ASK AN UMPIRE
Rules 1 and 33 What can players ask an umpire without drawing a penalty?
This month nobody is interested in chatting about polo rules. I understand that with all the uncertainty going around, everyone is focused on their jobs or businesses. I know these are crazy times but we will get back to normal—our older generations got back to normal after the world wars and that was much worse than what we are experiencing. I feel the stress of the uncertainty just like the rest of the world and I don’t know what to do with it. So, I’m just going to do my part—like our parents did their part when they faced
Communication with the umpire is limited to the team captain asking about procedural matters.
adversity and their parents and so on. What do you think got us to the great lives and high standard of living we all (rich and poor) now live? They went through things and came out the other side. So, right now, I’m going to chat with you about the rules, mostly because I’m tired of chatting about the virus and political economics. Not only am I going to ask the question this month, I am going answer it. This is a question I get every time I engage players off the field and they begin to feel comfortable with me—like I might be
14 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
human or something. I’m not human by the way, I’m an umpire—never forget that. (that’s a joke—you’ll forget it). Players seem to be arguing with the umpires all the time, especially in the high goal. Players act as though the umpires have no idea what they are calling. Even more strange is that players on both teams in the same game are doing this. Somebody must wrong, right? Actually, it’s just part of the polo culture and it’s part of competitive sports. According to the USPA rules, what are players actually permitted to ask the umpire? Also, as a practical matter, what will umpires allow before they issue a yellow card or penalty? Every player wants to know the answer to these questions without finding out the hard way. The rules that cover this question are Rule 1 and Rule 33. I listed the relevant parts on the opposite page for your reference. Basically, each team has a captain. The team captain is the only one who is allowed to talk to the umpire. He or she is limited to procedural matters only. Now this gets fun because the rulebook does not define procedural matters, but we can define it. Google defines it as an established method of doing something. That’s true. It is the way we do something that does not involve independent judgement. For polo, we define it specifically as things that do not involve the judgment of the umpire. To be very specific, it is the following: the score is wrong, the time clock is wrong, time out for tack or injury (horse or player) and an instant replay challenge to a call—that’s it. Fouls and ball placement require the judgment of the umpire, so they are off the table. Players still try to influence the umpire and argue ball placement or the foul most of the time. Remember, only the captain can ask and it can only be about those four procedural items. With that being said, umpires are human and they have ears so they may respond to the players. The professional umpires are trained to give a brief answer to a question, any question, and move on. They try not to respond to statements or obnoxious behavior.
