Polo not just horseplay for youngsters
- By Simon Stafford
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China.org.cn, October 9, 2011
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| England and South Africa tussle during a riveting semi-final at the Goldin U18 International polo tournament in Tianjin, Oct 5. |
Youth, development and the future were very much to the fore as Tianjin's Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club hosted the Goldin U18 International Polo Tournament on October 5 and 6, with teams from England, the USA, Argentina and South Africa competing for top honors.
For many, the sport of polo, known as "the game of kings" is synonymous with exclusivity, and its ancient origins as a method for training elite cavalry appear to lend some credence to this viewpoint.
On the surface, polo appears very different from sports which perhaps have more of a youth following, such as soccer and basketball. There are similarities, though. In polo, two teams of four players on horseback look to score goals over four 'chukkas' (or periods), each lasting just over seven minutes. Two mounted umpires are responsible for patrolling the 300-by-160 yards field to ensure that players follow the rules and spirit of the game.
As the young players at the tournament demonstrated, polo can be competitive, dynamic and even dramatic.
The tournament, which featured two semi-finals on Wednesday 5th October, and a final and subsidiary final (between the two losing semi-finalists) the following day, began with a rather cagey encounter between Argentina and the USA, which the USA eventually edged 5.5-5, thanks to outstanding contributions from Matthew Coppola and Kareem Rosser.
The second semi-final was a gripping encounter between England and South Africa. An action-packed first chukka saw South Africa race into a two-goal lead inside the first five minutes. South Africa's third goal was a spectacular effort by Byron Watson, which saw the young player take a tumble after scoring. England came back into the match, thanks to goals from Barney Wilson and Will Berner, however they still trailed 5-3 heading into the final chukka. England eventually edged a thrilling match 6-5, following Will Berner's last-gasp equalizer. England eventually succumbed 5.5-4 to the USA in Thursday's final. Argentina claimed third place, defeating South Africa 8-6 in the subsidiary final.
Despite the intensely competitive nature of the matches, on-field rivalries never spilled over into unpleasantness, and Goldin Metropolitan's vice chairman, Harvey Lee, believes that polo has a unique role to play in terms of teaching young people about discipline, teamwork and even compassion.
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| Harvey Lee, vice chairman of Goldin Real Estate Financial Holdings Limited, which owns Tianjin's Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, believes that youngsters can learn many important life lessons and skills from playing polo. |
"Polo isn't like other sports," said Mr Lee. "First, it requires that players love and care for animals, because in polo you need your horse to cooperate [with you]. When we teach young kids polo, the first thing we do is teach them to take care of the horses. They spend a lot of time in the stable. After the training sessions, they will go and bathe and groom the horses."
Mr Lee also stressed the importance of teamwork and discipline: "In China, it gets very hot in summer, so to practice, children have to ride very early in the morning, so they must get here early. Therefore, if you really want to be good, you need discipline.
"You also need teamwork. The polo field is very big, around three times larger than a soccer field. Therefore, you really have to learn how to pass the ball to your teammates, so that teamwork aspect is very important."
As for the tournament itself, Mr Lee is adamant that the focus is very much on youth and development, and he believes that as a sport, polo could play a special part in aiding the development of Chinese youth, which would, in turn, contribute to the growth and development of polo in China.
"We could do many sports, such as golf or tennis, which would be very easy, but people have done that already," he said. "We want something impactful, to make people notice; we're here to focus on the development of this sport for the young generation, which is why we decided to host this U18 tournament.
"We want local Chinese kids to say 'look, those kids are all under 18 years old, like us, we can do that, too'. To that aim, we've given talks in local schools and invited pupils to our weekend programs. One day I would love to see a Chinese team here at this tournament."
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