by Janet Barriage
For the first time in Western Canada, Polo Canada put on a Junior Polo Camp at the Calgary Polo grounds from July 24 to 28, 2006. Geared for those aged 12 to 21, Horses All sent out its Junior Reporter Janet Barriage (aged 17) to get the scoop. Here is her story.
The speed involved in polo was what attracted a lot of the kids to give it a try at the Junior Polo Camp, but they soon found out that there was a lot more to the game than just going fast.
The participants came from all disciplines with varying degrees of riding experience. Many of the riders were from a hunter/jumper background like Darcie Gwinne, 13, and Jordanne Holstein, 16.
Most of them had never tried the game before so this was a new experience and they rented their horses from the club’s polo school. However, Samantha Hamilton, 14, didn’t need to use one of the school’s ponies because she brought her own.
Samantha uses her horse in High School Rodeo and All Girls Rodeo and wanted to see how he would react to the fast-paced, but controlled, game of polo. She said her horse wasn’t too sure about things on the first day, but that he was having a lot of fun by the last day.
On the first day of the camp, everyone got to practice their hitting skills with foot mallets. These are mallets that are short enough to be used without a horse. They learned about the four basic shots. There are near-side and off-side shots. There is the near-side forward and back shot, and the off-side forward and back shot.
After everyone practiced the different shots and was actually able to hit the ball, they moved onto the practice cage. Here, they found “Woody,” a wooden horse. A unique feature of the cage is the slant of its inside walls. They slant to the middle so that the ball will roll back into position and the rider can hit it again.
Aiden Pettigrew, 12, was the first to try out Woody. He had had polo experience before and made it look effortless. Although, after him, everyone else found out very quickly that it wasn’t as easy as Aiden made it look.
Since the polo ponies are so tall, the mallets have to be long enough to touch the ground. They can be very wobbly and hard to control until you’ve had some practice. After a lot of tries on Woody, the horses were brought out.
Each day began with practice by playing games with the foot mallets. Then, everyone advanced to horseback each morning with more practice hitting the ball. After lunch scrimmages were the most fun!
The clinic participants were very lucky as they were able to watch two real games of polo. Since they were learning how to play, they really appreciated how hard polo is and how skilled the riders who play really are.
“The whole week went very well,” said instructor, Scott Weir. Scott has been riding for 25 years and has been playing polo for 20. He is a coach of a high school polo team in Ontario and his team recently won the North American Interscholastic Championships in Texas where they competed against 40 teams.
Scott says he loves to teach kids the game of polo because they learn fast, have a lot of fun, and that they are the future of the sport.
Polo Canada wants to attract more people to the sport from Western Canada, and although this was the first clinic of its kind in Alberta, it definitely won’t be the last.
If you are interested in learning more about the game of polo, please visit www.polocanada.ca.
Did You Know?
… that the oldest polo club in North America is the Calgary Polo Club, which was formed in 1883.
For more information, visit www.calgarypoloclub.com
The Polo Pony
The polo ponies are central to the success of any team. The ponies are often Thoroughbreds, sometimes with racetrack experience. They are considered the most athletic horses because of their requirements to sprint, stop, turn, and race for seven minutes.
Leg wraps and bell boots protect the lower legs of the horse. Have you ever felt polo wraps? They are very thick for a reason! Players must change mounts after each chukker due to the demands placed on the pony.
Rules of the Game
Polo is played by two teams of players mounted on horseback. Outdoor polo teams have four players each, while arena polo has three players per team. The game is played on a ten-acre grass field (about the size of ten football fields). The goals, at both ends of the field, are eight yards across. Teams change their direction of play after each goal. The players wear high boots, knee guards, and a helmet. They must wear white pants in tournaments. The mallet is made of a bamboo shaft with a wooden head. The ball, which used to be made of wood, is now plastic and is about 3 to 3/12 inches in diameter and 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 ounces in weight.
There are six periods or “chukkers” in a match, and each one is seven minutes long. Play begins when the umpire throws in the ball at the start of each chukker and after each goal. The only way play is stopped is because of penalties or injuries. There are no time-outs or substitutions allowed, except for tack repair.
Each team of four players wears a jersey with a number 1 to 4 that indicates their position.
Number 1 is the most offensive, concentrating on scoring.
Number 4 is a defensive player, responsible for defending the team’s goal.
Usually, the most experienced and highest-rated players are at positions 2 and 3. The team captain number is 3. This player must serve as field captain, or quarterback, and coordinates the offense.
Each player is also assigned an opponent to cover on defense. The players must shift to offense and defense and make any play that will benefit the team.
History of Polo
Polo has been around for 2500 years, and was first played in the Middle and Far East. It is fast-paced and can be dangerous so it’s a lot of fun to watch! The horses race at top speed down the field to hit a baseball-sized ball from on top of their horse.
For the last two centuries, the object of the game has stayed the same, which is to gain control of the ball and hit it through the goal posts.
