The Vote on High-goal Polo in America

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The Great Meadow Polo club in The Plains, Virginia is due to host the United States Arena Open Championship and the John R. Townsend International Challenge Cup that will feature a U. S. team and a team representing Great Britain.
The fact that both of these tournaments have been kept a well-guarded secret by the USPA gives a greater reason to dismiss the meetings that are scheduled to take place at the same time deciding on whether or not to lower the handicap limit of the U. S. Open and the USPA Gold Cup. (Take a look at the composition of the Tournament committee and then ask yourself why this vote has been kept under wraps)
The committee that will make this decision has not a single high-goal patron or player on it, and is being pressured, as I understand it, by John Goodman of the International Polo Club.
This is the same player/patron who pressured the USPA to suspend the rules that limited polo clubs to a single 26-goal tournament. This is the same patron who was the cofounder of the North American Polo League, organized in 2007 to “oversee the premier level of competitive, high goal polo.” Their purpose was “to organize and showcase the premier level of high goal polo, the fastest, most fiercely competitive and physically demanding level of the sport. The league will consist of the best players in the world competing for the most prestigious events in North America”, or so their press releases indicated.
Now the tune is changing. There are currently eight 26-goal teams that have registered to compete in the 26-goal season in 2009, eight more than will be competing in England. It should also be noted that four teams not competing in 26-goal competition this coming season are all North American Polo League teams, including John Goodman’s own Isla Carroll foursome. For the second time in three years, John Goodman has decided to opt out of 26-goal competition yet he is pressing to have the handicaps of America’s most prestigious tournaments lowered.
His efforts last year to lower the handicap limits of the winter season’s first tournaments from 22-goals to 20-goals led to the defection of a number of teams who competed in the Lechuza Caracas Cup at the 26-goal level.
When I look at the members of the Tournament Committee (the body who I believe is doing the voting-though lack of information offered by the USPA leaves it to speculation) I see no one who is actively playing at the 26-goal level. I don’t understand how players of a medium or low goal competitive level can dictate the level of play available to the few high-goal players and patrons in the game in America today.
Just as I don’t believe high goal players and high goal patrons should make the rules for lower goal polo, I have to believe that the decisions that set the handicap limits for high-goal polo should be made by those competing.
I am afraid that if John Goodman can convince the USPA to lower the handicaps of the games top tournaments, those same players/patrons will defect. Lechuza Caracas might find itself hosting a series of high-goal events. Port Mayaca or Grand Champions could be hosting a 26-goal tournament simply because there are patrons and players who enjoy that level of competition. In the long run, the USPA and American polo would be the loser.
As for arena polo in this country, maybe a little publicity might serve as a shot in the arm of America’s oldest form of polo, but if you’re waiting for the USPA to do it, you’ve got a long wait.

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Filed under Argentine Polo Association, Hurlingham Polo Association, International Polo Club Palm Beach, International polo Federation, Polo, Polo, Polo Training Fountaion, United States Polo Association, United States Polo Associction

Tags: high-goal polo, John Goodman, John R. Townsend International Cup, USPA Arena Open Championship, Tournament Committee