NEWS

Young players from California were joined by visiting players from Wyoming, Alabama and Minnesota for a USPA Young Player Outreach (YPO) Clinic at the Eldorado Polo Club in Indio, California. A full weekend of mounted and unmounted exercises aimed to build skills and horsemanship was enjoyed by attendees. Participating players were eager to learn more about the sport of polo and worked throughout the weekend to improve their game.

The clinic was lead by Team USPA players Pedro Lara, Patrick Uretz, Jorge Estrada and USPA Instructor Henri Du Toit. The clinic began with the importance of performing your own safety check and taking ownership of your mount. They then segued into the value of warming up horses properly by highlighting key points to check to get the most out of your horse. Once everyone was mounted up, they broke up into four smaller groups and rotated through drills, swing analysis and riding analysis.

After wrapping up the extensive mounted drill session, players took care of their horses and grabbed a quick bite, while listening to a chalk talk where Estrada emphasized positioning on set plays. The participants then migrated over to watch the semifinals of an 8-goal tournament that Eldorado Polo Club was hosting, where Lara shared insight on how he watches a polo game, learned from Team USPA mentors.

Once the game was over, the group split into two, one group went to review Body Condition Scoring and Nutrition, while the other viewed the Swing Essentials Foundations Guide and received feedback on their own swings.

Finally, it was time for team meetings to organize for Sunday’s scrimmage. The lead instructors were joined by Team USPA members Jared Sheldon and Remy Muller, and all received a team to coach for the next day. In small team meetings they talked about strategy and two skills for each person to commit to practicing during their game. Some rules for the chukkers were also laid out, specifically, whistles would be called for turning the ball when it was more appropriate to hit a backshot to a teammate.

The players met the next morning at the field and suited up for their scrimmage. From chukker to chukker they started to execute fantastic team plays, hitting the ball to open spaces and organizing clean backshot passes. After the scrimmage wrapped up and players took care of their horses, everyone met for lunch and a lecture on bits and bitting. Lara and Du Toit shared insight on their experiences with bits and what to look for when trying different bits on horses. Lara also reminded everyone of the five pressure points: bars, tongue, lips, cheek and chin.

In one of the last exercises, the participants were asked to share their goals with the group. The conversation included information from Clinic Coordinator Liz Holson, Lara and Uretz explaining the Team USPA program, the Intern Program, YPO and other mentorship opportunities. These programs are available to young players who might not want to pursue careers as professional players, but know they want to keep polo in their life long term. The participants then finished with either Swing Analysis or Body Condition Scoring, before picking up horses and heading back home for the upcoming week. Each player took something different away from the weekend and has new skills to work on to take their polo to the next level.

For more information on getting involved with the Young Player Outreach Clinic, or want to know more about how to host a clinic at your club, please contact Liz Holson eholson@uspolo.org for more information.