ASK AN UMPIRE
Rule 22 Can you change horses in the 25 seconds after scoring a goal?
Sheryl Sick with her string of handpicked ponies
Pacific Northwest Circuit Governor Sheryl Sick has a half-goal handicap outdoors and a 2-goal handicap in the arena (3 goals for women’s handicap outdoor and 5 in the arena). She spends her summers traveling across her circuit, including Western Canada, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, visiting and playing at as many clubs as she can. She feels that meeting the players in her circuit personally and playing polo with them gives her a more complete understanding of the issues they face and helps her to come up with solutions that can be supported by the USPA. Although Sheryl works for Dell Technologies as a sales executive in the complex industry of information technology, she is anything but a nerd. Actually, she is quite the weekend warrior, climbing mountains and shredding black diamond runs on her snowboard when she is not playing polo and serving the USPA. Moving around is in her blood since she became accustomed to being flexible and living a nomadic lifestyle during her childhood as a military brat. She has a palatable love for horses and the sport of polo. She has played in Canada, Argentina, Ireland, 14 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia and Mexico. She takes her string of handpicked polo ponies and plays at her home club, the Seattle Polo and Equestrian Center in Enumclaw, Washington, when she is not traveling her circuit. She played polo in college at Washington State University. Her home club boasts a pristine full-size outdoor field with supporting stabling, a polo school, turnout for visiting teams and facilities to host large events, all in a postcard-perfect setting just outside Seattle. The club hosts teams from other clubs in the circuit and sends teams to those same clubs in an effort to promote and sustain polo in the Pacific Northwest. It is truly a cooperative effort and full of old-school polo comradery. More information on the club can be found at www.seattlepoloclub.com. Sheryl wants to know if you can use the 25 seconds you get to return to the line-up after a goal is scored to change horses. Will the umpires wait for you to change horses if you can do it and return to the lineup at the center within 25 seconds after a goal is scored? Umpire Chad Kraml is going to answer Sheryl’s
