Polo Explained
by Pam Gleason
Let others play at other things, the king of sports is the sport of kings!
Take eight players, two umpires, ten horses, a vast green field and a little white ball, and you are well on your way to having a chukker of polo. Of course, at a polo game, every player has several more horses back at the trailer, since each game is six chukkers long, and horses usually play just one chukker. The players probably have a groom or two there as well, along with a truckload of saddles, bridles, leg wraps and extra mallets. There are also goal judges at each end of the field to signal whether or not a goal has been scored and to place a ball on the endline if a ball is hit out. Then, there is someone to put the numbers up on the scoreboard, an official on the sidelines to keep time and blow the horn when the chukker is over, an official scorekeeper and the all-important “third man” or referee, who settles disputes between the umpires. Polo is as much a production as it is a sport, and polo players never travel light.
For the player, however, the thrill of the game more than makes up for the huge investment of time and resources it demands. Polo, it has often been said, is not just a game, but a way of life. Once a person is bitten by the polo bug, all of the production surrounding the game fades to insignificance. The only thing that is important is the action on the field and the horses back at the trailer. Polo is all-consuming.
The Team
Each polo team is composed of four mounted players. Players must carry their mallets in their right hands, whether or not they are right-handed. (The United States Polo Association Rule Book – the “Blue Book” – makes an exception for players registered as left-handers with the USPA before January 1, 1974. There are few, if any of these players still out there!) The first object of the game is to drive the ball down the field and into the opposition’s goal. The second object of the game is to prevent members of the other team from hitting the ball into the goal that one is defending.
Each of the four players on the team wears a jersey numbered from 1 to 4. The number refers to the player’s position on the field. Those wearing the Number 1 are primarily offensive players, whose job is to run to goal, hoping for a pass from their teammates so that they can score. The Number 2 is also an offensive player, but he must be more aggressive, breaking up the offensive plays of the other team, and putting “his nose in every play and continually forcing the attack,” according to historic polo legend Tommy Hitchcock. The Number 3 players are usually the strongest players on their teams. Their job is to hit long balls, set up their teammates, plan the plays and make them happen. They also must cover the opposing Number 2s. The Number 4, or Back, is primarily defensive. He covers the opposing Number 1 and generally “shuts the back door” preventing the other team from scoring. The Back must also get the ball to his or her teammates, often by hitting long back shots.