With the first ever polo match organised for women, the sport is witnessing a shift in players. However, organisers feel that polo and horses are spectacular but consequently dangerous, demanding and daring
Polo has always been a sport for the elite, so while the men rode stallions and hit the chukker around the field, the women, in their sun hats, pearls and fancy umbrellas, were mere spectators of the game. But times have changed and so have the dynamics of the sport, too.
And this change was evident when Shivani Wazir Pasrich, wife of a polo player, organised the first ever Polo match for women. There were a million questioned that came to our mind and the most important one was how did she conceive the idea of putting together such an event for a sport, largely demarcated for men.
“I believe everything that happens in your life is because it affects you. I have been a polo wife for 18 years now, and have been a rider myself since I was six. So it is was natural for me to be in this environment and relish it. But recently I have become a polo mother, too. My older daughter Ameera who is a national rider and has won many medals in national and international events from dress out and show jumping, to holding the polo mallet. Somewhere, at the back of my mind this motivated me. My little one Ayesha is riding quite intensely. If from no where else, our home stable should be able to provide two future polo players,” she shared.
But getting women polo players was not a mean feat. The first thing that she was asked when she decided was where she would get the players from. She thinks it’s wonderful that people are getting back to horse riding. “When we were kids it was quite the thing to do, not as in being in vogue but simply because your parents did it so you followed their footsteps and did it, too,” she said.
The organiser thinks, that of late, the kind of platforms that are being created in the terms of competition and international opportunities it is very motivating for young people. “So yes, a lot of women are taking in horse riding and I am not sure whether the proportion taking up polo is that great, but when I said that we have an all women’s polo match the first reaction that I got was where are you going to get them fromIJ And even if they are they won’t be good enough. So I am glad that we managed to get them from all over the place like Germany, France, Jaipur, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai and they managed to hold together a chukker, which was quite exciting with Manisha Pattu almost scoring three goals and missing them by literally inches and with Bambi (Avshreya Rudy) making the winning goal. Bambi is today playing on the field with the men in regular matches and doing quite a good job of it. Monica Saxena is doing the same. As far as I see, it is a good picture ahead,” Pasrich explained the game.
According to her, playing polo is more of an organic thing. “It’s not that you go to an institute and say why can’t I try my hands at polo because the toughest thing about the game is its not as easy as it look. If you are not a fantastic rider you will not be able to play. Cycle in polo is something you can always try your hand at you can have fun and you can figure out the rules but the game of polo and horses is something spectacular but consequently dangerous, demanding and daring,” she pointed out.
Pasrich stressed on the fact that a woman should only follow this as a passion and not as a career objective.
This is just the first of its kind event to be oragnised and it is too soon for the organisers to say whether or not the number of women players of polo would increase or not. Most of it also depends on the availability of training institutes and coaches.
So whether the numbers increase or not, whether the game will have more women participants — only time will tell. Till then we can be satisfied with the fact that the change has already begun.