2012 -As of now we are not playing polo. The closest Polo club is in Lexington, KY and some members will be traveling there to compete.
Sassafras travels all over the southeast competing with many different teams. There are normally three matches hosted throughout the year such as The Sassafras Farm Cup, The Beaver Ridge Cup, and of course the most famous tournament in the Southeast, The Land Rover Cup. We welcome people to come watch every Sunday afternoon during our practice games. Please stay tuned for tournament dates, and be sure to mark your calendar to come watch one of the most exhilarating team sports in the world.
The Sport of Polo.
The basic concept behind
polo is much like soccer or ice hockey. Two teams
of players attempt to move a ball through a goal.
However, The speed and scale at which polo is played
makes it unlike any other game in the world. Polo
is played on a ten acre field, at speeds up to 40 miles
per hour. A well hit ball may travel toward the
goal at over 100 miles per hour. There are four
players on a team, mounted on horses that have been
carefully selected and specially trained to play the
game. The horses are athletes as well, and their
abilities have tremendous impact on the outcome of the
game. Each player carries a mallet about four feet
in length and uses it to strike the 3 1/2 " ball.
Riders play both offense and defense, and teamwork
between players and between the rider and their horse is
essential to success. Play begins when an umpire
bowls a ball between the two teams. Teams play six
periods, or chukkers per game. Each lasts seven
minutes, plus a possible 30 seconds of overtime.
If the score is tied at the end of the game, a seventh
chukker is played. Because of the speed and
intensity of the game, players change horses at the end
of each chukker. A goal is scored any time the
ball passes over
the line between the goal posts, no matter if it was hit
by a mallet of kicked by a horse. The inherent
danger of 1,000 pound animals traveling at high speeds
makes safety a key consideration in the game. Therefore,
players must abide by rules based on the "line of the
ball." If players were permitted to approach the
ball from any and all directions, it would be much like
cars trying to pass through an unmarked intersection.
So players must respect the line of the ball and
approach
the ball only in directions that can be anticipated by
other players and responded to safely. The line of
the ball is the imaginary line the ball creates as is
travels from point B to point C, but it is extended to a
prior point, A, and it extends to a farther point, D.
Points A and D are determined by the speed and distance
of the horses in a given play. The line of ball
remains set until the ball changes direction. The
line of the ball may not be crossed by another player
unless there is no safety consideration involved.
If two players ride toward the ball hoping to hit it,
they must ride on either side of line so both have
access to the ball. If the players are coming from
opposite directions, they can only hit the ball off
their right (off) side. Thay way, they remain on
opposite sides of the line of the ball. If a
player crosses the line of the ball, the umpires can
award the opposing team a free hit toward the goal.
Depending in the severity of the infraction and the
danger involved, a free hit may be awarded as close as
thirty yards from the goal or as far away as midfield or
even farther. A player is permitted to bump, or
ride into another player to spoil a shot. The
angle of collision cannot exceed 45 degrees, and the
faster the horses are traveling, the smaller the angle
must be.