The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
It would take a lot of time and a lot of script to really tell you about the polo world. So I will leave out the personal and romantic side, which is 10 books a year at least, and tell you about the rest. Polo is a game. It is the fastest team sport there is and it is in the top 10 of the most dangerous sports. Polo isalso the most exciting sport to the player. It is also the only real sport the Patron or Sponsor can be a part of the team along with the pros. You have to be a part of the team to win as it is rare when 3 players can beat 4. The patron become an integral part of the team and a real player. This is why patrons love the game of polo. They can own a racehorse, a football team or an Indy car, but they only see the action happen from the stands. Polo is going somewhere, just not sure where. In some ways it is becoming only the Sport of Kings as the super polo (high-goal) has grown to 26 teams or more and 22 in Europe from 18 down teams. Sunny hale and Nacho are bringing so many new people into the sport. Women are filling 6 of 10 spots of new members everywhere. It all goes back to Sunny Hale and women do not back off. They have an idea they can be the next Sunny. On the other hand men want to be Nacho, but just never want to do the work and they know there is little hope they will ever look like Nacho. When they see the horse and lose a lot of interest, but that’s true in a lot of sports. Look at the number of kids playing soccer or football in the U.S. compared to the the rest of the world. We are as weak as they can get. Why? You have to want it and the money it cost Patrons to play polo they also have to want it.
Most of the people I have talked to have indicated that all mid-level polo is suffering. Can it stop? We do not know. The mid-level Patrons are at the mercy of the rich, similar to the Senators and Politicians. They are not spending and they are not cutting anyone, but those lower in the food chain are extremely valuable. Politicians continue to cut everything except themselves. They lose no aides, no perks yet they destroy those needed for the most part including education and healthcare. When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both. This is their goal, to keep the rest of us in a place that we cannot get out of. They are cutting education and the future is education. They are removing health assistance. This all plays into the same … less of everything. The worst part of it all is that we continue to follow.
Polo is the same. Our leaders say they are helping the young to grow, but on the other hand they give them nowhere to grow as they say “no” to the U.S. RULE which is two Americans on any team. So what if we only had 5, 26- goal teams for a year or two? Maybe some would say lets build American Polo as England did but go a bit further by making it impossible to skirt the rules with the Euro type crap.
These leaders give us the idea, but we did not catch it because we have no power in power. So why would young players continue in masses? They do not. Just a few who will not quit and probably know but still try will make it. It is like education and it is we do not try to improve it. In masses we just accept it. WHY?
I think after listening to many of the new patrons, not all of them, that they feel we did it so they should have to. None started out as young men wanting to be pros. So what is the problem with Americans who want to be? Much like Washington … IT’S NOT MY PROBLEM. They pay no taxes and patrons avoid them because they can, so it really is not their problem, but it could be if we all STOOD UP AND SAID WE WILL HAVE 2 OR 3 AMERICANS ON EVERY TEAM. If they do not like it, then let them go to BA or Rio or Sydney. They will be back or quit. In my opinion who cares! Those who don’t support it are not doing anything for American players anyway.
We as a Country have a lot of very lazy people and it is really easy to see why. We have such weak education as the phrase says if you subsidize failure you get it. You can talk to almost any foreign player and he is much more up to what life is than our young people why ? You tell me .. answer below
They are educated in life and survival and there is no place like America to make a great life. Why do we not teach this: Polo has become like Soccer. We play it, but here is no reason to become a student of it because we are not going to make it. They think and are told in Polo maybe 10 are trying under 30 out of 3000 in soccer maybe 200 out of 2 million really think they can succeed. The ratio of success is about the same. Does anyone think that any of these other major powers let foreigners in like we do? I probably have more foreign friends in Polo than Americans …WHY ? there are a lot more of them than us. California is a perfect example of how to not be. We have as many fields across the State as any other State. In fact most places have more fields than teams. Polo is cheaper in CA than almost anywhere else and yet we cannot get visiting teams and lord knows CA patrons cannot step-up and hire a team. It is not just high goal I am talking about, this includes the 8-goal as well. Indio has the best record but take out the Canadians and we cannot have a legal tournament as we would not have enough players. Santa Barbara Polo Club will be 50 % of locals in low-goal and less in high-goal . Florida high Goal is 80 % US Patrons 90 % foreign players.
There is a chance for polo to change. Look at Ford, Chevy and Dodge in the 90’s and even earlier. They were going south as Foreign cars, mostly made in Japan, took over because they were much better built cars. Well a little tariff and a bit of smarts in auto industry and obviously some good leaders especially at Ford and you hear no comments of Fix Or Repair Daily. WHY is that? They educated the workers and brought the competition to a level to work with with tax and tariff. Even Japan and Korean Auto companies moved to USA. So Polo is helping young People learn now give them a chance to build in AMERICA by opening the door for them in good Polo. AFTER ALL IT IS CALLED THE USPA !!!
SEE YA