Passing judgement

What an amazing couple of months. Having been invited by the Asociación Argentina de Polo (AAP) to umpire in the Argentine spring season, in mid-October, I touched down in Buenos Aires. I’d been trying to get to Argentina for years, and had been contacted by Diego Ruiz Guiñazu, secretary of the Executive Council, while he was in Britain for the Coronation Cup.

After finalising a few details – importantly, I felt I could go only if the high-goal umpires were in agreement – I finally boarded the flight to Ezeiza and into the umpiring unknown. With my friend and fellow umpire JJ Alberdi, I set about the acquisition of a hire car, mobile phone and Argentine officiating paraphernalia before settling into my apartment in Tortugas, the fantastic country club that is home to the first major open of the season.

Then, with the help of Chunca in the AAP office, I started my life as an umpire in South America, being broken in gently with a couple of 14-goals before progressing to 20-goals. The fundamental difference between umpiring in Argentina and the rest of the world is that, for all polo of 24-goals and below, there is only one official on the field. This was quite a culture shock for an Englishman who is used to riding out onto the field with a colleague.

The Hurlingham Open had already begun when I arrived, and as the majority of my polo was in the mornings, my afternoons were spent watching the action at the AAP grounds in Pilar: La Dolfina (40) and Ellerstina (38) progressed to the final, and I was appointed as third man. A great game ended with a win for La Dolfina, my services being called upon just a couple of times, by Esteban Ferrari and Federico Martelli. As the sun went down, my initiation was complete.

Palermo was now upon us and, on the opening weekend, I was to umpire for Alegria vs Las Monjitas on the No 1 field. I entered La Catedral for the first time with a combination of nerves, trepidation and excitement. This was the culmination of years of hard work for me, and something of an emotional moment in my professional life. And another highlight was still to come, on the No 2 field, in the shape of the Heguys of the legendary Chapaleufú team. And then came the final. I received the call at around 5 o’clock the previous evening to tell me I’d been selected. I was surprised, to say the least; however, I slept fairly well and made my way to Palermo, not knowing quite what to expect. My nerves were on edge, but, after a meeting in the AAP offices and a quick bite to eat, I mounted up and a calm came over me.

With the two best teams in the world on the field, comprising six 10-goalers and a combined handicap of 77 goals, this was all set to be a classic encounter. But, sadly, it was not to be. Much has been written about the final of 2014. I believe we called the plays we had to, but with more than 40 fouls and numerous delays for horse and player injuries, it certainly didn’t live up to expectations. Fede Martelli and I left the field over three hours after we had entered it, and I, for one, was exhausted.

I can still hardly believe it was me out there in front of 15,000 people on that December day. But it was definitely one of the greatest moments of my professional life. Nothing compares to it, and, in the polo world, nothing will.

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