POLOCROSSE WORLD CUP 2011
Though 2 weeks camping in a field with three horses and 2 dogs in wet and windy Rugby may not
seem like everyone’s idea of heaven, it’s what we Carthews love most! Well perhaps not the
camping but rather the chance to play the most exciting and brilliant game on horseback!
This year the UK hosted the Polocrosse World Cup, which takes place every four years and sees
the top 8 countries in the world battle it out for the ultimate title. The International Pony Club
Challenge ran alongside this World Cup with teams from USA, Ireland, England and Great Britain. I
was lucky enough to be selected for the Great Britain team and joined my team mates at Rugby
Polo Club in Onley on the 7th July.
In typical polocrosse fashion, we had the landrover, trailer and my little car packed to the brim
with kit and clutter which would last us the 10 days camping that lay ahead. On arrival we were
greeted by Rugby’s infamous rainstorms however somehow we managed to set up pens, (for the
horses) and tents for ourselves. The next couple of days saw some intensive training and team
bonding sessions with our coach, Tom Simkin. This was a great chance to really get to know one
another properly and learn to play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses in preparation for
our first game against Northern Ireland.
Following a great game against Ireland where we came out the victors with a 10 goal lead we felt
hugely confident, perhaps a little too confident it turned out. Our next game was against England,
our fellow team whom we had trained with and whom we knew very well. After only a chukka we
realised that we had totally underestimated our opposing team who had come out fighting for all
they were worth. We did manage to pull back to several goals making the score 10 -8 however
England were the better team on the day and we’d got a serious reality check! Ultimately this was
possibly the best thing that happened to us as it made us realise how hard we needed to work if
we really wanted to win. We needed to want every game as if it were the final and our chance to
do this was against the USA who we played on the Thursday.
The USA were a great group of people
selected from all over America, on arrival
they were given 10 horses to ride and to
choose from, and right from the word go
they were expected to play these horses as
if they were their own, all credit to them –
they did an excellent job! Fortunately for us
however we had a spectacular game
against them and though not easy we
managed to win the game, 18-11. This
meant (due to goal difference etc) that we were through to the final, where we would face
England again.
The final was possibly the most nerve wracking experience of my life; I think I felt sick for nearly 24
hours (basically as soon as I knew we were in!) however it was also the best. We became EVEN
closer as a team, we had countless team talks and would spend our evenings walking out the
horses together and watching other World Cup matches to pick up tips. So when the day dawned
we were so pumped and ready that we could barely wait to play! Just like our first match we
paraded down the pitch and had the national anthems played for us – I can truly say it was one of
my proudest moments!
The game itself has turned into a sort of blur of horses, rackets, goals and excitement! After the
first chukka, with thanks to my beautiful horse and amazing teammates we were up, 6 goals to
none however in the third chukka I had an accident and Coyote, my horse, went lame and had to
sit out for the rest of the game. With anxious parents and teammates surrounding me we cheered
from the sidelines and when the final whistle went we ran on to celebrate, congratulating the
other team on a really great match as they had really fought back leaving the final score at 13-7 to
us!
This was such an achievement and a truly amazing thing to be a part of. I’d like to thank a number
of my sponsors & supporters, without whom this would not have been possible:
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Simple System – equine nutrition
Brecon & Talybont Hunt Pony Club
Nigel Brown Farrier
B&N Printers
Sandy Douglas
Christ College Brecon
Lillingston
David & Pat Harrison
Black Mountains Smokery
Finally, I’d just like to encourage everyone to have a go at this sport, regardless of what pony you have,
polocrosse is a great sport which once tried is totally addictive!
- Hetta Carthew