The Sunday News
Dalphine Tagwireyi Sports Reporter
THE polo cross sporting discipline is arguably one of the least known sports in Zimbabwe, although the country boasts of world class achievements that have seen it ranked second in the world.
Although the sport is little known, this has not deterred polo players who are raring for more achievements as they approach the World Cup that is set to be staged in South Africa next year.
Zimbabwe has maintained second position since playing in the World Cup in 2011 and they played against Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States of America, Zambia and South Africa which is presently ranked number one.
In an interview with Sunday Leisure, ex-international Polo Cross World Cup player Arlene Cook said that polo cross is an equestrian sport which is played on horseback.
“Each player has a racquet approximately 1.5 metres long with a net on the end, in a squash racquet shaped head and they use a soft rubber ball about four inches in diameter,” she said.
“The ball is picked up, carried or thrown with the racquet and each team consists of six players and the team is made up of two sections of three players, each section plays for a chukka(period) lasting six minutes then is relieved by the second section while the first section horses rest”, said Cook.
She outlined that the period is repeated three times making six chukkas in a game and the players are numbered one, two and three in each section, with number one being the attack responsible for scoring goals, number two is a midfield player and three is the defence.
“The ball has to be passed to the number one by the team mates in order to score and scoring is done by throwing the ball between two six metre high posts from outside a ten metre ‘D’ area,” she said.
“There are two umpires for every game and the opposing number three tries to defend the goal scoring area making polo cross a high speed, physical game with great spectator value.”
She said polo cross is such a popular sport in Bulawayo that it has the highest club membership in the country and they consist of players of both sexes as well as all ages.
“Despite the drop in numbers it remains a popular sport and in the past most clubs were established on farms so unfortunately venues are now a problem and at present there are only five venues where clubs have been established, with one in Bulawayo, three in Harare and one in Chipinge,” said Cook.
In Zimbabwe, Cook said that it is a schools sport at Falcon College, Girls College as well as Peterhouse though it is gaining support and momentum as other schools have sought to include the sporting activity.
“The support of schools in recent years has seen our junior membership rising from barely twenty players to sixty seven during the 2014 season and at present we have the majority of top junior players at the Bulawayo Club,” said Cook.
Bulawayo boasts of junior players such as Murray MacBean (15), who has been representing junior international teams since he was 12 and he represented the under-19 team against Zambia this year.
Jess Joubert (18), who has been representing the sport since Under-14 is an up and coming contender for future World cup teams.
Martin van Rooyen (19) presently at university but has been in international teams since U-14 and also represented U-25 against UK this year.
Jess Steyn (18), who is a relative newcomer to the game having made the switch from show jumping and has excelled at it and represented both the U-19 team against Zambia and the U-25 team against UK this season.
Siblings Shane and Kelly Ellman-Brown who although in their early twenties now, have made junior polo cross international teams for many years and are now strong contenders in the adult leagues.
These are the Bulawayo top junior polo players and they are strong candidates for the 2019 World Cup teams.
“Zimbabwe regularly competes against South Africa, Zambia and UK on an international level with both senior and junior teams and the World Cup is held every four years and these matches are in preparation for the World Cup in South Africa in 2015,” said Cook.
“Polo cross is a demanding sport financially because horses need to be taken care of, it is also draining physically and much time and effort is needed for one to develop into a great polo player.”
Cook called on interested aspiring polo players to join the club whether they enjoy it from a spectator point of view or would like to try and participate on the field.
