The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder

… at least in Argentina where Fred plays every season in the Open Polo.

It was noted in the Pololine that Fred 2 has been raised to 8 goals which is equal to Julio Arellano, the only other North American at this handicap. Well done Fred. The reason I find this so exciting is because Fred Senior was the reason we could start Pee Wee Polo a long time ago.  I will always remember Fredrick as he was known then as being very small and very tough.  He always seemed to be in the center of some wild thing, once his foot went through the stirrup and the horse was spinning and Tommy Wayman grabbed it and stopped it and got FM loose.  Frederick did not even a blink an eye,  he just got back on.  He must have been 5 years old when that happened.  About 2 years later we had a game for the Pee Wee group during t 1/2 time of the main event. Frederick Mannix had a crash and was really hurting, but said he was fine. I told his Dad I do not think so because he could not get on the horse. So they took him to the Doctor and he had a broken leg.  Frederick still thought he should have finished the game. This Family has been as important as anyone in Polo since Carlton Beal.  Fish Creek-Triangle bar- Millarville these are all the Mannix brands that have seen in the U.S. for years. They all come back to Fred Mannix, Sr. and they have made West Coast Polo what it is.

They are only a couple of decades old, but  they are on the East Coast as well and there is no doubt the Polo may not be equal in the west,  but the Players are.  Just look at the rosters. It is hard to say why the U.S. cannot be united in Polo, but it is not . We have very weak U.S. teams representing the USA.  Why is this always the case?   Some leader is always pushing his side.  I coached U.S. teams in the World Cup and we did very well in Australia, despite losing a couple of very good players due to injury in the process. In France we were destroyed for the same reason … one of our team leaders got hurt and we were just  out. The last two World Cups have been a joke and we have won only 1 game. Why? We never are able to put our best face there, it is always some political B.S.

This is a game and we need to be United to compete, so why can we not do it?  We have maybe 40 people with a chance and that falls to 10 if we pick 3 five goal players and we never have that many. There is one reason that I can think of …  “our leaders”. They say it is money well we have all this income from USA Polo why not support U.S. Polo? Brazil does, Mexico does and how about the UK?  They are always there.

As we look forward to the 2012 season will the U.S get a chance to be seen? We have put in some rules to help, but after two years you hear the complaints. It is very unlikely a 0 last year will be 4 next year and it takes time. The Foreigners say to our patrons “we have 5 cousins better” and they probably do because we have never played.   It has been 2 years. Give it time. Maybe some will get upset, but where are they going to go? The best polo for a Patron is here or the UK and that is the way it is. They are not going to be happy long playing on the farm in some other land. Look at England with 20 teams. They have rules, it slowed for a while,  but look NOW. Yes, they have problems with Euro rule, but it is still getting better and young people are not leaving because they can not survive as they are here.

As Pat Nesbitt said “Polo is not the sport of Kings it is the King of sports.”  Lets make it that way. Just my opinion and we all have one!

see ya