5-goal Tournament

Friday, June 12

18.00 – Field II – Woodchester v. Kingsland

19.00 – Field II – Santa María v. Dehesa Ahojiz

Saturday, June 13

18.00 – Field I – Quarter finals

Sunday, June 14

11.30 – Field I – Semifinals

12.30 – Field I – Final

The three tournaments are established in memory of distinguished people: the Count of Guaqui, Don Alfredo de Goyeneche, was President of the Spanish Olympic Committee from 1998 to 2002 and a consummate rider and polo enthusiast; Don José Ignacio Domecq, as good a wine maker as polo player, played up to a 5-goal handicap and at age 72 still held a 2; and lastly, Doña María de las Mercedes, mother of King Juan Carlos, who was passionate and knowledgeable about horses, as well as closely linked to Andalucía. The foundation that carries her name, in conjunction with CEA, decided this year to establish a competition in her honour and thus becomes one of the more significant events of the Spring Season.

Eight teams of 8- to 10-goal handicaps, coming from England, Argentina, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden and Spain, will be playing at the Los Pinos grounds. One of the aims of this season is to attain, over time, a level similar to that of the Summer Season in terms of players and teams, while distinguished personages are expected to be among the spectators. And among the factors that will help to reach this objective is the weather, considerably more benign than in the rest of Europe at this time of year, and another good reason not to miss the spectacle, which is also free.

The sponsors this new Spring Season are Nespresso, Taittinger Champagne and Bodegas Julián Chivite, as official products; Sotogrande as collaborative entity; the CEA, the Junta de Andalucía’s Council for Tourism, Trade and Sport, as special contributors; El Mundo, Telva, Expansión / Fuera de Serei; SUR, La Revista de Sotogrande and Spend In as associate media.

It is worth remembering, too, that Santa María Polo Club has attained particular relevance within the World Polo Tour (WPT). International rankings of players and tournaments are categorized into four main levels: Grand Slam, Championship Cup, WPT Cup and Challenge Cup. To determine each tournament’s category, the following factors are taken into account: its handicap, its location, organization, number of teams, level of play and spectators. The tournaments organized by Santa María Polo Club have reached new categories thanks in large part to the main grounds at Los Pinos, which were inaugurated last summer. Thus, the Gold Cup at Sotogrande has become a Grand Slam event, at the same level as the British Open at Cowdray Park and the US Open at Palm Beach. The Silver Cup is now a WPT Championship Cup, at the same level as the Queen’s Cup at the Guards Polo Club and the US Gold Cup. All of this means recognition of the work being carried out by Santa María Polo Club, which is determined to become one of the best clubs in the world.

(Santa María Polo Club website: http://www.santamariapoloclub.com/en/)

This interview by Alberto Bullrich first appeared in Miradas del Sur magazine (now defunct) last year. But Nick and Ginnie have been in France this season, where Nick has been running a tournament about which we’ll bring you more as soon as they’re back.

Father, son, grandson and great-grandson of polo players, Nick Williams began playing in his native Argentina, though he never played a full game until age 10, at school in England. He was a member of the winning team for the Cowdray Gold Cup in 1976 and 1978. He was the polo school director at Santa María Polo Club for two years. His father, Jack, ran polo in Sotogrande since its beginnings in 1968 until 1980. Maybe that is why Nick and his wife, Ginnie, decided to settle in Jimena some four years ago.

How did you start out with polo? It runs in the family; my father and grandfather played, so I suppose I never thought of doing anything else. I started stick-and-balling as a child in Argentina, but I didn’t really start playing until I went to school in England, age ten. In any case, my father was always linked to the sport, and in the 1950s he began exporting between 60 and 90 ponies per year from Argentina – it was during the Perón regime when you couldn’t get money out of the country. A means of survival at the time.

Where have you played most as a professional? I played with a handicap of 4, most of it in England. I retired with a 3 in 2002, but I’ve been lucky enough to play all over the world. I also taught in Argentina, the United States, Jamaica, Nigeria, Dubai, Kenya and Thailand.

As you say, all over the place. Tell us about your career as a trainer. I’ve always thought that playing and teaching go together. I was lucky to be founding member of the Hurlingham Polo Association Coaching Federation. And we also founded and ran what became a low-goal club, the Inglesham Polo Club, which is now run by my son-in-law. My children, Roddie and Zöe are there, too. As I said, it runs in the family.

What made you decide to settle in the area?When I retired I felt that if I stayed there, I would get in the way of the children running the club. We came out to Sotogrande for a break and on the last day, I was asked if I would run the polo school at Santa María, which sort of made the decision for us. I was there for two years as Director – I’m still an honorary member – until we decided to set up a small school ourselves.

What are your objectives with your school? It is always necessary to create a pool of young players, especially in this country. The idea is to play what I call ‘campo polo’, low profile, for those who don’t want to, or can’t, play at the top layers of the game. We get young people here – through JCM Polo’s website or by word of mouth – who really want to play, beginning with the basics. We offer them a ‘starter pack’. But we also get a lot of players who are headed to Argentina and want to ‘fine tune’ their game before playing there. In any case, they get some four hours a day – which is quite a lot – of which two and a half are practical lessons, the rest they spend with theory in the classroom.

What do you consider to be the most important requirements of a good player? To start with, they have to be good riders, which is obvious. They should have a good basic knowledge of the game itself, of its rules and regulations, as well as a good understanding of a field game, such as football or rugby, which are team games. They should be team players, which is important. They should also have a good eye for the ball: they will know they have if they’re any good at tennis, for instance. They should have a yen for detail, as safety is utterly essential: they can’t have their grooms be the only ones to check a girth before they mount… It’s for their own safety, as well as the other players. And they should be physically fit. In fact, I’ve noticed they’re not as fit today as they used to be, maybe because they have less time or they spend too many hours at a desk, I don’t know.

What are the main differences between Argentina, Britain and Spain, in terms of the game, its organization and infrastructure?Argentina and Britain are very similar in that the game there is highly professional. Over there, the commercial sponsor has become more important than the individual patron. In Europe, the patrons are reluctant to give up the stranglehold they have on the game, which makes it less professional, more amateur. That’s why I believe a polo league system should be created – a Super League, perhaps, at European, or even world, level. This would certainly give Spain more credibility. As for infrastructure, Argentina, and Palermo in particular, are unlikely to be bettered. Britain has tradition as well as Hurlingham, which rules supreme.

Thank you.

1st Chukker: Ahmibah gets ahead with two goals by MacDonough, but talented Pelón Stirling and Ayala patron Íñigo Zóbel put the scoreboard at 2-2.

2nd: Ahmibah surges forward with goals by MacDonough and Laprida, though Stirling again puts in another goal. Score: Ahmibah 5 – Ayala 3.

3rd: Pablito with a superb goal and Iñaki with another one put Bahar’s team well in front, until a magnificently played goal by Pelón and Laborde’s 30-yard penalty shot sets the score at 8-5 at half time.

4th: Now Pablo MacDonough is at his best, putting the score at 10-5 against an Ayala that simply couldn’t match him despite their very best efforts.

5th: Thanks to Pelón Stirling, Ayala gets closer on the scoreboard, but once again Pablo MacDonough shoves his men ahead. Ahmibah 10 – Ayala 7.

6th: Ayala struggles to equal the score with two goals, but MacDonough puts in yet another one one from a 30-yard penalty. And the match, tournament and Gold Cup go to Ahmibah for a final 11 to 10 goals. What a match!

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

The second match was as exciting as anyone could ask for. Alfio Marchini’s (3) team, Loro Piana, come in with several major tournaments to their credit and no less than Adolfito Cambiasso (10) at 3, plus J. Peel (2) and J. Ambroggio (5), all of whom worked hard to win this match. But they weren’t up to it, mainly because Bahar Jefri’s (2) men were on top of them all the time. Bahar himself played an excellent match, marking consistently and always in the right spot to receive the ball. But it was Pablo Macdonough’s (10) game, with Ignacio Laprida (4) in full support. A couple of incidents to Loro Piana didn’t help either: Alfio came off in the 4th chukker, while Adolfito did something to his wrist at the last minute.

The final, on Saturday 30th, looks like a great match: Ayala vs. Ahmibah.

All material (c) Alberto Bullich 2008

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

ALL PHOTOS (c) Alberto Bullrich 2008