Noruega en Argentina

As I mentioned in a recent post, the world of polo is new to me. I have scoured the net for information on polo, especially in Argentina, and wanted to create a list of useful resources. This is a work in progress and will be updated!

The governing body of polo in Argentina: Asociación Argentina de Polo. (You can follow them on Twitter as well.) Here is the international one: Federation of International Polo.

Website in English that cover polo in Argentina, both seem to be updated very often: Polo Line and Living Polo.

The US news program 60 Minutes did a feature on polo earlier in 2012. I enjoyed this short video on how they made the program – it really shows how fast the sport is. Their slow motion shots are just gorgeous.

Puesto Viejo is a gorgeous polo club and hotel on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. A great place to come out for a Polo Day in the country.

As I mentioned before, I have been riding horses since I was a little girl, but I have never tried polo. It looks fun, but also difficult! Of course the actual riding-while-trying-to-hit-a-ball-and-not-fall-off is the most daunting, but I also have a lot to learn about the sport and the rules of the game. Of course, we can’t learn a sport from watching videos, but I actually found some really good videos on YouTube that explain the rules, the different ways of hitting the ball, and other important things. (One thing I do not understand, though, is how do you avoid getting hit by the other players?)

Here is a great video on the rules and the tack: Polo – Rules of the game.

Horsemart has several good videos on how to play Polo, including this great intro.

I also enjoyed this polo lesson from the Dubai Polo Academy.

The final of the Tortugas tournament was played today, and Ellerstina beat La Dolfina 12-11. The game was actually played at Palermo, not at Tortugas Polo Club, because the fields at Tortugas were still too wet. Ellerstina won their seventh consecutive Tortugas Open, while for La Dolfina, it is the only Triple Crown competition they haven’t won. The same two teams competed for the Tortugas Open last year, so it was probably a bitter loss for La Dolfina.

In Argentina, the three most important polo tournaments are referred to as la Triple corona, or the Triple Crown. The three tournaments are Tortugas, Hurlingham, and the world-famous Abierto de Palermo/Palermo Open. The Tortugas final is Thursday, October 22 (it was supposed to be last weekend but was postponed because of heavy rains), and Hurlingham starts on Saturday, October 27 (also delayed because of rain) and the final is set to take place on November 10. The Palermo Open will start on November 17, with the final on December 8.

This means it is a very busy time for polo in Argentina! There are two websites in English that seem to have all the updates on the Triple Crown, one is Polo Line and the other is Living Polo. Living Polo describes the Triple Crown as “the world’s leading and always much-awaited trilogy of tournaments which attracts polo fans from all around the globe.”

Ellerstina vs. Pilará, semi-final October 13