THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609170136
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 113 lines
POLO IS FOR SWINGERS.
It's also for anyone who can shell out serious cash for a recreational pursuit that is rivaled in cost by America's Cup yacht racing, African big game hunting, race car driving or Himalayan mountain climbing.
It also helps to be a superior horse handler, since the ancient game requires players to gallop at break neck speed up and down a field 300 yards long and 200 yards wide for seven-minute periods called ``chukkers,'' while whaling away at a 4 1/2-inch diameter ball with a mallet.
The reason it is expensive is that participants must have at least four mounts with which to alternate in each of the six chukkers that normally constitute a ``match.'' That includes a 15-minute halftime, when spectators are asked to put down their gin and tonics and walk out on the playing field to tamp down divots kicked up by the polo ponies.
The mounts - at least in the United States - can range anywhere from $4,000 to $45,000 or more. They are usually thoroughbreds that require years of training and seasoning to become proficient on the polo field.
Then there is the expense of upkeep and transportation of the mounts to the matches - sometimes to overseas destinations. Horse handlers, tack, rider's equipment, lodgings and entertainment expenses must also be factored in for prospective polo participants.
The skill, the expense and the tradition involved in this horseback sport were on display Saturday, a dry, sun-drenched day, on a lush green field at Alpha Omega Farm on West Landing Road. It is a 40-acre spread owned by apartment developer Bart Frye.
There, beginning at 2:30 p.m., before 50 or so spectators, the four-man Virginia Beach Polo Club team, which included Frye, took on the traveling British Combined Military team, made up of young Army and Navy officers.
Final score (for the benefit of local polo aficionados) was: Yanks 11, Brits 7. This was the first time in three meetings that the Virginia Beach team has prevailed, but the match was less an athletic contest than a social event.
The host team provided the mounts for the visiting British as well as the hospitality.
The Brits could be forgiven a letdown, since they were winding up a week-long polo tour of the East Coast of the United States, explained Cmdr. Peter Godwin of the Royal Navy, a British team member and play-by-play announcer for the Saturday match.
Their tour began in Pennsylvania horse country, moved to Maryland, then Washington and to Virginia. They were to play again Sunday in Richmond against the Commonwealth Polo Club.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the British-United States polo rivalry, the affable and urbane Godwin said. Next year it will the Yanks turn to visit the United Kingdom.
The same basic rules apply. Visitors arrive at the matches with their playing gear and the home team supplies the mounts and the umpires. On Saturday the mounts for the visitors were provided by a collection of local horse farm owners, businessmen and local polo club members, such as Anne Trafton, a Virginia Beach school teacher.
Trafton's horse, the 10-year-old Chaquito, is a medium-size bay, who provided a sure-footed mount for high scoring Britisher Mark Cann for one chukker.
The British roster sometimes includes team sponsor Prince Charles. It also includes regimental names right out of a Rudyard Kipling novel. On the field Saturday were: Major Mark Cann of the Queen's Royal Lancers; Tim Verdon of the Royal Wessex Yeomans; Nick Hunter of the Royal Hussars and Lt. Adrian Aplin of the Royal Navy.
Squaring off against them for the Virginia Beach team were Frye, Sid Woods, a Virginia Beach builder; Hugo Nunez, the Virginia Beach club professional and Gary Leonard, a Fredericksburg fuel oil dealer.
The Saturday match in Virginia Beach was a warm-up for the 10th annual Virginia Beach Polo Benefit set for 3 p.m. on Oct. 5 at Alpha Omega Farm, which is also home of the Virginia Beach Polo Club. Local players will face the University of Virginia Alumni Polo Team.
Admission for the event is $15 for adults, $5 for children. A ``patron's party,'' which follows the match, will require a $25 admission fee per person. Proceeds will go to Equi-Kids, United Cerebral Palsy, the 4-H Clubs of Virginia Beach and the Shriners Hospital for Burned and Crippled Children, said Frye, who has organized the event each year for the past 10 years.
Sponsor of the upcoming match is the Ford Motor Co., which will offer paying customers a first glimpse of the company's latest automotive offering, the 1997 Ford Expedition.
Gates will be open at 1 p.m. A silent auction begins at 1:30 p.m., offering donated items such as a color television set, tickets to a Redskins football game, a mini-vacation on the waterfront, a stay at a local hotel, an original painting by Susan A. Bridges, fitness sessions, restaurant gift certificates and others. For additional information, call 627-1980.
The game of polo is said to have originated in ancient Persia, an area where cavalry became a major part of conducting ongoing wars with neighbors such as the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Macedonians and others over a 2,000-year stretch.
The sport spread throughout Turkey, Tibet, India, China and Japan and was adopted by British army officers for off-duty recreation while serving overseas in the ``colonies'' in the mid-1800s and early 1900s.
Polo was introduced to the United States in 1876 and it became something of a passing fancy for the wealthy horsey set here, but never gained the popularity of horse racing, golf, tennis or yachting. ILLUSTRATION: Photos, including color cover, by L. TODD SPENCER
Hugo Nunez, right, of the Virginia Beach Polo Club, and a member of
the British Combined Military team race for the ball on the lush
green field at Alpha Omega Farm.
Anne Trafton, 28, of the Virginia Beach Polo Club, helps Major Mark
Cann of the British team during a change-of-mount between chukkers
of the polo match.
Sid Woods, right, of Virginia Beach chases British Capt. Tim Verdon
during the match won by the Virginia Beach club, 11-7.
Alicia Eiban, 9, of the West Neck Creek Equestrian Club takes the
leg wraps off of a polo pony. by CNB