Beach polo
Beach polo is a modification of arena polo , which is played on sand or on the beach.
history
For a long time, beach polo was only available in Dubai and Miami . The idea came from the businessman Rashid al Habtoor and the event manager Sam Katiela.
In Germany it was Alexander Schwarz and Thomas Strunck who pushed the development of beach polo. The 1st Beach Polo World Cup Sylt took place on Sylt in 2008 , organized by Jo Schneider, who organized the first public tournament on Sylt 11 years ago. In 2007 another tournament started on Timmendorfer Strand. The German Beach Polo Championship will be held for the first time in 2016 as part of the tournament.
Since 2008 sandbanks in England have also been played on sand. In July 2009 the British Beach Polo Championships were held there for the second time. Furthermore, the Rovinj Beach Polo Cup will take place in Rovinj, Croatia for the third time in 2018.
game
matchfield
The game is played on a 100 by 40 meter field on the beach or on sand. The playing field is prepared by removing the top, soft layer of sand and consolidating the sand below.
Between the chukka , the field is pressed and smoothed with a special vehicle so that the playing conditions remain the same over the entire course of the tournament.
Game sections
Each game consists of four “chukka” that last between 5.5 and 7.5 minutes depending on the event.
Teams
Two teams with two to four players each compete against each other.
Horses
For the horses, playing on sand is more exhausting than on a lawn or meadow. The horses are regularly changed during the game to protect the animals. Each horse is only used for six and a half minutes at each of the matches. Therefore every player needs at least two horses for a tournament.
literature
- Allyson Hoffmann: Polo meets Art ... at the Beach of Timmendorfer Strand. USP Publishing, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-937461-20-5 .
- Holger Schupp, Maria Wilke: Beach Polo Timmendorf 2009. The beach polo highlight of the European polo season 2009 in impressive pictures. USP Publishing, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-937461-43-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 1st German Beach Polo Championships 2016 April 29 - May 01, 2016, Timmendorfer Strand ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
