Tommy Biddle, only the fourth player in history to attain a 10-goal handicap.
Mark Bellissimo and the International Polo Club are making waves in the polo community with the premier of the $100,000 Gladiator Polo Arena League on the evening of January 26th with the promotion of the richest purse in the history of the arena game and a host of the game’s highest-rated players, including American 10-goaler Tommy Biddle, four-time US Arena Open Champions Kris Kampsen and Felipe Viana, former field 10-goalers Mike Azzaro and Argentine Matias Magrini and a host of others.
Matias Magrini, Argentine 9-goaler.
The average American’s attitude toward polo is that only the rich can play it and nobody can see it. Applied to field polo, this is an understandable criticism since it is played on a grassy plain nine times the size of a football field and can be followed intelligently only with powerful field glasses or a helicopter. Arena polo, however, compresses the game’s action within the spectators’ range of visibility (100-yards by 50-yards with four-foot-high sideboards keeping the ball in play), and on occasion, when horses, players and ball converge on a corner of the arena, indoor polo drops the game right in the spectator’s lap.
Arena polo requires much more nimble turning, checking and racing than the outdoor game. With only three players on a team instead of the four players who make up an outdoor team, there is a much higher premium on teamwork and expert handling of the high-strung mounts. There are more spills, and naturally more players injured. Almost every arena player has lost track of the times he has twisted a knee or been smacked in the helmet by an opponent’s mallet.
Kris Kampsen played on the last four US Arena Open Championship teams.
The four-team, three-night league billed as Gladiator Polo will offer three arena matches on consecutive Thursday evenings at the Equestrian Village (EV) of Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) centrally located at the corner of Pierson and South Shore Boulevard. Free general admission for spectators with an optional $30.00 VIP ticket available that will include an Argentine Asado (BBQ).
For more information on Gladiator Polo go to www.gladiatorpolo.com or call (561) 793-JUMP.