Baba Kyari

It’s clear to the secretary of the Nigeria Polo Federation: if the game is to prosper in Africa, it needs to be repositioned as the sport of the people, rather than the game of kings

ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY

I recently met with Nicholas ColquhounDenvers, president of the Federation of International Polo (FIP). He was concerned about the level of the game being played in Africa and that most African polo-playing countries were not participating in FIP activities. I gave my opinion as to the reasons for this lack of participation, which is primarily the handicap level for the FIP World Cup and how it is impossible for those countries to raise teams to fit into the format. We agreed it was imperative to create a tournament format suited for 4–6 goals to enable the participation of these countries – and thus the idea of a Pan-Africa Polo Championship was born. The nuts and bolts are still being worked out, but this initiative represents a new beginning.

I have long been concerned about the growth of polo in Africa, which is the continent most likely to be the next frontier for the game’s development. For our sport to be known worldwide, we need to tap into all potential hotspots, and Africa presents an old yet all-new arena. Polo first came to Africa by virtue of the British colonial army and was played in South Africa in the 1890s. Its popularity then spread to west Africa and other British colonies and, by the early 1900s, was well rooted in most British protectorates, including Ghana, Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

I have worked in polo administration both at club and national levels in Nigeria and had the honour of interacting with some of the most interesting administrators both at home and abroad. My father was a player and had been the secretary of our polo association, and I was privileged to be quite close to the late General Hassan Usman Katsina, chairman of the Nigerian Polo Association and a member of the famous royal household who had propagated the game throughout northern Nigeria in the early days. These two men no doubt shaped my opinion about what I think polo should be and how it might get there.

There is a need to elevate polo in Africa and I often ponder how this can best be achieved. A recent report on CNN stated that hired ‘assassins’ are taking polo to the next level in Nigeria – by which the journalist meant the Argentines. The news story indicated that the participation of Argentine professionals is upping the game in Nigeria because it presents a higher handicap of play. For me, this is to the detriment of the local playing community, especially those who aspire to be professionals but are denied the necessary exposure and playing time. The story also indicated that the horses used were imported, which means there is no active local horse-breeding programme – in stark contrast with the estimated 3,000 Argentine-bred horses that have been imported into Nigeria in the past 30 years.

Some of our own actions, meanwhile, have tended to make polo a high-stakes and expensive game, and this turns people off right from the beginning. We need to develop home-grown talent. This should include an active youthengagement and training scheme. There is also a need to lower the entry level for the sport by requiring a smaller financial outlay – and local breeding will surely help in this regard. Unfortunately, there are people who feel polo ought to be high stakes, and others who also steadfastly hold on to the premise that polo is the ‘game of kings and the king of games’. I obviously think otherwise.

Right from its earliest roots, polo caught the fancy of royalty the world over. The grace of the horse coupled with the charm of the regal player on horseback was an instant attraction. Royalty and high society bedecked themselves in the vivid colours of pomp and pageantry to attract spectators and to make the sport aptly deserving of the aforementioned title.

While I am not worried about polo being the game of kings, it is the second part of the epithet that concerns me. While, as a player, I appreciate why the gracefulness, commitment, skill and thrill of an exciting match can make polo the king of games, I see football, tennis, cricket and golf as having taken the lead in that regard. I believe this is due in part to their accessibility to both players and spectators. We must do away with the regal illusion and try harder!

I have always marvelled at what has been achieved in the world of golf. I have wondered

A sport only becomes popular in a society in which fans can identify with the players

what rabbit the magicians pulled out of the hat to reinvent the game and make such a drab sport such a money-spinner! We need to brandish our own rabbit – to better illustrate my take on this, put Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams and Adolfo Cambiaso on a bus to Timbuktu and see who keeps getting asked, ‘Sorry, what’s your name again?’

South Africa seems to be doing something right through its grounds development, its encouragement of junior polo in schools and of arena polo, and its breeding programme. These developments put the country way ahead of the rest of the continent, which should eschew the notion that the sport has to be so exclusive and make it as open as possible, especially to youth. On this note, I have thought about what the HPA has been doing with its Schools and Universities Polo Association (SUPA) and junior riders programme, and what South Africa is doing with its schools championships. Egypt has also been organising training camps for its youth, while Oho Sports Development Academy – chaired by Mallam Ahmed Dasuki and with South African former 7-goal player Gavin Chaplin as coach – has been at the forefront of exposing youngsters from Nigeria and Ghana to proper technique. Such programmes will help considerably and need to be supported.

We need to create a conducive atmosphere for the development of new local talent. A sport only becomes popular in a society in which fans and spectators share similar backgrounds and can identify with the players. ‘Assassins’ come, play, get paid and go, whereas my next-door neighbour’s child will become an inspiration to so many. Whenever Nigerian polo is mentioned, one is asked about Dawule Baba, who is still the face of Nigerian polo, yet is no longer so, and has no one with the same talent alongside him. Indeed, it is disheartening that no new kid on the block has reached 4-goals in years and that there are several African countries in which the ‘high-goaler’ is only 2-goals.

Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers fiercely believes that developing a low- to medium-goal championship for Africa, which is in Zone E of the FIP, would be a good way to generate interest in the game, especially as national pride and honour would be involved. Subsequent editions may then introduce age limits and restrictions to induce interest in youth development. While I eagerly await the next phase of this new initiative, I hope we will all put on our thinking caps and get a hold of that rabbit in the hat!

The FIP has appointed Mallam Ahmed Dasuki as special advisor to its executive committee on Pan-African development. He has championed junior polo development in both Nigeria and Ghana and is based in Ghana’s capital, Accra. He plans to travel to the polo-playing countries in the region to encourage the idea of an FIP Pan-African Championship at 4–6-goal level.