The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
I have been in and out of the desert off and on all winter and here is how I see the state of polo in this region. First of all, the fields are better at both clubs than they have been in 20 + years. Congratulations to David Nolasco of Empire and Graham Bray of Eldorado. That is the first step in making Polo better. Unfortunately this is where the Desert becomes another polo venue and as usual has some issues that are not nice. Less than 0003 people or more play Polo or know what polo is in the world, so in reality we barely exist as a sport. Why Polo needs a dictator vs. a group to make it work … you cannot have 22 bosses telling you what they want. A club needs one person saying this is the way it is.
Patrons love schedules and it should be this way because no matter how important we think we are it is still a hobby for them. It is a simple fact of life. If you can afford to play polo you can for sure afford NOT TO play. That’s the way it is and will always be.
It is a simple observation. Here in the desert we have what is better than Florida in so many ways. The desert is so much cheaper, easier and really is so much better than Florida and yet we go down hill every year since 2000. Why? I am not sure. Money is a big thing, but it is sort of lost when so many get so much bigger and they never step up. WHY is that? Well look in the mirror. What did you do to change it? Absolutely nothing. Why? I have no idea. Polo is a sport that you know it is going to cost a lot to commit to and to play, but you did make the commitment. Here is an idea … we want to unite clubs for the good of POLO. Nothing less and nothing more. El Dorado says NO. WHY? You tell me. Polo Is Polo and it is the FASTEST TEAM SORT IN THE WORLD.
SEE YA
What are you talking about? Going down hill?……Polo in the Desert this season was fantastic, lots of polo at both clubs and lots and lots of spectators…..how is that going down hill?
On the Empire/Eldorado thing you speak of….. As much as it is sugar coated and painted as “for the good of polo”, Empire opened back up for polo to essentially put Eldorado out of business by cutting fees in half and offering deals to come over and play there. This actually was a good thing for Eldorado as it caused them to sit up and take notice and make much needed improvements. Sure fences were put up etc but that was mainly due to the fact that Empire equipment were short cutting through Eldorado land, driving on the exercise track etc.
Empire open up to put Eldorado out of business….failed to do so…..so now want to play nice and ‘unite’? I don’t blame Eldorado for saying no!
I have groomed at both clubs this season and have seen how things were going along, it was great! Eldorado have had some really exciting 12 and 6 goal and there have been lots of people playing in the 4 and 1 goal at Empire. Why can’t there be two clubs that offer different levels of play and people choose where they play? more jobs for pros, more grooms, more horse sales, more hay etc