| A beer with the guys…We are all sporting guys. We like to watch, play and talk sports regardless of the type. When we arrived here and had the chance to socialize with our hosts, not surprisingly, they were like minded. When the game is over the fun is only just beginning.
As is customary amongst sporting types, some prefer to share a few beers after the fact, to relax and have a good honest chat to solve any problems that had arisen during that days activities. Today the activity and topic of conversation was polo, the location was Chapaleufú, and the debaters shall remain anonymous. A lot was said, the majority was typical of a conversation after a practice. Arguments over fouls were settled and praise or haze of plays was made. But a few comments really stood out to us. “If a player is not 9 or 10 goals by the age of 22, he is crap.” That can be interpreted in so many ways and they are all probably right. But here in Argentina, it is a common sentiment and it is accepted as fact because of the amount of horses, polo and knowledge available to young players. They are provided with the guidance, technique, horsemanship and savvy to be reasonably expected to reach that level. The debaters admit that with adequate backing, a player of average ability can achieve 7 or 8 goals, merely as products of a well tuned system. With that in mind issues similar to those in the U.S. came to light. “We are missing the group of 10 goalers in this generation, there are simply not any young stars rising up through the ranks similar to what we experienced over the last 20 years.” It was strange and rather surprising to hear that – having been exposed to amateur players at Chapaleufú that carry a 6 or 7 goal handicap while only playing on weekends and taking months at a time off, we had been under the impression that there was no shortage of talented young players here in Argentina. They are also not shy to put pressure on the young players to achieve this lofty, and in America, almost unheard of status. “Our 10 goalers are stars and we must treat them as stars. The moment they stop yelling at me is the moment they don’t believe in me.” In response to that another friend says “they are 10 goals and they are going to yell at you. If you want to be 10 goals you must accept the yelling, and try to take out something good from what they are saying to you.” We love when they say things like this. They are obvious, simple and remarkably clever remarks. This conversation left us all contemplating the different points we are at as players and how to best progress our careers from here. More to come in our final month of training here in Argentina. – Will, Jorge and Zach
|
Bravo boys what a great article to tell all the Americans. You need to have pressure in your life in order to improve. Our players here in the USA need to listen to what others are saying to help them play better.