International Polocrosse Council

1^st Test – Australia 22 d Sth Africa 20

2^nd Test – South Africa 28 d Australia 22

3^rd Test – Australian 23 d Sth Africa 20 continue reading…

Senior Open Squad for 2011 World Cup in England – 22 July 2010 at 00:00

Polocrosse members.

The Senior Selection Committee has selected an Senior Open Squad of 6 Men and 6 ladies for the 2011 World Cup in England. This is an open squad and the final team will be announced after Club Champs at Noodsberg.

I would like to congratulate the following: continue reading…

UK Polocrosse will make its debut on Sky Sports at the end of October in a series of four programs of the recent UK versus South Africa test match series. The test match series took place at Ashfields polocrosse club in Essex on the 18th and 19th of July and the UKPA arranged for the Country Channel to come and film it and screen it through their own TV channel. continue reading…

Things got off to a start on the Wednesday – well actually preparations for the open got off to a start long before the Wednesday but proceedings for the annual Zim Open 2009 got underway on Wednesday the 9th of September with their meet and greet, black tie ball the traditional gathering of all the players, managers, sponsors, interested spectators and family, as well as honoured guests and the few friends looking for a good party. The setting this year was spectacular the ball was held at the venue as usual however this year they had stepped it up a notch as they always do and we were treated to a fantastic array of drapes and lighting surrounding the main seating area, the tables were covered in flowers and confetti and it definitely was a world class event especially for the polocrosse community. continue reading…

As I write this report the England and South African Polocrosse teams are preparing to go head to head in the UK .My best wishes to both teams. I hope the polocrosse is safe and exciting.

2009 has seen South Africa sending a junior under 16-mixed team and our senior team to Australia in April. The juniors won the series 2-1 and the seniors came a disappointing third at the quadrangular series. What was impressive was Polocrosse Australia. They are truly the giants of our game. Theirs facilities, organization, numbers and standard are difficult to match. Congratulations Australia. continue reading…

South Africa’s decision to take their youngsters to the UK rather than rely on experience paid dividends as their teams won three out of the four test matches. The UK will be disappointed that they did not do better on their home soil, and probably in the case of the ladies they should have done, but little can be taken away from a South African side which only featured 3 players over 20 years of age and featured one player making their international debut at the age of 15.

The South Africans got off to the perfect start by winning both the ladies and men’s test matches on the first day of series, Saturday the 18th of July, at Ashfields Polocrosse club in Essex. Both matches were incredibly close with the South Africa ladies winning 19-17 and the men winning 22-20. In both matches the South Africans got into an early lead and though the UK fought back well, and in the case of the men briefly lead, the South Africans found an extra gear right at the end to close out the match.
The next day started well for the UK with the UK ladies having their revenge, winning by 22 goals to 18. The UK ladies all looked on their top form, something they struggled to find the day before, and got off to a great start. The South Africans came back at them and crept into a 12-11 lead in the fifth but the UK ladies would not be defeated a second time and pulled away to victory.
The South African ladies played very well on both days but the UK will probably feel that if they had played their best in both tests they could have won the series. On the first day, however, they were hurt by the speed of the South Africans, with the number 1′s Dawnay Jacobs and Nicky Crook looking on very good form. Nicky Crook, in particular, had an excellent first test as she flashed past Sophie Lodder to score a number of goals, though Sophie was on a fairly tricky horse which only seemed to really settle towards the end of each match.
The South African men also punished the UK with their speed and direct style of play. Possession was fairly even throughout the matches, hence the close scores, but the difference was in how quickly the South Africans move with and without the ball. When the South Africans won the ball they headed straight for the goal, not giving the UK a chance to properly defend against them in midfield. Once they were in the area they didn’t waste time trying to work the area, if they couldn’t find a quick way past the number three then they would throw a big overarm over the top of the number 3 (showing exactly why Australians hate overarm throws). When the UK got the ball they were far slower in midfield, working their way to the area more steadily and this gave the South Africans time to push pressure on in midfield and force mistakes. In the area the UK number 1′s took their time and the South African number 3′s did a good job keeping them at bay. The UK always scored their chances but once South Africa were ahead the UK needed quick goals to pull it back and they could not always achieve that.
However, the UK had little choice but to play the way they played; it is the way they play polocrosse and it would be unwise for them to try and match the South Africans at pace. The South African men showed exactly why people say the African countries have the best stick and balls skills in the world, throwing some huge passes and even when they weren’t totally accurate their players were still able to lean off their horses and pull them in. The UK also lost slightly too much ball out of the line up, with Jannie Steenkamp and Andrew Heynes doing a particularly good job out the back.
South Africa’s victory here sends a chilling warning to the rest of the polocrosse world as it was such a young squad. The Van Wyk brothers were a major thorn in the UK’s side at the age of just 19 and Graham Mclarty, who is just 15, played particularly well in the second test, despite receiving some rough treatment from the UK at times. South Africa have shown that they have young talent in abundance while the UK were forced to look to their older players for inspiration at times like these, players such as Jason Webb who deservedly won the UK most valuable male player award.
It wasn’t all about the South African youngsters, there were also positives from the UK’s young players. Jono Keen looked good at number 3 for the men, winning quite a lot of ball out the line up and doing all he could against Attie Van Wyk. For the ladies Lucy Shell looked good when she came in at number 2 and Annie Waterrer and Charlotte Pykett both looked good at number 1, particularly in the second test match.
The polocrosse over the weekend was of the highest standard and the weather was pretty good, with only a few showers of rain on the Sunday. However, there was a nasty cloud over the whole occasion due to some of the umpiring and also due to the South African chairman and coach storming on to the pitch and holding up play during the first ladies test.
The UK was very unhappy with some of the umpiring of Patrick O’Sullivan, the South African umpire, and at points some of his decisions did seem strange. Twice he penalised the UK ladies very harshly for not taking free throws from exactly the spot he had marked, which on one occasion seemed to be directly under his own horse’s hooves. Also, on another occasion, he changed his mind about a UK goal. He personally awarded the UK a free throw at goal, which Guy Robertson duly converted, and signaled a goal only to change his mind as the South African goal judge insisted that Guy had put his horse foot in the D as he threw the goal. The same goal judge also insisted later on that a goal that Jason Webb had thrown had gone wide but on this occasion he was over ruled as the he was meant to be watching the D and not the posts.
Whether these decisions would have really changed the course of the match is debatable but throughout all the matches Patrick O’Sullivan and his fellow umpire Simon Shearing argued about various decisions and went to the match referee, the Australian Stuart Neal, on several occasions to get a ruling. All of this did not look good and it left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. In future the world of polocrosse might well have to consider whether it wishes to use umpires from the countries actually playing or whether it wants to find umpires from other polocrosse nations to umpire test matches.
The worst moment of the weekend was reserved for the first test match when the South Africans felt it was necessary to march on to the pitch to protest against an umpire’s decision. One of the South African’s horses had lost a shoe and was getting reshod between chukkas. It was not ready to start the next chukka and under international rules they should have sent on their reserve player and a reserve horse. They clearly did not want to do this and so instead their players spent ages getting to the pitch.
With the UK players waiting on the tee the umpires prepared to throw in the ball as the South Africans had had the necessary two minutes between chukkas to get ready. It was at this point the South Africans marched on to the pitch and protested. An argument ensured with their UK counterparts going out to meet them, and also some random New Zealanders who felt it was necessary to be involved. After some debate they all left the pitch and two South Africa players arrived for the first line up. Just after the ball was thrown it the final player rushed onto the pitch, complete with all four horse shoes.
Regardless of who was wrong or right, it again looked unseemly and apparently some of the insults that were traded were far from pleasant. Again, possibly independent umpires would help avoid situations like this or possibly the International Polocrosse Council will need to show some strong leadership on how situations like this should be avoided in the future. Ashfields Polocrosse Club in particular had done a great deal of work to make these test matches a huge event for the UK and bring in a big crowd to watch the test matches and for them to be marred by arguments and debatable decisions is a great shame, as it detracts from the fantastic standard of play that was seen on both days and the fantastic achievement of the young South African side.

• Best UK Male Player – Jason Webb
• Best South African Male Player – Nico Van Wyk
• Best UK Lady Player – Sophie Lodder
• Best South African Lady Player – Celicia Jacobs

Team GBR Media & News

TV cameras and an excitable crowd witnessed an epic battle on the polocrosse field between The United Kingdom and South Africa – the stakes and adrenaline ran high…

Spectators at the two-day Test Series between the United Kingdom and South Africa were treated to an incredible polocrosse battle; it was about revenge, world rankings and scoring points! The Test Series featured spectacular horsemanship, amazing plays and incredible skill by Britain’s and South Africa’s leading female and male Polocrosse teams.

The United Kingdom Ladies Polocrosse team obtained some small revenge against their South African counterparts for the two defeats they suffered earlier this year, but will be disappointed that they didn’t do more. The Ladies team drew their test match series winning a match each. Having lost the first test match 19-17 on the Saturday, they came out fighting on Sunday to win 22-18. The United Kingdom will be disappointed though that they didn’t win the two-day series, they were considered by many to be the better side across the weekend.

The UK men will harbour greater disappointment as they lost both their test matches to the South African men. In truth, however, they lost to an inform team packed with young talent. The UK went behind early in each test match and in the second match South Africa never let this advantage slip, winning 23-20. In the first match the UK managed to make up the early deficit and crept into the lead at the end of the sixth chukka, but South Africa came back even stronger to win by two goals, 22-20.

The United Kingdom were keen to win all the tests to regain the third position in the world rankings and relegate the South Africans to fourth, but South Africa’s risky tactic of sending a squad of very young players paid off. The youngest player was Graham MacLarty at just 15 years old and only three of the squad were over 20. The UK’s older side just couldn’t deal with the speed and direct playing style of the South Africans.

South Africa’s Nico van Wyk and The United Kingdom’s Jason Webb were selected and presented as the leading Male Players of the Test Series. While South Africa’s Celicia Jacobs and The United Kingdom’s Sophie Lodder were presented as the best Female Players of the Series.

Ashfields Polocrosse Club hosted the Test Series and produced a glamorous and stylish affair with an impressive VIP area, Riders Party and country fair atmosphere for spectators and visitors. Breast Cancer Campaign was the official charity for the event and various activities held across the two days, included a charity auction and collections. The official count has yet to be completed, but already over 2,000 has been counted and presented to Breast Cancer Campaign.

Elizabeth Cook, Events Manager at Breast Cancer Campaign said, “We are thrilled with the funds Ashfields Polocrosse Club have raised for Campaign. The event was something new for us, something really different for a summer’s day out. We’d like to extend our thanks to Martin Verhagen and his team at Ashfield’s for their support. The money raised will help Breast Cancer Campaign to continue researching the cure for breast cancer.” For more information about Breast Cancer Campaign or to make a donation to the charity visit www.breastcancercampaign.org

Polocrosse is an extreme sport best described as lacrosse on horseback. It’s great to play and even more exciting to watch! For more information on polocrosse please visit www.polocrosse.org.uk, home to the United Kingdom Polocrosse Association. The Countryside Channel has provisionally scheduled the Test Series for showing in early September, watch the website for details.

Report on Polocrosse – Squack Whaley –  June 17, 2009

A few people have asked me what my thoughts are on SA polocrosse so I decided to write a small report outlining a few facts and ideas.

Firstly it is a fact that our polocrosse numbers during isolation 1980-1992 were high.1985 was 782 and 1990 was 743. The 2009 list, which is on the Internet, indicates 491 members. This reflects a 35 % decrease.

Next fact is that the SA Men’s A team beat a very strong Zim Men’s A 2-1 in their first test series post-isolation in 1992 at Pietermaritzberg and Inanda.  They did this with shallow net racquets, polo “easy out” saddles and an assortment of protective headgear from polo helmets to pith helmets. During the same period of isolation Zimbabwe was enjoying their new freedom by touring Australia 1983,1987 and sending a section in 1988 to the bicentennial test series verses Australia. Touring New Zealand in 1992. Hosting Australia in 1985 and New Zealand in 1989 as well as sending their youngsters on exchange trips.

If 1992 was a fluke then Zim were in for a surprise when 1994 the SA Men’s a toured Zim and whitewashed them 3-0 in their own backyard. This was not a poor Zim team .The bulk of it would go onto to win the World Series in Pietermaritzberg 1997 and win it without losing a game. They played SA, NZ and AUS twice each.

So going on the above facts I am not convinced that isolation was such a bad thing. Numbers were high and competion was strong. Which leads to the point of tours. 17 years post isolation we have toured every corner of the polocrosse globe and in turn hosted every nation in one form or another. I think it is safe to say there is no mystery “out there” anymore. There is a balance between no tours and too many tours. Lately we sway towards the latter. Does this affect local polocrosse? I’m sure it does one way or the other and should be discussed at an appropriate forum. Touring costs a lot of money .If you got the Australian Men’s team to play the SA Men’s team in South Africa you would draw a big crowd .I played in the 1992 test matches and there were big crowds especially at Inanda. If you have crowd of 3000 people paying a R50 entry fee you raise R150 000. Watching SA play Ireland, New Zealand or USA does not overly excite the SA polocrosse publics. Fact I was there and did not see many spectators. If you tour, the SA public don’t get to see the match. If you lose then Mr. Polocrosse supporter says he/she did not see it yet paid a contribution to it and gets grumpy. If you present him/her with a weak test match they lose interest. They want to see the heavyweights slug it out. When did we last have a heavyweight test match in South Africa that got people excited? When was the last time South Africa was beaten on home soil? 1997 Quadrangular Series. So we have not been beaten in twelve years on home soil. We are good but hang on if we are that good then how come we have been to Australia 3 times in the last 6 years and returned on every trip empty handed (and “broke”). We are putting our players under massive financial pressure. You promise a young man or lady to tour and represent their country it is very difficult for them to turn it down and yet they are trying to get ahead financially for their future .You must ask the question has this favoured Australia or us? We need to find a balance.

With regards to “super” teams this will not go away until a new structure is put in place. In the mid to late 80’s the Inanda team was the Transvaal team and dominated SA polocrosse but it was ok because they all lived in Joburg. Below is the 1989 SA Club Champs a division draw held at Shongweni clearly indicating one very strong team in their own league. No prizes for guessing that won 1989 SA champ.  Do you notice the 10-goal player? At the end of each decade we produce a 10 goaler and that creates a buzz. End of the 70’s Norman Crookes , 80’s John Mansfield , 90’s Charl Du Plessis , end of the 00’s ??????

When a polocrosse player finishes a weekend he/she asks themselves. Were the facilities comfortable for horse and player and did I play some good competitive polocrosse . No one wants to be thrashed or have an easy ride .

July  2009 Volume 2, Issue 7

IPT 2009 Noodsberg

Open A Benson & Hedges Trophy Championship                     Northerns A

Blue Chip Floating Trophy Handicap                               Mpumalanga A

Ladies A: J Higgs Trophy                                    Championship                      Midlands

Hanover Lane Trophy                         Runners up                           Southerns         

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