and each polo team consists of four riders (which can be mixed teams of both men and women) and their mounts. A game first played in Persia from the 5th century BC, polo was at first a training game for cavalry units. Later on, Polo was passed from Persia to other parts of Asia including the Indian subcontinent. Polo was
called ‘PULU’ (said to have been derived from the Tibetan word “pulu”, meaning ball) by Manipuri’s in India and the history of the game in India stretches back to 3000 BC. The modern game of polo, though formalized and popularized by the British, and in 1834 the first polo club, Calcutta Polo Club was established by two British soldiers, Captain Robert Stewart and Major General Joe Shearer. Later they spread the game to their peers in England. The British are credited with spreading polo worldwide in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Polo is now an active sport in 77 countries.

The game consists of four 8 minute periods of play known as chukkas, between or during which players change mounts. At the end of each 8 minute chukka, play continues for an additional 30 seconds or until a stoppage in play, whichever comes first. There is a four minute interval between chukkas and a ten minute halftime. Play is continuous and is only stopped for penalties, broken tack (equipment) or injury to horse or player. If the ball goes wide of the goal, the defending team is allowed a free ‘knock-in’ from the place where the ball crossed the goal line, thus getting the ball back into play.

The game begins with the two teams of four lined up each team in line forming two rows with the players in order 1, 2, 3, 4 facing the umpire in the centre of the playing field. At the beginning of a game, the umpire bowls the ball in hard between the two teams. Teams change direction after each goal in order to compensate for field and wind conditions. Switching sides also allows each team equal opportunity to start off with the ball on their right side, as all players must hit right-handed.

Each position assigned to a player has certain responsibilities:

• Number One is the most offense-oriented position on the field.

• Number Two has an important role in offense, either running through and scoring themselves, or passing to the Number One and getting in behind them.

• Number Three is the tactical leader and must be a long powerful hitter to feed balls to Number Two and Number One as well as maintaining a solid defence.

The best player on the team is usually the Number Three player, usually wielding the highest handicap. Number Four is the primary defence player. They can move anywhere on the field, but they usually try to prevent scoring.

Games are often played with a handicap in which the sum of the individual players respective handicaps are compared. The team with the lower handicap is given the difference in handicaps as goals before the start of the game.

The mounts used are called ‘polo ponies’, although the term pony is purely traditional and the mount is actually a full-sized horse. The polo pony is selected carefully for quick bursts of speed, stamina, agility and manoeuvrability. Temperament is critical; the horse must remain responsive under pressure and not become excited or difficult to control. Many are Thoroughbreds. They are trained to be handled with one hand on the reins, and to be responsive to the rider’s leg and weight cues for moving forward, turning and stopping. A well trained horse will carry his rider smoothly and swiftly to the ball and can account for 60 to 75 percent of the player’s skill and net worth to his team.

The playing field is 300 yards long by 160 yards wide. The playing field is carefully maintained with closely mowed turf providing a safe, fast playing surface. Goals are posts which are set eight yards apart, cantered at each end of the field. The surface of a polo field requires careful and constant grounds maintenance to keep the surface in good playing condition. During half-time of a match, spectators are invited to go onto the field to participate in a polo tradition called “divot stamping”, which has developed to not only help replace the mounds of earth (divots) that are torn up by the horses’ hooves, but to afford spectators the opportunity to walk about and socialise. During play, there is an imaginary “line of ball,” which is the path of the ball in the direction it is travelling. Once a player has established position along that line of ball, it may not be crossed by an opposing player if there is any risk of collision. Any player who crosses the path of the player that has right of way (close
enough to be dangerous), or that causes the player to slow down, has committed a foul.

Players may “ride-off” members of the opposing team, whether they are playing the ball or not. It is used to break an opposing player’s concentration, move him off the line of the ball, or spoil his shot. A ride-off is when one player rides his pony next to an opponent to lead him away from the ball. This must not be done by charging in at a dangerous angle is only allowed when the angle of collision is not greater than 45 degrees.

Penalty shots differ according to the severity of the foul, but are either shot from 30, 40 or 60 yards to the goal posts from the centre of the ground, or a free hit from the spot where the foul was made. It was a very exciting day with the final score being 6-5 to the Kenyan team. I am looking forward to the next match!

The Players
In Blue
Emma Beardshaw 0
Hrishikesa Madhvani -1
Jack Oletoto 1.5

In White
Maanan Madhvani 0
Macus 1
Martin Waiganjo 0

Umpired by Nitin Madhvani

With many thanks to:
Mrs. Marie-Laure Madhvani: The KNPC team; The JMM Bungalow staff. The KSW IT department; the KSW carpentry department; Dr. Adia and his team; and The Kakira Joint Managing Directors’ secretaries - all without whom this event would not have been possible.

For more information, please contact:-
Kakira Nile Polo Club
PO Box 121, Jinja, Uganda