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Rules 25 & 26 Rule changes are made to improve the game By Dana Fortugno
Laura Willson
This month Laura Willson has a couple questions. Laura enjoys the polo lifestyle with her daughter Sienna Cabrera, and keeps a large string of horses, which she plays and trains. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, she has been playing actively for the past 15 years and has played all over the world. Laura finds a lot of satisfaction and team dynamics traveling and playing. She is an obvious animal lover, especially horses, and is very passionate about working with her horses. Laura, who has a half-goal handicap outdoors, plays at a variety of clubs in the summer. This summer she was at Sugarbush Polo Club in Shelburne, Vermont She recently purchased over 40 acres in Ocala, Florida, that she plans to turn into a polo club, offering a polo school, lesson program, polo events, horse sales and, of course, polo. The property is minutes from the newly-developed World Equestrian Center. Laura says she learned her teaching skills from renowned polo instructor Rege Ludwig. Although her new property is still a work in progress, it won’t be long before you see her website and hear the rumors about a great place to learn and play the best sport in the world. In fact, she already has 27 new students who are very interested in joining her new venture. Laura asks, “Why do the rules change so much and so often these days, and how does Umpires, LLC help with consistent umpiring across the country?” Umpire Brent Mirikitani is going to answer Laura’s questions. Brent was also born in Canada. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when he was 5 years old. Brent grew up playing polo and surfing with his brother Jamie. He lives in Sarasota, Florida, with his
18 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
wife Robin. Brent played polo professionally for 25 years and reached a 4-goal handicap. He has played in Mexico, South Africa, Barbados, Australia, and all over the United States. When Brent finds the time, he enjoys surfing and traveling with his wife. Brent’s answer: Laura, that’s a great question. I hear comments about this issue all over the country. I can’t speak for the Rules Committee (they are the ones who do this) but I can give you my take on it. I did make some phone calls before answering your question to get the opinion of some who are more involved with the rules. The short answer is the rules change for the betterment of the sport. In polo, we are trying new things that seem to work well in other sports with the hope they will improve our sport. I am going to take an educated guess that there is also a deeper, more strategic reason. Thirty-plus years ago, the rules almost never changed. Polo back then was played in a style that was open and running with lots of passing of the ball. It was fun to watch, fun to play, and easily developed the talents of young players. Then, somehow, it changed in style. It went from open and passing to stopping and slowing with one player keeping the ball and using teammates to block defenders instead of passing the ball to them. This new style did a few things: One, it made polo terrible to watch. Two, it made polo less fun to play. Three, it stunted the growth of young talented players because they got used to blocking defenders instead of playing. This new hog-the-ball and block-style of play is detrimental to the long-term success of the sport for the reasons I just mentioned. Rules like “delay of game” and “improper blocking” are great examples of what we don’t want players doing anymore. These plays were not done much 30 years ago. For example, high-goal polo often comes to a complete stop (like a zero-goal game) but 30 years ago, that would never happen. If you noticed, there are fewer high-goal players today in their 20s than 30 years ago and the new style of play is the reason. Changing the rules to promote a better, more open, running and passing style of play has been one of the underlying reasons for so many changes. I may
