club in helping promote the sport in the UK.
The first international tournament to be held in the UK took place in April 2015 but this is the first time the International Segway Polo Association (ISPA), who are based in California, has awarded the competition to Britain.
April Baron-Harrison, marketing manager at W.S.P.C. and co-founder of UK Segway Polo, added: “We’ve worked tirelessly to introduce Segway Polo to Great Britain and being granted this honour is testament to the confidence held in W.S.P.C to organise a successful World Championship.”
For more information about W.S.P.C. visit www.warwicksegwaypoloclub.org or to find out more about segway polo visit www.spolo.co.uk
