BMW POLO SERIES 2013

BMW POLO SERIES 2013:
The South African Polo Association is thrilled to announce that Chile have accepted our invitation to send their National side to participate in this year's BMW International Polo Series. The first Test will take place at Shongweni in Hillcrest, Durban on Sunday 18 August with the second, and final Test, taking place at Waterfall Park in Sunninghill, Johannesburg on Sunday 25 August. Chile are regular visitors to these shores and have toured South Africa on numerous occasions. They have participated in the BMW Series five times since 1978, the most recent being in 2010. South Africa have beaten the Chileans in each of these Series so there can be no doubt that the visitors will be hungry for victory.
Chile won the 2008 FIP World Polo Championships which were held in Mexico City and they continue to be a dominant force in world polo. Polo fans and spectators can be assured of another brilliant Test Series - please see all details regarding dates, times, ticket prices and directions on our website www.sapolo.org.za/bmw-polo-series-august

SA VS NEW ZEALAND MATCH REPORT

SA TOUR TO NEW ZEALAND:

NZ Polo International 2013
Kihikihi Polo Club 
Nga Rakau Ground 
9^th February 2013 
New Zealand V South Africa

It was a glorious summer afternoon, 25 degrees with a slight cooling breeze. Paul & Jenny Kay’s Nga Rakau ground looked a picture, the side-lines filled with marquees, pavilions and umbrellas, and an expectant crowd.

South Africa had sent a young team, we saw 3 of the players in 2007 F.I.P. Zone D play-offs in a 14 goal team and now here they were, 5 years later, playing off 26 goals. Brothers Nachi and Jean du Plessis with Tom de Bruin and Duncan Watson, all under 25 years old, had looked very tidy in the practice games. New Zealand stayed with their seasoned campaigners, John-Paul Clarkin, Tommy Wilson and Sam Hopkinson, and added new representative at this level, Thomas Hunt.

The scene was set, Waipa District Mayor, Alan Livingstone, welcomed the teams and the ball was bowled in to start the match. South Africa scored first with a Jean du Plessis penalty. Tommy, John-Paul and Sam scored field goals and Jean converted another penalty to give NZ a 3 – 2 lead at the end of the first chukka.

Chukka 2 and the teams traded penalties, one to Jean and one from Tommy.

Chukka 3 was a goal festival, both teams scored 3 field goals each and another successful penalty taken by Jean du Plessis had the score tied 7 – 7 at half time.

The crowd flooded the pitch looking for divots but there were none so they ambled about chatting, seeing and being seen.

The half time team talks must have changed the mind-set of both teams as the game tightened up in the 4^th chukka and no goals were scored.

South Africa scored the first 2 goals in the 5^th giving them a 9 -7 lead which made the NZ supporters a little nervous but penalties from Tommy and John-Paul brought the score to 9 -9 at the end of the chukka.

Jean and Tommy traded penalties early in the 6^th chukka so the score was still tied, side-line pundits started to think about extra time. There was a melee near half way when suddenly Sam Hopkinson broke free with the ball and ran to goal to give NZ the lead. The Africans came back hard but ran out of time and at the final bell the score was 11 – 10 to NZ. The crowds were delighted!

 Jean du Plessis had 100% success with his penalty hits and was named man of the match. Andrew Parrott’s pony played by Nachi du Plessis was awarded the pony prize.

The curtain raiser match between the North Island and South Island Colts was won by the Southerners in a very fast match.

TOURNAMENT REPORT

FIP WORLD CUP SNOW POLO TOURNAMENT:

South Africa played Argentina in the first semi final of the FIP World Cup Snow polo tournament. Argentina were instructed by the organising body to change their team line up due to an irregularity of one of their player’s handicap. He was substituted by a 6 goal Chilean so SA were under no illusions as to the enormity of their task.

The first two chukkas was all Argentina and it looked like the SA boys were shell shocked and out played in all departments. It was evident that Argentine wanted SA to play them at their game and ran the boys ragged resulting in a half time score of 4-0 to the Argentine. After a constructive team talk, South Africa came out firing in the third and brought the score back to 4-3 with no reply from the South Americans. A missed penalty opportunity would have squared matters - nonetheless it looked like SA could pull off an upset. 

Conditions in the last period were tough with the snow having become slushy making running polo difficult. Argentine scored giving them a two goal lead again but SA soon pulled this back and kept the pressure squarely in their opponent’s half. The Kings of polo eventually broke the shackles and managed a run away goal effectively sealing the match.

Losing so narrowly to the best polo playing nation in the world was no disgrace - South Africa is definitely becoming a force in world polo.

The second semi final between Hong Kong against England was won by the home team setting up a final between the Argentine and Hong Kong.

Sunday 3rd February dawned with heavy snow falling making conditions for the final difficult - especially with so much extra snow on the pitch. The organisers tried desperately to compact the snow using two big snow cats fitted with compactors at the rear but the snow was relentless and fell throughout the day. The encounter between the two teams never reached its full potential and ended with Hong Kong edging out Argentine by two goals.

England played South Africa for third and fourth place respectively with the Brits winning the encounter by two goals. 

SA TOUR TO NEW ZEALAND

SA TOUR TO NEW ZEALAND:

South Africa will take on the mighty New Zealanders in their own back yard in a once off international on 9th February 2013. New Zealand traditionally invite a high goal polo team to compete in their sponsored “International Day” which takes place annually at the KihiKihi Polo Club not far from Auckland.

South Africa will field a 26 goal team comprising the following players:
No. 1 - Duncan Watson (5 goals)
No. 2 - Jean du Plessis (6 goals)
No. 3 - Nachi du Plessis (8 goals) (Captain)
No. 4 - Tom de Bruin (7 goals)

This will be one of the highest rated teams to leave our shores and with all four players still in their early twenties, South African polo looks set for many years to come. All four players have had international experience with de Bruin and the two du Plessis brothers representing South Africa in the Coronation Cup last year against England. Duncan Watson did duty for South Africa against India in the BMW International Series in August 2012 where the home side took the Series 2-0.

New Zealand will field an equivalent 26 goal team, spear headed by the experienced JP Clarkin playing off 8 goals - the rivalry between these two countries goes back many years with New Zealand winning their last tour to South Africa (BMW International Series in 2010) two to zero. However, the South African team is a lot stronger and more experienced this time around and should take it to the Kiwi’s provided they get adequately mounted.

SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR TO CHINA

SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR TO CHINA:

The South African polo team depart for Beijing (China) tonight to take part in the Federation of International Polo’s World Cup Snow Polo tournament. The event takes place at the Golding Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin (approximately two hours drive from Beijing) with 12 nations competing for the World Snow Polo trophy.

The South African team consists of Tom de Bruin (7 goals) Chris MacKenzie (5 goals) and Lance Watson (4 goals) with Terence Spilsbury (4 goals) travelling as reserve. Competition will be intense but the team has plenty of experience and a pedigree to get to the finals. Tom de Bruin was in last year’s team that lost to Hong Kong in the final while Chris MacKenzie (son of former SA team captain Buster MacKenzie) is used to big occasions having played in Britain’s high goal league for the past two seasons.

Snow polo is played on a smaller field - hence only three players per team as opposed to the normal four. Conditions in China are bitterly cold with temperatures up to -12 during the day. Warm clothing is the order of the day with players needing thermal under clothing and gloves to keep warm during play. Horses are all shod with normal shoes but have studs all round to give better grip in the snow.

Countries taking part in the tournament are last year’s winners, Hong Kong, Argentine, England, USA, India, France, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. the tournament takes place over two weeks with the finals being contested on Sunday 3rd February.

NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2012

BMW INTERNATIONAL POLO SERIES:
Congratulations to the South African team in winning the BMW International Series 2-0 against India. Unlike 2011, the weather Gods were kind and provided two gloriously hot days at Shongweni and Johannesburg respectively. The South African team consisting of Leroux Hendriks, Lance Watson, Duncan Watson and captain Bryan Hein played entertaining polo to take the Series. Our commiserations go to Gillespie Armstrong who suffered a fracture to his left hand during a training session and was unable to take the field. Gillespie has since had surgery on his hand to rectify the problem and is recovering well.

Tours such as this would not be possible without the generous contribution from the pony lenders. The Association records its thanks to those players that continually lend their valuable ponies to ensure that touring teams have a fair chance of winning. After digging up some stats of pony lenders the following interesting points arose for the Shongweni internationals:

Played the last 4 out 4 Tests:

Paula belonging to John Gowar

Played the last 3 out of 4 Tests:

Grease Lightening (Brad Gace)

Pluto (Brad Gace)

Played in the last 3 Tests:

Shiraz (John Eustace)

Valuer (Chippie Watson)

Atomic (Sean O’Sullivan)

Played in the last 2 Tests:

Copper Union (John Eustace)

Chukka (Sean O’Sullivan)

Played 2 out of the last 3 Tests:

Serene (Chippie Watson)

Socks (Chippie Watson)

Cross Wind (Joe Mandy)

Blushing Tail (Harry Mandy)

Becky (Angus Williamson)

Flight (Brad Gace)

West (Brad Gace)

Baranja (Sean O’Sullivan)

In the last ten years, Sean O’Sullivan, John Eustace and Chippy Watson have lent ponies eight out of the ten years whilst Selby Williamson, Skei Marlton and Brad Gace have provided ponies six out of the ten. Mike Osborn has made his entire string available every year for the past four years. Unfortunately, we do not have detailed stats for the Johannesburg Tests but managed to glean the following information: Between 2006 and 2012 the listed players have loaned ponies on the following basis:

Duncan Ellis - Every year – in 2010 the tourists played 6 of his ponies

Nigel Pilling - 5 times – in 2006 they played 4 & 2010 x 3

Davey Evans - Every year – in 2008 they played 8 Evans ponies

Dirk Uys - 4 times – in 2010 they played 4 & 2012 x 6 ponies

James Kane Berman - 5 times – in 2007 played 6 & 2010 x 4

JP Rey - 4 times

Hannes Pickard - 4 times – in 2012 the Indians played 7 of Hannes’ string including the best playing pony.

Dirk van Reenen - 3 times - in 2011 Dirk’s pony was best playing pony & in 2012, 3 of his ponies were used.

Brad MacGibbon - 3 times – lent ponies whilst he himself was playing for SA

Ian Stewart - 3 times??? information not clear

SAPA salutes the gentlemen who support South African polo so unselfishly. Bear in mind that SAPA is a non-profit organisation with income generated from the internationals being ploughed back into improving polo in South Africa. Our thanks also go to many of the younger players who have lent ponies – Dirk van Reenen, Cody Ellis, Byron Watson James Gardiner, Tyson O’Sullivan, Travis Timm and Joe Mandy. If I have omitted anyone my apologies – I am merely reporting from information supplied. Our gratitude to the Pony Masters, Kate Holmes and Wayne Hartley for the thankless task of mustering horses and seeing to the tourists needs at both venues.

 2013 FIXTURE LIST:

We recently circulated a questionnaire regarding the format of the 2012 fixture list and what changes you, the players, would like to see implemented particularly with regard to the Sat/Sun format of four chukka polo. My thanks to all those who took the time to respond and provide feed back regarding next year’s fixtures.

The general consensus seems to be that most players are happy with the 2012 format with the exception that major tournaments introduce 4 chukka Sat/Sun polo for sections below three goals in handicap. This would still enables 4 x one-goal players the opportunity to play together in 6-chukka polo. The 4 chukka format should encourage players with a limited number of horses to play over weekends without losing work time – likewise school children with minimal disruption to their school studies.

It was felt that individual Clubs should decide their own tournament formats i.e. 4 chukkas Sat/Sun or the conventional three-day format - or both. 

An interesting concept was proposed regarding Club tournaments (excluding SAPA tournaments and Provincial Championships) whereby a “free market” system be introduced allowing Clubs to hold their tournaments whenever it suited with the onus on the Clubs to make their fixtures attractive enough to entice players to participate!!!! Any comments????

We will be formulating a draft fixture list with related handicap levels, which we will circulate to selected players and officials for comment. Please let’s not have a repeat of last year where positive replies were later over turned with negative comments by certain individuals after the calendar had been ratified.

SASCOC:

As many of you may now know, all equestrian disciplines have to affiliate to SASCOC (South African Sports Council & Olympic Committee) via the South African Equestrian Federation. SASCOC report directly to the South African Sports Council under the leadership of the Minister of Sport and Recreation.

SAPA’s affiliation to SAEF/SASCOC has added a huge administrative burden on this office; however the upside to its membership is accessibility to Lotto funds for sporting transformation and development.

This means all affiliated Associations need to have their “houses in order” with Constitutions in line with those of government policy, submission of annual audited financial statements, business plans complete with budgets, five year strategic plans, and high performance plans for selected athletes. Associations can no longer issue National Colors to athletes without prior permission from SASCOC who will only consider such upon receipt of the conditions listed above. In addition, notification of the event has to be made to government and provincial bodies, the SAPS and local health and safety JOCs.

COACHING & COACHES:

Government legislation implemented through SASCOC requires that by the end of 2013, coaches in all sporting disciplines must be qualified and that by the end of 2016 must be registered and licensed with the Department of Sport & Recreation. Failure to do so will apparently lead to prosecution of the individual coach. In addition, sporting disciplines not conforming will not be granted national colors nor allowed to hold international events. Whilst these measures appear draconian, it is Government’s and SASCOC’s intention to keep abreast with worldwide coaching practices and for sporting disciplines to improve their skills before the 2016 Olympics.

Details of their plans will be explained at a Coach’s Conference to be held in Johannesburg from the 16-18 November. I recently attended a “coach’s roadshow” in Durban along with other equestrian disciplines, including polo crosse where there was widespread opposition to the legislation. We were emphatically informed that the legislation is “here to stay” and it is SASCOC’s intention to implement such. Coaches who qualify will be recognized by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) with a passport to coach in any country under the FEI umbrella.

My understanding is that there will be various levels of coaches, from Level 1 being the basic care and welfare of the horse to Level 4 being a national team coach or “Head Coach”. Each national Association will need to submit technical standards for their sport over and above normal horse care/welfare for the different levels up to “Head Coach” level. Aspirant coaches will be assessed by SASCOC appointed assessors probably from within the discipline.

Anyone over 40 years of age who has been coaching will not be required to learn/write the exams but be given recognition for their knowledge. This is termed “Recognition of Prior Learning” or RPL. Such coaches will be required to demonstrate their knowledge/skills to assessors but not physically write the exams. The entire system and roll out will be explained in depth at the Coaching Conference in November. Anyone wanting to attend the conference please let me know before 30^th September so we can register you. The venue for such is still to be announced.

There is more than enough for digestion in the above but we will keep affiliated members informed as to developments regarding the above. Those Clubs holding spring “mini” tournaments – may the weather be kind with plenty of fun polo for all.CLIVE PEDDLE
Executive Director – South African Polo Association