I just received this as a comment. I felt that it souldn’t be buried beneath a week-old post so I offer it to you.
The game of polo in this country (and the rest of the world) is a free market “economy” backhander – whether you and I like it or not. If anyone is “stunting” the growth of your young players it is all of us, the collective “U.S. polo community” – sorry but that includes you, me, the PTF, the USPA, etc. We all have a hand in it…and we all need to change it.
Pointing the finger at one country for their current dominance of the sport is not really fair either. How do you think Europeans or Argentines think when we send our failed Divison I and II college basketball players to steal professional jobs in their home country professional leagues? They don’t like it. There are certain sports where we dominate as a nation and others where we do not. We are not the dominate nation in producing professional polo players…right now.
I have two kids and how do I get them excited to want to excell and play polo at the highest level? Chances are I cannot, unless there is a catalyst in how we develop the players. The Argentine Polo Community builds an environment for success and it starts with their governing body of polo. They get the high schools to play against each other and create an environment where the kids want to go and compete and win…with a series of great tournaments that last weeks and months.
Our comparbale experience you might ask? A one day tournament in Wellington and maybe one in Santa Barbara? How can my kids or others see that as a rallying point? Dale S is on the right issue, there is no central rallying point for the development of our players, as they have nothing to aim for…we need to change that.
Well I am not one for “polo protectionism” or polo affirmative action…those are all cop-outs in my view. We (yes, that collective we again, we are all in this together – not letting you off the hook here) are all smarter than that and can come forth with better ideas. We have plenty of kids playing and seeing the game, but how do we keep developing them in a sport where foreigners are dominating the landscape? Well, look at other international sports business models as an example…looking at the US Socceer Federation or the USSA (United States Ski Assoc.). Each of these bodies had similar crisis’ in their sports and they developed a long range plan and set forth goals. We need to do the same…today we have a top 10 World Cup Soccer team and players from the US playing in the highest European Leagues and this year for the first time in over 20+ years a US male and female won Skiing’s coveted World Cup Overall Titles, much to Austria and Suisse’s shagrin…create a goal,
have a vision, be patient and stick to the plan, the results will follow.
I think we need to create an environment where we give our younger players a chance to succeed and learn together, like what other sports have done here in the U.S., without the pressure of producing tomorrow. None of this will happen overnight. We need a ten (10) year plan for producing 4-new US 10-Goalers – so when we have a 40 goal match, one side is all stars and bars! They are out there folks, we just need the strucuture and the plan. The FIP Team is a great place to start. What young kid wouldnt want to be named to the US National Team? I knew growing up as a ski racer that was my goal – make the US Team. You dont think that Santi Torres, Matt Copola, Tommie Collingwood, or Hank Uretz doesnt want that honor? Well right now they dont, because we havent shown them the path or the rewards to what comes with that hard work…we need to show them a path and give them a goal. Why cant the US National Team have an “A” Team and a “B” Team. The “A” represents us in test
matches and plays the Argentine Open with US Corporate Sponsorship, the “B” Team is our “Development Team” and plays at the FIP Level and is focused on the younger players. We create the US Polo Team, we brand it, give it seperate management, with a real mission, coaches and fundraising…it can be done. The teams should train together at least once a year for 2 months in one common area (like Wellington or Indio), where they focus on playing the best polo among themsleves, develop their strings, train together, have the younger players live otgether, etc. The invited players would have all expenses paid and would not have to worry about their next job, rather focus on moving to the next level in their game in either the spring and/or fall when the larger leagues are not in full gear (some these folks need the paying jobs and candidly a venue to showcase their skills). The plan to get this done is not a hard one, but it does need to be its own organization and shold not have to
answer to politics – it needs to answer to a higher calling of developing our best players in this country – into the best players in the world. I hope we can all answer this call…
1 Comment
th000000425am08, 52008vUTC04bUTCFri, 25 Apr 2008 03:39:30 +0000 11, 2007 at 08:46p04
My, my, my… A true vision, a real plan, I am quite impressed.
I don’t know who this is but I can tell they have put some serious thought into this “portrait” they want painted, and I would like to help paint it.
If any of this person’ thoughts ever come to fruition I would love to be of any and all assistance that I possibly could. I believe my credentials would speak for themselves and I would be quite willing to provide them to anyone who deems it necessary.
I am pleased to think that there actually is a chance for America to once again confirm its status as the 2nd best polo playing country in the world and make a serious run at the ever elusive #1. That may never happen but there is absolutely no reason that we should be in the situation we are currently in, and as I recall at one time long ago we were a dominant force in International Highgoal competition around the world. It can happen again, and with this type vision and some stimulation we will be on the path once again.
I commend you for your thoughts, please count me in.