There was hot competition on the chilly hardcourt at The Hangar in Fyshwick as Canberra's biggest bike polo tournament yet got underway.
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Forty-six players from Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne registered to take part in back-to-back games of the grittier street-style version of the gentleman's sport.
Tara Sullivan and her daughter Ella Cuthbert, 13, took on bike polo in 2015 and while honing their skills the mother-daughter duo have seen Canberra embrace the alternative sport.
The Watson mother said it was her eldest, Zoe, 15, that got her involved at first.
"She said 'mum we've got to do this,'" she said. "Last year we were total newbies but the teams really supported us in learning to play. It's so fun and we have been going since then."
Ella, an avid mountain biker, and her mother were two of 11 women competing.
The teen said her confidence was growing since she had overcome the initial hurdle of learning to balance on the bike, riding at speed, riding with one hand and thinking about what to do with the mallet in the other.
"It is scary at first when you're riding up to someone and they're all 'I'm going to hit the ball' and your all 'Oh, no my face!'" she said.
"It's really about having the confidence to keep up and keep hold of the ball."
Canberran Tim Keith, 21, said he picked up "hipster polo" first in Launceston and has played for the past three years.
"For people who like bikes, there's a chance to have a chat and it's probably the most social way to ride a bike," he said.
"Last year at this tournament I was one of just two Canberra players and it's grown heaps."
In fact, event organiser Noah Poland, 15, said there had been marked growth in interest on their Facebook page and four new players in as many months to join and play regularly at Ainslie Primary School.
"The interest has been great but what we struggle with in the winter is making a time that suits everyone and having enough light to play in the evening," he said.
Fellow organiser Nick Dixon-Wilhurst said with so many bike enthusiasts Canberra was ripe to develop a strong bike polo community.
He said early talks had begun with the ACT government and other sporting groups about securing a suitable facility to broaden the base of bike polo across the capital.
