An Exciting Combination: Polocrosse offering local riders new thrills
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A player bends for a ball while riding - |
Article by William Logan, Calvert Independent Sports Writer (reprinted with permission)
Take one 1,000-pound horse. Add a skilled rider, a long racket (of close relation to a lacrosse stick) and one sponge rubber ball. Multiply those units by six, split into even teams and place them on a large field with two goals.
The end result?
“Polo on steroids,” answered David Lynn, in reference to the organized mayhem that’s otherwise known as polocrosse.
Polocrosse, a blend of action that borrows elements from both polo and traditional lacrosse, might be horse-riding’s most exciting secret. Out of the thousands of horse aficionados spread nationwide, just a handful (approximately 400-500) partake in polocrosse at a competitive level.
Lynn is trying to boost that membership. The co-founder of Xtreme Polocrosse, based out of Hampton Horse Farm in Owings, Lynn recently secured a visit from Australian native Graham Bennett—a polocrosse veteran of the last 30 years.
Encouraged by Lynn’s enthusiasm, Bennett made the 25-hour plane ride to Kings Landing Park from July 9-12 to conduct an exhaustive polocrosse seminar.
“For me, it’s very heartening to see someone like David come in and want to promote the sport,” Bennett said. “It’s something I’ve been quite keen to see happen here for a number of years.”
For the few dozen polocrosse players in attendance during the four-day camp—some of which had traveled from as far away as New Jersey and North Carolina—learning under a recognized authority such as Bennett was indescribable.
“He’s so qualified—playing polocrosse in Australia, which won the World Cup last year,” said Caroline er, whose mother Karen helped Lynn start Xtreme Polocrosse. “They’re far more advanced than Americans.
“To have his input—the problem over here is we’re still learning—and get somebody who really knows what they’re doing, we want him to teach us.”
While the opening two days of Bennett’s instruction was aimed towards beginners (many of whom had never even played polocrosse before), even more experienced players such as er were eager participants.
Soaking up any knowledge from Bennett, who has a storied track record as both player and coach back in Austrialia—one of the most dominant countries in polocrosse—was an opportunity not to be passed up.
“[Bennett] can say something, and I feel like I understand it better than how other people could explain it,” noted Avery Thompson, a rising senior at Northern High School.
“King of the one horse sports”
Despite Lynn’s analogy, there’s one thing polocrosse lovers make abundantly clear—they’re not to be confused with the better-known counterpart, polo.
Polocrosse is played on a different-size field, specifically 160 yards long by 60 yards wide. Goals are positioned at both ends, each with a pair of raised poles that infinitely extend in the same way field goal posts for football do.
The three horses on each team are divided into offensive, midfield or defensive roles, with according field restrictions and other stipulations for ball movement.
Similar to lacrosse, players must retain possession of the ball and shoot it in-between the goal for points—a task made more difficult (and exciting) due to the speed of their horses.
“You get to go fast and push people—that’s what I like about it,” said Thompson of polocrosse games, referred to as “chukkas.”
“[Polocrosse] is a game where you really have to use physical skill, but also use your brain,” Bennett commented. “It’s a thinking game; there’s a lot of strategy.
“A good chess player would probably argue in the point, but there are a lot of similarities. You have a number of options available to you to make a move—when you take an option, it changes both ways. You have to be able to see ahead. That’s a very big part of it, particularly at the higher levels.”
Aside from rules, polo and polocrosse are also separated by the resources needed for each sport. Polo has earned an affluent reputation over the years, mostly for the fact that every player needs a stable of four to eight horses.
Due to the hard riding attributed with polo, horses must be rotated on a constant basis—the type of luxury usually available only to wealthier contingents.
In contrast, polocrosse is not saddled with a similar limitation. Known to many as the “king of one horse sports”, avid polocrosse competitors need only a single horse for a tournament’s worth of play.
Breed, size and age are secondary factors; although higher levels of polocrosse naturally favor speed and agility, those playing for recreation can use any variety of horse.
The only stipulation is that a horse should be well kept—a requirement polocrosse lovers proudly adhere to.
“It’s just a great connection between you and your horse,” said er. “You make this bond playing a great sport.”
Family affair
For nearly every polocrosse player, the most rewarding aspects are the limitless options that go into selecting team members. Children and their grandparents can play together on the same pitch, an age range that is distinctly unique to polocrosse.
“It’s a very social sport,” commented Bennett. “I don’t really know of many other sports where you can get three generations of the family play on one team.”
“Not a lot of sports play with men and women,” er added. “If you want to be on a team with a guy, or you’re brother wants to play with you, you can do it.”
Because the horses are responsible for most of the work, polocrosse is largely dependent on the rider’s skill—whether he or she is 7 or 70-years-old.
In addition to the seemingly lack of age requirements (or restrictions), polocrosse players also get to meet a variety near and distant riders during their search for nationwide competition.
Since the polocrosse scene in Maryland is so limited, higher level players such as er end up traveling to wherever chukkas may be held—from Texas, to North Carolina, to Florida. Along the way, friends are made and bonds strengthened, which only serve to reinforce the familial aspect of polocrosse.
“We’ve met people from South Africa, Canada and Ireland,” said Thompson, who travels to polocrosse tournaments roughly once per month.
“It’s a way to bring everyone together,” added er. Visiting Texas—and its burgeoning polocrosse scene—made an even bigger influence on er, who has been accepted to attend Texas A&M University this fall.
Spreading the word
Most participants insist the only detriment to polocrosse’s growth is a lack of exposure.
“It’s a fantastic game,” said Bennett, “A game anyone can have a lot of fun with—that’s the reason we all started playing, to have fun.”
That call extends to those not otherwise familiar with horses. Determined to spread polocrosse further than normal equestrian borders, Lynn eagerly offers any would be players a chance to visit his horse farm and take riding lessons.
“Anybody that’s played a sport and can appreciate teamwork, anybody that’s played lacrosse, anybody that’s an excitement junkie— they’re going to love it,” said er.
“I like riding horses and doing stuff that’s exciting,” added Thompson, whose friends often watch her games despite not being riders themselves. “Polocrosse is something that’s definitely both.
“After you do it, everything else seems so boring.”
For more information on polocrosse, visit www.xtremepolocrosse.com.
E-mail William Logan at sports@calvertindependent.com.
Contact us
David Lynn: dlynn@xtremepolocrosse.com 443-624-7592
Barbara Lynn: blynn@xtremepolocrosse.com 410-610-3643
Karen er: 1kgardiner@xtremepolocrosse.com 443-454-7154
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