What do you all think?
I am leaning more towards yes, for more or less the same reasons we use helmets.
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here a summary of arguments from a discussion in the berlin community:
against face cages:
- helmets with integrated face cages are not made for bike crashes and might not be safe
- strapping a cage to a bike helmet might actually be dangerous, as the helmet/cage are not made for it
- mandatory rules for protection are a slippery slope
- these rules go against the polo spirit
- having everyone wear more protection might make the game harder and thus more unsafe (like in american football)
- other factors, like people playing drunk/stoned, have a higher priority to be addressed
- face cages impair vision which makes them dangerous
- it makes the sport even less accessible for rookies as it is another piece of niche gear required
pro face-cage arguments:
- wearing a face-cage safer for the one wearing it
- face injuries are the worst and at the same time the most easy to protect against
- I’d feel shitty if I hit someone in the face (with a deflected ball, or with a unlucky swing), so I’d prefer them to be protected
- wearing a face-cage might be a slight disadvantage, so making it a rule levels the playing field
- you get used to the face-cage really quickly if you give it a fair chance (using it for more than a weekend)
my personal opinion is that they should be mandatory. as emilio says, most arguments for&against them could be made for wearing helmets and we somehow decided that they are mandatory
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Yes please. I don’t feel as cool as other players now that I started to wear one and I resent that.
[Seriously though, I reckon the points above about it being off putting for new players and that it makes the game harder and more reckless are legit. So I wouldn’t want it to become mandatory.
At the end of the day people need to take responsibility for how much they want to protect themselves.
On the other hand obviously it would be great if people took responsibility for not playing dangerously, but accidents and muppets both exist… so I’d like to see mallet hooking removed from the game and harsher penalties for wild swinging.]
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If we want to prevent injury, we should sit at home and certainly not have fun.
Mandatory equipment should be used to prevent serious injury. Hence why helmets are mandatory, they prevent a likely serious injury in bike polo if not worn (concussion).
No injury happening without wearing a facecage is likely to be a serious one therefore it should be choice driven.
In hockey people use facecages because of the very real threat of a puck destroying your face. There no such risk in polo.
Serious Injury according to the Internet:
- Fractures
- Concussions
- Internal Injuries
- Crushing
- Burns (excluding friction burns)
- Severe Cuts
- Severe General Shock (requiring medical treatment even if not resulting in a stay as an in-patient.)
Personal injury:
- Sprains
- Bruises
- Minor Cuts
- Slight Shocks
Edit 1:
In another discussion, I’d like to see the removal of Hurling helmets, they are not an appropriate protection against concussion in a bike accident, therefore should not be tolerated in bike polo. That goes with my philosophy on “mandatory equipment should be used to prevent Serious injury”.
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what about these safety measures?
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here is my list of facts rather than pros and cons.
im comfortable playing with people without face cage as they usually very aware of it. im also very aware of my motions.
i have never hit someone in the face but i got hit with and without a face cage ( i have a scar on my chin since). they were always good friends and the hits where completely unintentional and unavoidable from both party.
face injuries happen in bike polo at any level.
you can get hit in the face by a mallet or a ball.
shit you can get hit in the face by a mallet or a ball when standing around a polo court ! obviously not gonna ask spectators to wear a facecage but its good to have sign displayed everywhere around the court if there is public demo. also dont sit your babies on the boards.
you can loose teeth or a part of your tooth
you can get hit in the eye with enough force for it to pop out not listed as a serious injury by the internet
i can find you a hockey helmet for cheaper than a mallet
wearing a facecage increase my confidence to :
enclose players with ball possession while they are shooting without bein scared of getting hit , allowing you to reach low for the ball.
not blinking when goal tending against a hard hit, with a ball flying up.
it doesnt affect my field of vision or accuracy to hit the ball ( some facecages can be badly designed and in the way tho)
thats enough for me to wear a facecage.
i wouldnt make them mandatory but we should always make people aware of the risk.
possibly make participants sign a discharge when organizing events, tourney, demo, to protect the club from getting sued ? i d definetly not encourage people to think that their face is safe on AND around a polo court .
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Acab you goddamn polocops
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u such a rebel lol
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BBP is thinking of investing in face-cages for our newbs and first-timers. I think the pros outweigh the cons. I also think that serious injuries can occur due to a lack of a face-cage.
However, making it Mandatory is probably a bad idea for the same reasons mentioned above. Mouth guards seem to be trending in Lyon. They want to look cool when they play…
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lyon bp, they know they can get serious injuries and momo runs the brigade of swag there
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In Lublin some players did have facecages from the begenning.
After I was hit with mallet in the face, I did buy my own helmet with facecage.
Now 5/6 polo people in Lublin do wear facecages.
When some new person come we take off most of our equipment and just do some slow polo.
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The OP is about “at tournaments”.
I don’t see any comment about that. It needs a proper thread about pro and con of face cages.
The only thing i can see is: if they are mandatory it will most likely save times on injuries timeout (blood always stop the game for some reason).
But on the other hand it will VERY likely make lost some time with rebel player without face cage and delaying the start of some games.
For me the cons outweight the pro which are only time-saving argument (in the case of a tournament).
On a personal and off topic note: il like face cage, helmet and gloves. I got hit serveral times per season in these area. Hard swing and hooking ban could save a few of this hits but very not likely a lot of them.
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Can’t see this issue
I think that rules should be designed to stop dangerous behaviour instead of forcing people to use protective equipment…there are a lot of rules already in place that would make the game saver if they were applied.
Just think about how ridiculously dangerous this shit was before rules like obstruction - we could have just decided there to ride around like freakin hockey players
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im pretty sure every sport that involve sticks and balls have people wearing face cage, and some will choose not to wear them at their own risk.
i find it even more dangerous ( for the growth of the sport/game) to cripple the mechanics of play by adding rules that will cancel natural play ( like big shots with high sticks)
if for exemple it gets to the point that all shots have to be under the handlebars i will plain quit bike polo or play a separate league that allow them.
au contraire i d love to see reffing encouraging clean shots by punishing hits to the face / above shoulders regardless of what happened ( legal big shot or not) a bit like mallet under the wheel is called regardless of whats the situation.
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I personally feel unsafe when people slash and swing their mallets around like crazy. slashing is already a foul, although not reffed that often…there’s also dangerous play which could be reffed. for example, shooting at the joust when both players have their mallets at the ball, it’s almost never called a foul but it should be imho, it’s just stupid.
I guess it depends how violent you like your game, I prefer not to be scared, and I definitely would be in some situations even wearing a face cage, because the rest of my body isn’t protected…
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got you, but i wear protection because of the actual hazard of playing bike polo , it doesnt make me a blood thirsty dog
edit omg i hit the ground so hard last night. big dive , cliped in, my temple hit first with my shoulder and elbow ( same bracing stance as a check, except well i checked the ground)
i think i cracked my hand in between my chest and the floor tho.
but the hit in the head was bad, i was stunt for a second and thought about “shit its not a bike helmet im gonna die”
but then i was fine. ill keep you posted if i get a seizure today !
update : hand is fucked and all my body hurt but the head/neck got 0 dammages 
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damn :((((
benjiiiiiiiiiiiii <3333333333333333333333333333
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petit epanchement de synovie mot compte triple toujours sympa
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