Hey polo fans!

As a coach of any sport, yesterday was one of those days that you will revisit for the rest of your career. I say this because the team started out so strong, and it seemed for no reason the wheels fell off the cart.

Photos by Ricardo Weis.

In the first chukker, the teams played so evenly, both offensively and defensively, they went off the field with a score of zero to zero. In the second chukker, again both teams fought very hard but Brazil capitalized on a few mistakes made by USA, pulling ahead 3 to 1. The third chukker was even with both teams scoring two goals with some brilliant defensive plays made by Mason Wroe and John Gobin.

Photos by Ricardo Weis

At halftime, I explained to the team that we were only implementing half of the game plan. I told them that half of them were playing great offense and half were playing great defense and they needed to improve on their weaknesses. It was also apparent that even though they had some great plays, they were playing as individuals and not following their captain’s lead.

Here’s where my nightmare began. In the fourth, our team got into a little foul trouble and Brazil did not miss one penalty shot, putting them ahead by three goals. In the fifth chukker, our team tried too hard to catch up, by making every play be the golden opportunity. By doing this, the players put so much pressure on themselves in which in turn created mistakes that Brazil masterfully took advantage of to pull their team ahead by 4 goals. In the sixth, even though spirits were down the boys pulled up their bootstraps and put in a great effort. Even though they outscored us 3 to 1, the team showed sparks of brilliance with some great team play. When the bell rang, I had to dig deep to come up with how I was going to get them to learn from their mistakes while at the same time bring their spirits back up. So I told them a quote by the polo playing General George Patton, “You don’t judge a man’s character by how high he climbs, but by how he bounces back after he falls,” plus a few choice words of my own…haha.

Photo by Ricardo Weis.

In the evening we all returned to the club for an asado and enjoyed the camaraderie of all the other teams lifting everybody’s spirits which I feel will get them back on track.

On Thursday we go up against the tough English team, but I feel after yesterday’s experience our boys are going to come together and be the team we know they are capable of being.
GO USA!!!!

Coach Charlie Muldoon

P.S.Keep your enthusiastic comments coming on facebook at www.facebook.com/teamuspa.

Photo by Ricardo Weis.