Changing of the guard at Eldorado PC

From time to time I will post a comment from a reader.  This is one of those times.  Thank you Polo Mafia:

Rumor on the exercise track is that there has been a new Board of Directors elected at Eldorado PC. What does this mean for the Club? It does conjure up a few threads of HOPE. Hope that there will be some improvements in communication between the polo playing community and the Club. This winter it feels like the players (pros and patrons) have been ignored . . . turned away from the door during a bad economic storm.

In the recent past, the Puppet Masters (just a couple), have made the management and staff dance like little puppets controlled by thin wires, lifting limbs into unfriendly and unrhythmic gestures. There have even been reports of a puppet cutting the strings of other puppets in the play . . . traitor or narcissist? Maybe a red flag or whistle should have been called when that foul occurred. Oh, that’s right, this is a puppet show not a polo game. There are no umpires or even a third man to ensure safe or fair play.

As we continue to bury our own . . . our pros, our vendors and our good people, we must ask ourselves what we can do to make a difference? Silence is not the answer.

Will the show go on? Of course it will. The question is “how will the story unfold?” Will the sequel include a heart transplant for the Club since the old one stopped beating? Will the new Masters open the door and let the players in from the cold? Will the puppets develop friendly personalities as the wires are handed over to a new Board of Directors? Will they open the front door and stall doors so pros can leg up their horses early and so patrons can play polo for a partial season at a reasonable rate? I guess we just need to get front row seats to this puppet show and see how it plays out.

The West Coast polo playing community hosts a large number of low goal teams who are price sensitive. The Clubs in California rely on this market for a portion of their sales and income. This fact combined with the economic crisis has led to a lack of teams playing this winter and possibly this summer. This has left many pros without jobs. Less teams, means lower membership sales, lower hay sales, lower farrier sales, lower food and beverage sales and an overall lower moral around the Club. FYI – the Club is negatively affected too!

In hope of getting a voice directly to the powers above, I will pose a few questions to the polo playing community. Post your ideas, comments and feedback so that your words (your voice) will be heard.

What do you suggest that Clubs can do, in general, to help polo players (pros and patrons) during the economic crisis?

What do you suggest that Eldorado Polo Club can do specifically, to help pros, service providers and themselves during this economic crisis?

What suggestions do you have for Eldorado Polo Club on how they can improve their facility, polo leagues and staff in an effort to provide better services all around?

polo_mafia@yahoo.com
Polo Mafia
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5 Comments

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5 responses to “Changing of the guard at Eldorado PC

  1. spits

    Though I’m not at all associated with Eldorado PC and I live in a different part of California (and actually call a club in the Midwest home), I think one of the most important things is to be upfront about costs. I’m not sure what the old system was, but I think being open about how much it costs to maintain the place might make people more likely to pay the current dues. Maybe there’s a way to lower dues for a year (the idea of partial dues for a partial season sounds like a good idea) or, perhaps, the club could hold a silent auction or some sort of other fundraising event. It could be paired with a charity and while most of the proceeds would go to said charity, maybe a very small portion could go to the club.

    However, I’m far from an expert in this – I’m new to the polo world, relatively, and during the “off” season I tend to deal with collegiate clubs. I wish you the best of luck and here’s to continuing to grow polo to CA!

  2. polo observer

    The owners have made their choice and it was to clean house get rid of the old way of doing things and look to the future. Unfortunately the future for some is not the same as for others. They raised the fees to get rid of all of those who really can not afford polo. People who did not come back are the ones who owe the club money or can not afford a pro. The people who can afford polo are playing it is that simple. The fields are better and management will improve with experience and boy are they getting it having to deal with all the whining and episodes that are accuring due to lack of foresight on the past management. No the club is not for sale so if you are serious about polo come on by and see for yourself. If you are just a wantabee then keep on complaining and see it comes back to the old way of doing thingsNOT. Change is good it just never seems like it when you are going through it. It is up to the next generation to make a difference and complaining doesn’t change anything, actions do, so do something different and help out to make it better. Put on your own party at Eldorado and bring back what you think is missing. You all seem to have the answers by complaints, lets see the answers by action.

  3. Poloobserver..lots of anger there! Part of change is putting feelings into print, letting others see and read and digest it, THEN maybe they will offer help. I got myself involved in the Women’s Tourney again AFTER reading/hearing about all the changes at ELPC. We are not all whiners and complainers..polo is a luxury, therefore many of the “wannabes” work full time at other jobs and consider their polo as their “fun.” That “fun” has been priced out of the market for some. How insulting to say that it’s “simple..those that can afford to play are, and the rest have gone away.” There is nothing simple about the passion of polo. I have started many players in the game..not all are wealthy people, many just hard working people that have managed to budget enough for horses/low-goal polo/1 groom/part of a pro. Why are they being castigated???? Change is good-agreed. Change was due-agreed. Sticking it to supporters of this club, no matter their income, is not good. The new board is why there is now support for re-building the level of womens’ polo in the desert. Most of us are not loaded, but look at the number of women players in the USPA and understand that to support us, is to support polo. I applaud the new Board for their vision in helping with this change, and I hope there will be more. I did get involved..but ONLY because there was support from the board. I think more players will do the same now that they feel they have the ear of the governing Eldorado bodies. As for the fields. I am told they play better, they appear to be better than last season, BUT, I took clients to the game two weeks ago. “Why is the field so brown?” they asked me, referring to field #1. So, keep defenses in check and keep working to get the word out that Eldo IS a better, friendlier, welcoming club for ALL. This economy cannot afford to solely support those who sponsor entire teams..the lowly players at the bottom support polo with their love, hard work and polo passion.

  4. Dale Smicklas

    “K2”, I don’t know who you are and you may or may not know me but your quote “understand that to support us is to support polo”(womens polo) couldn’t possibly ring more true. Well said, keep talking about it and maybe, just maybe more will listen.

  5. You do know me Dale…Kim Kelly. Thanks for the support. We need to pull together..and I hope we continue to do so.

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