Polo returns to the Polo Grounds

Press, 11 February 1983, Page 17

Polo returns to the Polo Grounds

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Polo will return to Hagley Park on Sunday after an absence of 43 years. The occasion will be an international high-goal match between the touring Zimbabwe team and a South Island selection. The return to the pleasant setting of Hagley Park will be an historic occasion for many of the stalwarts of the sport who will recall the numerous encounters that took place on the Park’s turf decades ago. In 1891, it was decided to set aside a portion of South Hagley Park for polo matches and the ground received high praise from the ■ many visiting teams which played there. The picturesque setting with its trees and green grass made for aesthetic appeal to both players and spectators. Thousands of spectators were present in January, 1935, when His Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester, played a match at South Hagley Park.

The late Derrick Gould was the last club captain of the Christchurch club, which was based at the park. The last match was played there

in 1939. The Christchurch Polo Club was the last of what was known as “cuff and collar” clubs in New Zealand. Some players, including William Deans, who is now aged 93, had their grooms

hack or ride their ponies into town the day before the competition. Nowadays, polo has moved mbre to the country, although the Ashley club has recently had the use of the centre of the Canterbury Jockey Club's race course for its training. The sport of polo is an ancient one, originating in Persia some 2000 years ago. The game's name was derived from the Tibetan word Pulu, meaning ball. The modern game was developed by the British cavalry, who played polo as a form of recreation in India in the second half of the nineteenth century. Because of the speed of the game, each chukka (another legacy from India) lasts only seven and a half minutes and players exchange their ponies after each chukka. New Zealand is considered one of the best polo playing countries in the world. Perhaps because of its rugby heritage, and a number of

prominent players have excelled in that sport, the New Zealand players are noted for their fast play and aggressive attitudes.

With four players to a team, polo is very much a team sport. It has a highgoal and low-goal handicap system, handicaps ranging from minus two to a maximum 10, and it is one of the

few sports where a novice on a minus two handicap might be teamed with someone with a world-class rating. A full-size field is 300 yd long and 200 yd wide, with the goal distance between the two pylons being Byd.