Polo players

Polo players, as players in many sports, have different positions so that each player has specific responsibilities. As this is a game usually played with four members there are four positions:

1. Player number one has an offensive position, generally the most offensive in the field. He has to be the one to score as many goals as possible. But his responsibility is not only offensive, it is also expected that he

covers the player number four of the opposite team.

2. Polo player number two has also an offensive position but his aim has to be breaking up the defense of the opposite team. It is considered a more agresive position than number one and as many experts in this game think, it is the most difficult position to be played. His offensive role is to run through the defense of the opposite team and pass the ball to number one or score himself.

3. Player number three is certainly the main man in the team, similar to the scrum-half in rugby. He is the pivot man, so he is the principal play maker or tactical leader. His function also is to pass the ball to number one and two. He has a defensive position as well avoiding opposite´s number one and two to get near the goal area.

4. The Back, or polo player number four, is the player with the most defensive position. His role is usully to keep the other team out of the goal area and prevent them from scoring. If there is a team with a very good number four that allows number three to  be more offensive in his play.

In this sport you may find amateur player, patrons player or pros (as professional), and they may play even together. It is usuall for professional polo players to market their skills to amateurs so that they could play in some tournaments with a higher goal. They are paid an amount of money according to their handicap rating. Patrons is the name given to a team with amateurs and one or more polo pros.

In general Polo pros spend a lot of time training polo horses. It is usual for a polo pro to have a string of 6 to 20 playing horses and also have some extra horses to be trained. In a polo match it is expected to use at least 6 polo horses.

In order to compete in polo tournaments with medium or high goal, an amateur polo player needs to join an experienced professional player. This pros travel with their families so they require housing for them and for their wives and kids. In this way, professionals can earn a considerable amount of money by playind polo abroad. They also teach the sport an sell their trained horses as well.

All polo players are rated year after year. Female players and male players are rated by the same handicap system. Its is often to considered the goals (related to the handicap) as the number of goals a player can make in a single match but it refers actually to the value that player has for his team.