“For me, as a bike cyclist, it’s just another fun thing to do on a bike rather than just riding from A to B,” he said.

Although Potter said bike polo has been in existence for almost 100 years, it didn’t become a sport at MSU until the MSU Bike Project volunteers started playing recreationally several years ago.

“We tried getting some things together, there’s some other bike polo clubs in the area,” Potter said. “But then I thought it would be fun to try to get a weekly schedule.”

Potter started hosting bike polo as an organized sport at MSU in January. He and his team of about 12 MSU students play at IM Sports-West every Friday.

Fisheries and wildlife junior Dan Ryan, who’s been a member of the group for about a month, said bike polo is similar to another familiar sport.

“It’s like soccer, except you’re on bikes,” Ryan said. “You have mallets and the ball (is) the size of a grapefruit.”

Players score by hitting the Wiffle ball against a plastic trash can. The goal only counts if the ball is stuck with the end of mallet, not the side.

Teams consist of three players on each side. Collisions aren’t unheard of during matches. In fact, Ryan said they’re common.

“Last time we played, we had two guys with a head-on collision,” he said. “Both guys went over the other guy’s bikes. I usually leave with a couple bruises. When you’re going fast on bikes with other people, you’re gonna crash.”

Ryan’s roommate, Gerarde Lopez, a chemistry freshman, was invited to participate by Ryan. Lopez said it’s a friendly game, for the most part.

“You never feel like you’re being forced to play to the extent where you don’t want to,” Lopez said. “It’s laid-back, but you can make it intense if you want.”

Potter said bike polo requires a great amount of skills.

“You have to control your bike, you can’t be crashing into people,” Potter said. “So that involves bike skills, but then you have to have hand-eye coordination with the mallet and the ball. It’s just a combination of ball sports and cycling, so what’s not to like about it? It’s a great combination.”

Potter eventually wants to compete with bike polo programs in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, which he said are further along than the one at MSU. He hopes to see its MSU presence grow.