Do you think it is essential to have a horse to play polo? Well, maybe it’s not. Many variations of polo have been created since this sport became famous. Overall, this happened because most people were not able to get or maintain horses.
One of these variations is the Segway Polo, which is played with Segway PT’s instead of horses. Although some people tried to play polo with Segways before, it wasn’t until July 2004 that this sport was made popular and official by the Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group, a unit that tries to increase knowledge and acceptance of Segway transports (BASEG).
The responsible of the creation of this sport is Jonathan van Clute, a member of the group before mentioned, who suggested they should play polo with Segways. To make this possible, van Clute needed the help of Alex Ko, who created special PVC mallets for the Segways (Folsom Breakout).
Soon enough, people who played Segway Polo realized they needed some rules to make the game more organized. These rules were made in 2007 and continue to be refined by the ISPA (International Segway Polo Association) Committee (Folsom Breakout). The basic rules of the Segway Polo are very simple:
- There are two teams of five players each, trying to get the ball through the opposite’s team goal.
- Each match is divided in four eight-minute chukkers.
- The mallet must be held only with the right hand at all times.
- The ball can only be hit with the mallet. Only if a goal gets scored accidentally with the body or the Segway can be counted. Also, goals are counted when the ball was hit with the mallet.
- A player can’t go in another player’s way if doing so could cause a collision.
- The size of the field must be 200 feet by 128 feet. Also, the goal must be 8 feet wide by 5 feet high (ISPA).
Polo Segway can be a young sport, however, there has been increasing interests in playing this sport in the United States, New Zealand, Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria (ISPA).
Alejandra Treviño A01280206.
352 words.
Bibliography
BASEG. "Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group." Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group. 2008. Web. 31 Aug. 2011
Folsom Breakout. "Historiy of Segway Polo." Folsom Breakout Segway Polo Club. 2010. Web. 31 Aug. 2011
ISPA. "About Segway Polo." ISPA The Home of International Segway Polo. 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2011
Wow Ale like every week you surprising me with your information, when I saw the picture I can’t believe that people play polo with a Segway, and then it came to my mind the police of the malls that are in the Segway and I imagine the police officers playing in the mall polo, can you imagine that thing, it will be funny to see that. Anyway I really enjoy your blog. I hope you are continued doing good and thank you for sharing this blog.
ResponderEliminar-86 words
Are you serious? Really, what an interesting and innovating way for substituting polo ponies. I would never thought about playing polo without polo horses, I mean, since I learnt what polo is and how polo is it played. But that doesn’t mean that it is impossible, since they already substituted them. Thinking about it, maybe the rules aren’t that different either, without considering the horses, what mostly changes are the field’s size and that they can get points even if they don’t hit the ball with the mallet. I wonder if the segways are really expensive, well, maybe not that expensive as to maintain a horse. What I think is the most interesting part, or maybe funny, is that even though they use segways instead of horses, they still use the same types of uniforms, or that’s what I think…
ResponderEliminarThanks for the new information! I’m thankful that your posts keep being interesting, I do learn with them. I’ll read you next week, bye!
164 Words.
Stephany Gómez Oropeza
Hello Alejandra! Well What I can say about your blog, is that it is very interesting, even do I´m not into polo, because I actually haven´t watch it, and I don´t know much about it, so I cannot judge it at all.
ResponderEliminarOne thing I know about polo is that it is some kind of royal sport, because I´ve known that the Prince William and the Prince Harry from Cambridge, play polo and that they are actually pretty good at it, but obviously this is not relevant to the blog, but that´s something that I know.
Another thing that I know is that it is play with horses, but now that you post this information I know that there is another type of polo, that it might actually be pretty funny, faster and easier to be playing with this segway, because now you have the control over the machine, not like in the horse where the horse can disobey you and go in a different direction.
I seriously think it´s a very difficult sport to play because you have to be on a horse, moving a stick to hit the ball, but at the same time you have to be controlling the horse so it doesn´t go or freaks out because of the sticks, but it is an interesting sport if you are a sports fan.
Ale in my point of view you have been doing a great job, keep going girl!