Ask an Umpire

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 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

Rule 25—Stopping on Ball

c.Delay of Game: A player in possession of the ball, marked by approximately 2 horse lengths or less by an opposing player, must keep moving if he or she is neither being blocked nor ridden off and therefore has the freedom to continue along the Right of Way. Should the player in possession of the ball either stop or reduce his or her speed to a walk, he or she may tap the ball only once and thereafter he or she (or any member of his or her team) must, within 5 seconds, either hit away or run with the ball. An infraction of this rule will result in a penalty against the team in possession of the ball. *Only portions of Rule 25 are listed. To read the entire rule, go to uspolo.org*

Rule 26A—Improper Blocking

During the execution of a knock-in, Penalty 5.a or 5.b, or a free hit resulting from a ball hit out of bounds, an offensive player may not block a defensive player from marking the offensive player’s teammate who has a play on the ball (i.e., set a pick on the defending player). When an offensive player improperly blocks a defensive player, the Umpires shall call a foul and award an appropriate penalty. Improper Blocking may or may not constitute Dangerous Riding, and result in a yellow or red flag under Rule 33, depending on the degree of danger as determined in the discretion of the Umpire.

be incorrect, but that’s my take based on what I have seen.

Laura, your second question is just as interesting. I had to call one of our directors to make sure I was right in my thinking and I was. There are two parts to how we keep consistency in umpiring across the country. First, we actively ... training all the umpires with the same videos, policies and procedures, and at the same time. We meet weekly or more if we need to and discuss how we are calling plays.

We use video to create a baseline on calling certain plays, so we all call them the same way. Our directors either watch our games in person or online and if they see a play that should be called differently, they call us right away and correct our judgment process. The theory is that if we all share the same judgment process, then we should all see the plays the same way. Of course, polo is a game of angles, and depending on your position (your view angle), you will see your version of the play. We do have procedures on field positioning, so that helps.

We change umpire partners all the time and that helps us compare ourselves to another umpire and bring our judgment process back in line with each other. Additionally, we are moved around between states and across the country to umpire, so that helps with our consistency across the country.

The clubs generally pay for our per-game services but they don’t participate in all the costs we incur for training and moving around and so forth that further our qualities, like consistency. Second, what do we do to help with non-professional umpires and their consistency? Historically, umpires in different clubs across states would be as different as the accent they use to speak. Have you ever heard someone talk from New York as opposed to someone from Alabama? They sound different but they are speaking the same language. That’s what has been happening until now.

We use the Pump8 and the TSP programs to send umpires at little or no cost to clubs to umpire with and for them. We work with local club umpires and through umpiring together, having a rules review and being present all weekend to answer questions, we are sharing and spreading our judgment across the country. This helps to keep the club umpires more in line with each other across the country. I have traveled to places I never knew had polo, and now, after we visit these places, they have the knowledge of how we call plays today. Our directors are always looking for better ways to accomplish the goal of consistency for us and for local club umpires, and they are always asking us for suggestions. In my opinion, this is working. •

Brett Mirikitani