20
20
january issue
2020 is here, and we all know what that means. The new year is a time for looking ahead, for resolutions (or in my case continuing exactly as you are but feeling guilt about it) and for making big plans for the upcoming year, or even dare I say it, decade. In this spirit we have collated our own special 2020 calendar with all the upcoming polo fixtures we could find around the UK. Feel free to print it o, and/or add your own dates when they become available. Hopefully it could give you a couple more ideas for tournaments to attend in 2020.
Elsewhere we also take a look at trypolouk, the HPA’s new marketing initiative which broke cover at Olympia this Christmas, as well as some mid season arena handicap changes, a club report or two, and of course our regular updates from Ignacio and the Club News.
All that is left then is for me to say, I hope you had a very enjoyable Christmas, and wish you a very successful new year.
Enjoy the issue
Connor Kay
(editor)
1
by low goal for low goal
Contents Page 5
The Basics - Perfecting the polo “trigger” grip
Page 7
Rugby Polo Club - Midlands Polo Festival 4 goal report
Page 8
Ignacio Fernandez Llorente - Polo in Argentina 2019
Page 11
Mid Season Handicap Changes -All the handicap changes half way through the arena season
Page 23
TryPoloUK - The HPA’s new marketing campaign breaks cover at Olympia
Page17
2020 Calendar -Your compete polo calendar for 2020 (all dates currently released)
Page 31
Club News -Match reports from all over the UK
2
The
Basics The Polo Grip One of the most important, and most difficult things beginners must learn when they are fist introduced to the game is the grip off the mallet. Most people will be able to hold the stick in the correct hand and the right way round (for you in doubt, that means numbers facing away from you). However a number of people miss out on the all important trigger grip, especially when first beginning. Instead most people hold the mallet more like a club, with their whole hand wrapped around the handle. Although it is possible to hit like this, it becomes more and more difficult to control the ball. The main reason for this is that the conventional grip sees and angle made between the mallet and the players arm, while a trigger grip allows the mallet to rest in a way that allows it to hang straight down from your arm. This essentially makes the stick an extension of your arm, and therefore much easier to place on the ground. If the stick is held more like a club, it falls more out to the side, which not only makes it harder for the player to position accurately, but can hamper your swing as the bottom of the stick may not now be parallel to the ground.
Another big advantage of the pistol grip is that the player can control the rotation of the stick head. This can allow more experienced players to change the angle of the stick head at which it hits the ball, allowing players to lift the ball on demand.
Elsewhere the other big trap many players can find themselves falling into is changing their grips for the different shots. Most commonly this occurs when players attempt an offside backhand. They will often shift their thumb to the front, flat side if the grip. This allows them to push on the stick with their thumb and, in theory more power. However the issue with this is that, not only does it lead to players forcing their backhands but also opens you up to mistakes when it comes to positioning the stick head. This could end up with cutting an outdoor ball, or completely missing an arena ball. The key to breaking this habit is actively making an effort to retain a constant grip, without shifting the stick in your hand at all.
Adopting this trigger grip allows you to retain a constant grip throughout your entire polo career. Its is commonplace among almost all players, and is also adopted by 10 goalers, including Facundo Pieres, Juan Martin Nero and Adolfo Cambiaso to use name a few. As a result it is extremely important to master this early, getting you into good habits that will serve you well, no matter how good you go on the become.
Beginner
Trigger Grip
la_low_goal
When the pro asks you to mark a player with stronger horses:
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*season: ends* Polo players who can’t afford to go abroad:
The Youth Prevail After two semifinals on Saturday which saw CANI defeat Onley Equine Vets and Cheltenham dispose of Rugby Polo Club, the finals were set for Sunday with the young Cheltham Collage team of Ben Patrick, Monty Grainger and Ed Walker facing off against Louise Jebson’s much more experienced CANI team, completed by Danny Woodward and Katie Loutsou and Huw Bevan.
CANI started with a 2 goal advantage, although this was quickly disposed of by Cheltenham, thanks to two quick goals from Ed Walker. The remainder of the chukka was fiercely fought, however a fantastic 2 point goal from Monty allowed Cheltenham to hold a slim advantage after the first chukka.
CANI came back swinging in the second chukka however and managed to overcome Cheltenham’s lead and bring the game back towards them.
Once again the game seemed to shift in the third chukka as Cheltengham managed to reel CANi back in. The game became foul ridden and scary as both sides desperately fought for the win. Cheltenham managed to surpass CANI and once again take the lead going into the final chukka.
The final chukka was long and drawn out with many fouls for and against both teams. Both teams managed to add to their tally despite the brutal defending, however CANI were unable to overcome Cheltenham who narrowly ran out the winners by 2 goals.
Ignacio Fernandez Llorente Polo in Argentina 2019
Another year is over, it's time to review, balance, plan what is coming.
throw-in by ROW an important advance was made.
Looking at the year 2019, and what happened in the triple crown of high goal (Totugas, Hurlingham and Palermo). The Umpires could be heard on TV to discuss the fouls, which was a breakthrough, and shows transparency in Argentina at the Polo.
With the introduction of a no blocking rule, and starts with a knock in from the boards (not with throw-in ) the game was opened up.
The year 2019 is the year in which the new management of the AAP (Argentine Polo Association) has managed to impose polo at the highest speed at all levels (low, medium and high goal). It has been a 3-year job through the body of referees, with the support of managers. At all levels a very fast game has been seen, attractive to the spectators and players. The permanent search for fouls and not wanting to play is over. The players learnt that appealing caused them to be late and did not get satisfactory results. In most cases you had to actually play and not gesture for winning a foul. To win a game you had to run fast and hit the ball. The one who gets on the line no longer wins, slows the game and looks for the foul.
The throw-ins used to generate many fouls per game, 50% of throw-ins generated a foul. With the elimination of blowing fouls in the
The referee gradually expands their role, avoiding slow play, warning players during the game so that they do not commit fouls. The referee is on his way to stop being a fouls manager, but to direct the game so that it is fast, attractive, fair and without danger. The trend looks faster, more attractive polo.
Of course regarding the rules there is a lot of work still to do, since the changes are very diďŹƒcult to make from one day to another because you have to overcome the built-in concepts of the players, who do not want to change. Little by little you will have to listen more to the opinions of the umpires about the failures, and leave aside the personal opinions of commentators, professionals and players. You will have to keep improving the respect for the referee, as well as the good treatment of the referee towards the players, which does not mean that he whistles what the player wants.
There are still many doubts about the rules. They will have to train through the media everything related to the application of rules, so that little by little they are better understood.
The next step that is coming is to get polo to appear on worldwide TV, which would cause great growth for all polo levels. In my opinion, to give it the final push, polo should be an Olympic sport.
It is essential to eliminate end changes after each goal, because it is impossible to continue a game by changing sides all the time. You also have to check how time is handled. If you continue with the throw-in at the middle after each goal, you must stop the clock. And when the ball is not in play (o) maybe stop the clock.
Little by little you have to look for the ways that low speed plays are generating fouls.
It is very nice how the player's mentality has changed, they are seen, they want to play, they want to run, they want the ball, they want to score a goal, and they don't go out to look for problems, to stop the game, and to invent fouls. It is extremely important to achieve the same throughout the world, and especially in clubs where the owner or person who has the power still wants to manage the polo to their advantage. The polo has improved a lot, we have achieved it together, and will continue to improve with the eort of everyone. Let us put aside the selfishness of seeking individual profit, let's work together so that there is more polo.
Have a good 2020!
La Low Goal Shop Available at lalowgoal.co.uk
Mid Season Changes We’re half way through the winter arena season which can only mean one thing: mid season handicap changes time. One other thing to note is that any player who has not yet been seen has been placed into brackets, and if they are not seen before the end of the season will lose their arena handicap and be forced to reapply for one next season.
TRYPO
OLOUK
“The new year is often sighted as a time for new beginnings and initiatives” However it seems this has come a week early for the HPA who wheeled out their new “Try Polo UK” marketing scheme at Olympia, the London international horse show. Here the HPA fielded two stands, one upstairs, one downstairs manned by an array of players, coaches and club managers from Westcroft, Silver Leys and Cowdray to name just a few. Each stand consisted of an arrangement of polo related equipment, (helmets, boots, mallets, Argie blankets, etc) along with posters explaining the core principles of the game and “mythbusting” a number of popular beliefs when it comes to polo. Furthermore both stands showed highlights of the high goal, as well as the downstairs stand boasting a wooden horse where shoppers could get a taste for what the sport has to offer.
Immediately notable was the relative popularity of the stands. The downstairs stand especially, probably due to its hands on experience and better positioning, almost always seemed to attract a small crowd, however even at the quieter times, every time we passed the stands people seemed to be engaging with both of them, something that can surely only be a good sign. The information on the posters was informative, and from my time as a non-polo player, relevant to people with little to no knowledge of the game. Everyone on the stands appeared friendly and outgoing and it was refreshing to see ambassadors of more than one club representing the scheme as a whole.
little simpler would have been more attractive and powerful at grabbing passers by.
However nothing is ever perfect and I do have some reservations about the design of the stand and set. Of course this is likely to change anyway as the HPA adapts the scheme as it matures. Despite this, I feel that the stands where not particularly bright or colourful. Of course this is just due to the fact they were following the HPA’s colour pallet, however I feel that some colour would have helped the stand stand out in a way it couldn’t quite achieve, and attract even more potential players to its door. This could possibly be mitigated with larger, possibly portrait banners of people playing in more colourful team shirts. Which leads me onto my other criticism, which was the main title poster itself. It was a photo taken from this years Gold Cup final (Dubai vs King Power). Neither shirts were particularly bright (dark green and white and blue) and the whole shot just managed to look a little cluttered and messy when the title was added (ironically like our front covers). Perhaps something a
My only other reservation about the scheme is that the trypolouk vouchers are only available for a limited time while the stands are set up at shows around the country. Perhaps this is just a temporary measure while the system finds its feet, however surely in the long run it would be much more beneficial to sell the vouchers online all year round. I don’t know how high the demand would be, but assuming word begins to spread, their are likely to be people who simply forget to buy at the time or stumble across them online as a happy accident. If their needs to be some kind of incentive to buying at show time, then why not offer slightly cheaper vouchers or discount codes instead/as well as the vouchers themselves.
Furthermore, if these vouchers were permanently available it would open up opportunities to advertise and sell polo experiences through a number of platforms such as virgin experiences, wowcher and tripadvisor. All of this can surely only help increase the number of people buying these things and therefore expending our great sport.
In the grand scheme of things however, these are only very minor details, and although we can only speculate on the success of the stands for now, they seemed to fair very well for themselves. The fact that this scheme is already running so shortly after the new round of HPA elections is a credit to all the people involved, and I really hope it is a success.
calendar
2020
Please print o the following pages and mark in your own tournaments
january mon
tue
wed
1
thur
2
fri
3
sat
4
sun
5 New Years Cup 4 goal at Rugby Challange Matches at ash farm
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
LPF training day at Black Bears
Championship
Women’s 0-2 goal and 4-6 goal at Westcroft Pro-Am 2 goal at ash Farm
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 4-6 goal HPA national Club championship at RCBPC
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
5-8 Goal VL Minuty Ladies tournament at Victoria Druids Lodge Ludorum 0-4 goal at RCBPC Arena Challange at Rugby
27
28
29
30
31
february mon
tue
wed
thur
fri
sat
1 Comical Cup at Rugby
sun
2 5-8 Goal VL at RCBPC The Academy Cup at Westcroft. 0-4 and 5-8 goal.
3
4
5
6
7
8
SUPA winter nationals at Rugby
10
11
12
13
9 5-8 Goal VL at AEPC Hickstead
14
15
16 The Sworders Trophy at Rugby Paul Sweeny memorial 0-3 goal at Ash Farm
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 Weekend tournament at RCBPC 4-6 goal.
24
25
26
27
28
29 Ladies British Open 4-6 goal at RCBPC Arena Gold Cup Final
march mon
tue
wed
thur
fri
sat
sun
1 SUPA Senior Schools arena champs at Rugby Lismore trophy at Druids
2
3
4
5
6
Pro am Wintere Closer at Ash Farm
7
8
Bryan Morrison International Trophy
SUPA school girls national arena champs at Black Bears Chatanooga and Renshaw Trophy at Druids
9
10
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22 SUPA Junior Schools national champs at Black Bears
23
24
30
31 Challanges at Westcroft
25
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april
mon
tue
wed
thur
fri
sat
sun
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may
mon
4
tue
5
wed
6
thur
7
fri
sat
sun
1
2
3
8
9
10
Hoyle 2 goal at Cowdray
Edgewoeth Shield 4 goal at Edgeworth Vintage Picnic and Polo in the Park at Cirencester
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
0-4 gaol 4-8 Goal spring Cup at Barrett Cup at Cowdray Cowdray
18
19
20
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24 La Ema Polo Mallet tournament 0-4 goal at Beaufort
+ delivery
25 0-6 goal Jubilee Cup at Cowdray
26
27
28
29
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31 0-6 goal Kernow Cup at Beaufort
june
mon
1
8
tue
2
9
wed
3
10
Credit: PoloPhoto
thur
4
11
fri
sat
sun
5
6
7
SUPA University nationals at Offchurch
4-8 goal Easebourne Cup at Cowdray
Gloucestershire
12
13
14
Alzheimer’s Society Charity Polo day at Beaufort
Eduardo Rojas Lanusse VL final. 2-6 goal at Beaufort
Cartier Queens Cup finals at Guards
Festival of Polo at Beaufort
Amir Cup 2 goal at Edgeworth
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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28 Graffham 2 goal at Cowdray Bluestone 2 goal at Edgeworth
july mon
tue
wed
1
thur
2
fri
3
sat
4
sun
5 0-6 Heyshott Cup at Cowdray RJ Polo 1 goal at Edgeworth
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 The Novices Cup -2-2 goal at Beaufort
13
14
15
16
17
King Power Gold Cup semi-finals at Cowdray
18
19
12-18 goal British ladies
King Power Gold Cup finals at Cowdray
Championship
Finals
Te Henderson Rosebowl 0-4 goal a Beaufort
20
21
22
23
24
27
28
29
30
31
25
26
august mon
tue
wed
thur
fri
sat
1
sun
2 Holden white Cup 4-8 goal at Cowdray
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 6 goal championship at Edgeworth
10
11
12
13
14
15
Pony Club Polo at Cowdray
16 0-4 Lodsworth Village Cup at Cowdray The Somerville LivingstoneLearmonth Trophy 0-6 goal at Beaufort
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 Wichenford Bowl VL 4-8 goal at Beaufort
24
25
26
27
28
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30 0-6 goal Wessex Cup at Cowdray
31
september
mon
tue
1
wed
2
thur
3
fri
4
sat
5
sun
6 The Haydon Trophy 4 goal at Edgeworth The Solitaire Salver 0-4 goal at Beaufort
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 0-4 goal Park House Cup at Cowdray The Sidebottom Cup 0-6 goal at Beaufort
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 0-6 goal Farewell Cup at Cowdray
21
22
23
28
29
30
24
25
26
27
Credit: Stephan Wall Photography
october
mon
tue
wed
thur
fri
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sun
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november
mon
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december
mon
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lalowgoal.co.uk
OUT NOW
Club News
Good day at Emsworth Polo Grounds playing @wellingtoncollege.
A tough match against a good team with a 14-13 win!
As always big thanks to our amazing coach Tim! We couldn’t do it without you!
What. A. Day!
This weekend saw the Annual University of Kent Polo Club Charity Tournament take place, this year in aid of the 150 Polo campaign and associated charities including Power of Polo and Polo Africa Development. This year the tournament grew from the former three: @ukcpolo , @ueapolo and @essexpolo to also include teams from @readingpoloclub , @mhfpolo and @eicpolo . Thank you to everyone who attended, and we will be posting photos of all teams throughout the week as they come in. Here is a small selection of photographs and videos, including Best Beginner Player, Kent’s own @whereshanrath and the Best Beginner Team also from Kent. Kent Alumni @sophieconcon was also present, in her new role as live-in staff at MHF Polo. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day, socialising and relaxing post-game at the Fox Inn. Thank you again to all the clubs and teams, and a huge thank you to our partners and hosts @mhfpolo without whom none of this could have happened.
5345
Club News
Congratulations to Calypso who took on Xanthos in the December Challenge Match and left victorious. The score at the final bell was 17-14. đ&#x;‘?đ&#x;‘?
Our holiday beach chukkas were a huge success! A big congrats to our man of the match @elissamcnamara!! And thank you to everyone who came out to the beach on what ended up being a gorgeous day.
đ&#x;“¸ @hella.stella
MEET THE COMMITTEE
Captain: Tamara Gibbons
After introducing herself to OUPC with a very sconce-able night at first week Bridge, Tamara found herself on committee as Secretary(/Chunmaster) just two weeks later, and was subsequently appointed Captain at the end of the following term. Now a second year Teddy Hall chemist, she has been playing polo for over a decade, starting with her family at the age of 8. She has represented on an international level multiple times (England, Wales and the Commonwealth), but more importantly, she was voted MVP in both this year’s Varsity match and the Atlantic Cup final against Harvard. She can usually be found trying to avoid libraries and her department as much as possible, and is famed for following a strict diet worthy of a true athlete: cider and Sainsbury’s meal deals...
Club News
Well done @aviaaltd Polo Team winners of The Midlands Polo Festival 8 goal.
The Chairmans Trophy
Winners are grinners!!! Getting the cheekiest of wins for The Twisters in The Bayonet Trophy with Matt Simpson and Stef Everard, such a fun team!!
This Month’s Contributors: - Ignacio Fernandez Llorente - Connor Kay -
@la_low_goal La Low Goal
52
February Issue
Coming Soon
