The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Dec. 20th ’09
Eldorado Polo Has A New Winner for the Final 2009 Tournament
World Gym wins World Gym Tournament, the last tournament of this decade her in CA. It happened on the next to the shortest day of the year ,which is he first day of winter Dec. 21.
It was with the shortest team minus one big, tall stick named Charlie Peterson, who has had a lock on the tournaments this fall. World Gym may have been a repeat winner. At least one or more Uretz clan has one it twice.
Mike Uretz is and has been a generous Sponsor along with his wife Claudia for the last decade. The World Gym Tournament has continued to survive in all these trying times. Mike and Claudia have 3 polo-playing sons Wiley, Patrick and Tony their maybe another son . . . but I’m not sure if he plays.
I believe there is one more Holiday tournament before the leagues kick into action around Jan 8-9 and10th. Things should be flying by then. We still need more players out here in CA, so get your ponies in and join the action in Feb. Mar. Enjoy the spring season, it would be great to have you all here in CA. I know it means leaving the cold snow and icy rains, but the ponies will like it here in the SUNSHINE.
The California polo community needs people like Mike Uretz or at least more individuals with his enthusiastic drive. He has four polo players in the family to support. I guess like a Polo Patron once told me . . . if he could just buy1 kid horses, it would be okay, but he had 2 brothers and 3 sisters and a wife who rightly said they all should be treated the same. Well a good horse was 15 grand then so if he bought a horse for that price it meant it really cost him 60 grand +. Then the wife felt left out so make it a 70 + so maybe Mike Uretz thinks this way too? Good horses are a bit over 15 grand these day’s so the number would be much closer to 100 per player times 5 more horses, times three others . . . that’s oh around 24 horses with no spares and he is a Lawyer.
Polo in California needs new blood and new people to get in the game. About 85 % of the Patrons are close to my age and that is a bit long in the tooth. California has done very little to fix it and the only way to fix it is adding polo schools for the new people. San Diego Polo Club is making a real effort to get their school and club going and it is doing well. Santa Barbara has a great teacher in John Westley and he is doing a great job, but gets no help moving new players from arena to grass. The outdoor season is congested in Santa Barbara in prime time and this is a problem that could easily be fixed with horses and a field. John also has a population of 100,000 and 80% are over 60 ,so it is a very tough sell in that area, but he’s getting it done. Los Angeles has a small venue north of the City, but seems to be going along at a very slow pace. Orange County Polo Club is in a new home and it maybe a great venue, but no outdoor field to make the move onto the grass
To me San Diego Polo Club is making a real effort to grow polo at this time, but I don’t see other clubs (especially grass clubs) making much headway. I am sure I will raise the hair on a few people’s necks, but show me what you are doing! Eldorado is toast . . . with no camp, no school and the best facilities’ of all. There are some good teachers like Rege Ludwig and Vicky Owens there in the desert 24 – 7.
Polo in California may need Stars. I am not sure, but other than basketball and some baseball sports do not really grow here no NFL and little else with 32 million people. Why? Tiger and Phil are probably the two best-known California sports people in the World and they play Golf. Golf has professionals marketing it and Tiger, whilel he is in deep you know about what, but he made the game popular again.
Why can we not have a Star at every game every week at Polo? We do not work at it. Opra and 50 other stars live 20 minutes from Santa Barbara and 200 live 10 minutes from EDPC in the winter.
They all have charities. Why not get them involved in polo? Al Garcia at LA Equestrian center got consistently bigger crowds than the big 3 grass clubs combined ever Saturday night during the winter and it was all star power. It is a simple formula Stars bring people many are pretty Lady’s who bring men and everyone else comes to see the show. It is called marketing. When you have people at polo events it brings in new polo players. They need polo schools where they can learn, as most do not come from Amarillo, Texas from a ranch. That’s just my opinion and we all have one. Share with me your comments about polo marketing and polo here in CA. I would love to hear your comments.
SEE YA.
Steve Crowder