Rule in favour

This summer’s changes to the way the English high-goal game is played proved popular with officials and players alike, reports HPA umpire Peter Wright

The 2016 high-goal season in England might well be a turning point for polo worldwide. The consensus from players, patrons and the paying public has been that the Queen’s Cup, and especially the Gold Cup, displayed some of the best and most open polo anyone could remember seeing in the UK in recent memory.

In the winter of 2015/16, the HPA made the decision to reduce the number of high-goal umpires for the season. Having had a group of between eight and 12 officials over the past decade or so, it declared that, in 2016, there would be just four: Jason Dixon, Julian Appleby, Tim Bown and me. Inspired or foolish? Only time would tell.

The hope was that, with a smaller group, greater consistency could be achieved and teams could feel confident the best umpires were available to them. Appleby was back in the UK, having missed the 2015 season due to work commitments for the USPA and returned after wintering in Argentina and Palm Beach.

And so, in early May, the season began. The signs were positive, even at this early stage, that a good summer was in store. We were gelling as a unit and, despite the weather, the teams were playing open, competitive polo.

The four of us quickly formed a tight group. We all had considerable prior umpiring experience and were good friends, but it soon became clear we shared something else: the same outlook on how we wanted to call games – that is, cut out the chat and allow them to be played with the minimum of whistles.

Armed with the new rules for yellow cards and the ‘sin bin’, our ability to stop much of

the on-field talking soon became very apparent. The players were getting to grips with it as well, and the fact there was only one player sent to the aforementioned sin bin in the Queen’s Cup is a testament to how quickly they adjusted.

It wasn’t until the Gold Cup that it became apparent just how much things had changed. A great many column inches have been written in the past month or so about how the umpires allowed the games to flow. While I agree, I also believe a huge amount of credit must go to the players themselves. For many years, we have all bemoaned the slow play and negative polo, while relishing the individual skills of the most skilled participants. But now we were beginning to see real team polo, with all four members crucially important to the success of each organisation. By cutting out many of the minor fouls and not aiding teams who were playing in a negative style, we encouraged a faster, more expansive game.

As a group, we had not been given specific instructions to open up the game; it simply came about organically. Because there were fewer of us, the hoped-for greater consistency, both from us as umpires and from the teams themselves, was indeed possible. No longer were players slowing up as they got closer to the goal, trying to draw the opposition into a foul. Nor were they chasing the back legs of the defender in front, because the negative players were increasingly not being given the benefit of the doubt. As such, many fewer open-goal penalties were awarded, and for the first time in a long time, open-field goals were outscoring 30s and 40s. And games flowed, with an average match lasting between 1 hour 20 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes instead of 1 hour 40 minutes and 2 hours.

The UK high-goal season has proved there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the rules of polo – rather, that it’s their interpretation that’s the most important factor. The challenge now will be to translate what has been achieved in umpiring in England to the playing of polo worldwide. With the unification of the rules never closer than now, perhaps this is the time to instigate a global umpiring association akin to that all other major sports around the world have had for decades. It’s the next logical step, and one I believe could propel the game forward for the greater enjoyment of all concerned.

Opposite Julian Appleby, left, and Jason Dickson with La Indiana manager Louise Thomas at the final Above Peter Wright