The origins of the game of polo are less certain than the name. It is said to have derived from a game called pique on the island of Champagne. This one dates all the way back to the 14th century. It was one of the favorite pastimes of the British Empire. The game saw less success in the US, quickly losing favor after the Brits lost the Revolution.
We will look at how the game changed over time, and how it has spread around the world.
Polo played with three other people, two working together as a team, and one lone player. The team clue will be whoever gets the ball to the other players on the team. Everyone will work to stop a ball, which is smaller but still attached to a mallet and take it to their teammate on the other side of the field. Losers will have to leave the field and rejoin the game in order to try and win the ball.
The differences in the gameplay are really not significant enough to consider from one game to another. However, rules were lacking, and the scoring rarely reached 20 points. In 1873 the first official rules were published for the game of polo. Like baseball, points were awarded if the mallet is returned to its owner with an error, missed, or caught by the opponent. It was furthermore made illegal to pick up or attempt to chuck the ball with the mallet when you’re already holding it. Finally, if the lymph is lost on the way back up to the throw line and you drop it, you lose the point you’ve scored so far.
The ball was first introduced in 1887 by Charles Goodyear, the first known owner of the Charles Goodyear Arms Company. The first professional polo association, the Goodyear Bears, formed around the same time. The rules were sold to accredited pupils, who helped in writing them and gave them local endorsements. Within a few years, organized polo in the US was a success, gaining a national audience. In 1920, Chuck Goodyear, who was the founder of the Goodyear Rubber Company, bought the Chicago Athletic Club, which happened to be one of the endemic names in polo in the US, and renamed it Goodyear Bears. The name change was a Mistake on the part of Goodyear, since they never actively played in the field they leased, but they used the Enoughreslessness name at the time. The game was therefore extended to other endorsements such as sandwich items from the Chicago Board of Trade. The Chicago Athletic Club (G CPS), officially Goodyear Bears, officially changed its name to Milwaukee Badger polo on January 1, 1925, having served as the model for the polo associations in Minneapolis and Buffalo.
Polo went international in 1925, when the International Polo Contest was formed in Glasgow, Scotland, with seven teams, including the US team. Eventually, the International (ITF) Polo Championships became the largest single international polo event. It is now a proud spectator sport. Play in question is limited to the US, as professional polo is a professional sport, not an amateur game – anyone who sees the polo ball in a professional polo match will agree. In addition, the ITF welcomes players who have studied in one of the leading polo schools in Europe as well.