Warwick club to stage Segway World Champs

St Nicholas Park-based Warwick Segway Polo Club have been handed the right to host the 2017 World Championship.

Also known as the Woz Challenge Cup, this will be the first time the championship has been held in the UK having previously been staged in Washington DC and Indianapolis in the US, Barbados and, most recently, Cologne, Germany in 2015.

The 2017 event will take will take place at New River Sports & Fitness Centre in north London from Thursday July 27 to Sunday 30.

“The newly founded WSPC is incredibly proud to have been awarded the hosting of the tenth World Championship and in true British style will put on a great sporting show to celebrate the occasion,” said club chairman Steve Chidlow.

“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.

“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.”

The New Rivers Sports & Fitness Centre recently underwent a £4m refurbishment and UK Segway Polo co-founder April Baron-Harrison says it will provide a worthy stage for the competition.

“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 Baron-Harrison.

“We’ve worked tirelessly to introduce segway polo to Great Britain and being granted this honour is testament to the confidence held in WSPC to organise a successful World Championship.”

The Woz Challenge Cup, named after Apple co-founder and long-time segway polo player Steve Wozniak, was first held in 2006 when his team Silicon Valley Aftershocks drew 2-2 withNew Zealand-based Pole Blacks in Auckland.