Page 69 - Puissance Euro 1

POLO, DE LEGENDEPolo is één van de oudste sporten. Volgens de legende werd het spel voor het eerst gespeeld in Perzië, zo’n 600 jaar voor Christus, toen twee legereenheden vochten om het afge- houwen hoofd van een overwonnen vijand. Lange tijd werd er gestreden om de kop van een schaap. In minder wrede tijden werd deze schapenkop vervangen door een bal in ‘pulu’, de sterke, veerkrachtige wortel van de wilg. Het spel verspreidde zich over Azië, India en China. ‘Buzkashi’ werd gespeeld door teams van de berberbevolking in Afghanistan, een niets en niemand ontziende bezigheid die uiteindelijk verfijndzou worden door Engelse officieren, gelegerd in India. Ze veranderden het woord ‘pulu’ in polo en brachten het spel naar Engeland. Polo is in België nog altijd een ondergewaar- deerde en vooral onbekende sport, terwijl het onder meer in Engeland, Argentinië en Australië al lang ingeburgerd is. Om deze sport toegankelijker te maken voor het grote publiek organiseert SCAPA SPORTS in samenwerking met de ge- meente Knokke-Heist de SCAPA SPORTS BEACH POLO.67POLO, THE LEGENDPolo is one of the oldest sports on earth. Legend has it the game was played in Persia some 600 years B.C. when two army units contended with each other for the head of a deca- pitated enemy. For quite some time the game was played for the head of a sheep. In less cruel times the sheep’s head was replaced by a ball in ‘pulu’, the elastic root of the willow. The game spread fast over Asia, India and China. ‘Buzkashi’ was played by teams of the Berber population in Afghanistan, a ruthless pastime taking into account nothing and no one. En- glish officers staying in India would refine it eventually. They changed the word ‘pulu’ into polo and imported the gamein England. Polo is a game that is underrated and actually pretty much unknown in Belgium whereas in Britain, Argen- tina and Australia it has been quite common for a long time. To make this sport accessible to the larger public, SCAPA SPORTS organizes the SCAPA SPORTS BEACH POLO together with the municipality of Knokke-Heist.Has polo playing been ingrained from early on with you?I inherited the love for horses from my granddad, who used to breed race horses. He died when I was twelve and none of his three daughters has picked up the love for horses. Equestrian sport consequently really runs in my blood, but actually I ama hockey player. I used to play at a quite high level. Only at nineteen did I start playing polo. I owe it to my sister during a holiday in Argentina. I did not speak any Spanish and was a bit forlorn there at the time. My sister convinced me to try a polo course. I was instantly bitten by the virus.In the mean time you are quite fluent in Spanish, I noticed.Spanish is the vehicular language in the polo world. Polo is an Argentinean sport and all our stable grooms are Argentineans. At tournaments however, English is spoken. It facilitates com- munication among the various players and spectators from different countries such as Germany, South Africa, France, Britain, Spain and Uruguay.Polo is a very intense sport, particularly for the horses. Which are the main qualities of a good polo horse?It’s got to be fast, manoeuvrable and should be able to accel- erate quickly. At the high level we run thoroughbreds. We buy them polo ready in Argentina. As I said that is the country as far as polo is concerned. A polo game is played in a stadium, a crowd of 20,000 spectators is not exceptional and it will also be broadcast live on television. Polo is the most viewed and covered sport on TV after football and basketball.