Fast & furious

Four-goaler Matt Coppola found a very different kind of polo in Pilar, where he was one of only two players from the US in an All Pro Polo League tournament

I went to Argentina last November, as I do every autumn, to play some tournaments with Juan Monteverde, a cousin of Lucas Monteverde, and improve my game. I knew about the All Pro Polo League (APPL) tournament, but not how to get into it. Luckily, it just worked out: they needed a player and Javier Tanoira found out I was in the country, so invited me to play a game at the Pilar Chico Polo Club. It was amazing – and we won!

At first, I was a little nervous about the rules. Playing the first time in the league is different: it’s a much more open game and more lenient when it comes to fouls – if it’s dangerous, they’ll call it, but, in general, they don’t call as many. The most difficult thing to get used to was the penalties, which you take from a standstill at the spot where the foul happened – you’ve got to start and go fast, you’re being chased from behind, and there’s a lot of pressure if you miss.

I got to take one of those shots. I actually scored on it, but I think I was only about 60 yards from the goal, so I hit an approach and just ran, and it was another top. I had to think about it – I’d never done one, so I was nervous, but it worked out. It was the first time for two or three of the other guys that were playing that day, too, so at least I wasn’t the only one. We were an 18-goal team. I knew Juan Martín Obregon – an Argentine I’ve played with in the States – but I didn’t know any of the others. I’m 4 goals and so was another guy, and there were two 5-goalers, Jerónimo Del Carril, who’s 19 years old, and Juan Martín Zubia, who’s just 16. We were playing with really good 25-and-under players in an almost-20-goal league – that’s really impressive, and something we haven’t yet seen here in the United States.

I played Juan Monteverde’s horses – six really good ponies. I was with them for two months in total, including a month before the game, getting to know them. That was really helpful, because it’s difficult to go out with horses you don’t know.

Juan’s father, Marcelo, was my coach. He’s a very good instructor and helped me a lot – in fact, he changed my game, opening it up and getting me hitting, running and taking the man. Instead of it being a game just for myself, he taught me to set up play for my teammates. That really stood me in good stead.

In the APPL, each position is identified by a different-coloured helmet: one is white, two is yellow, three is pale blue and four is black. I have a white helmet, so I got to be No 1. The APPL is a really good idea – it gets young players into the mindset of open polo and how it used to be, with less stopping. There’s a big difference between playing on a team with a sponsor and playing on a team with four expert young guys. You have to think faster, play tougher and be aggressive. It’s hit-and-run.

I think it’ll be fairly easy to incorporate the skills I learnt in Argentina now I’m back in the US – polo here is a lot slower, so, if you’re going and thinking more quickly, you have a good chance of beating the other guys. It’s so cool that the next edition of the All Pro Polo League will be in my hometown, Wellington, in Florida. I’d love to be a part of it and get Americans into this kind of polo, so they too can open and speed up their game.

Opposite and below Matt Coppola, playing for The Tackeria, switches horses; Julian Hipwood coaching Coppola