The Stanford Polo Club consists of students and faculty associated with Stanford University who learn, practice, play and compete in the sport of polo. The Club mounts both a men's and women's intercollegiate polo team, each of which competes against any of eight other collegiate teams on the west coast and twenty-five other teams across the county.
Anyone affiliated with Stanford University is welcome to join the club, ride, and practice with us. Only undergraduates, however, are allowed to compete intercollegiately.
Recreationally and professionally polo is most often played on a large grass field that is regulation 300 yards long by 160 yards wide, with four players per team. When you think about it, that's a lot of real estate. It's bigger than nine football fields - three long, three wide. As any grounds keeper responsible for watering and mowing a polo field will tell you, it's about 11 acres of grass to maintain. Fortunately, intercollegiate polo is not played on such a large grass field, but instead is played in an arena, not unlike a hockey rink with a dirt surface. Three players per side attempt to score on undefended goals located at either end of the regulation 300 foot wide by 100 feet long arena.
Interested in joining the Stanford Polo Club? No experience is necessary, and each year we have people join who have never ridden a horse before, as well as people who have been riding their entire lives. You can join any time, and feel free to email us at stanfordpoloclub@lists.stanford.edu if you have any further questions.
A chukker (also spelled chukkar or chukkah) refers to a period of play in the game of polo. In field polo, a chukker is 7 minutes long, and there are typically six chukkers in a game. In arena polo, each chukker is 7 and 1/2 minutes, and the game consists of only four chukkers.
No. The home school usually provides the horses for a given game. If two schools are nearby or when tournaments are held, each school typically brings horses to contribute to the pool for all the teams competing.
Intercollegiate polo utilizes a system known as the "split string" to eliminate a school from keeping the good horses for themselves, while giving the less desirable horses to the visiting team. (A string can refer to either those horses kept by a given individual or club, or the horses being used for a particular game. In this case, it's the latter definition.) While there is somewhat of an advantage in knowing and having previously ridden the horses that will be played in a given game, the split string makes it economically feasible for intercollegiate teams to travel and compete against one another. Both teams playing the same horses evens the playing field, so to speak, allowing the skill, talent and teamwork of the squads to be the determining factors in the game. In the "real world" however, it's every player's string for themselves.
The split string requires that the teams trade horses between the 1st and 3rd chukkers, and the 2nd and 4th chukkers, respectively. Six horses are played in each chukker (remember it's 3-on-3 in the arena). In the first chukker, Team "A" plays horses 1, 2, and 3, while Team "B" rides horses 4, 5, and 6. The horses rest during the second chukker, and the teams trade strings for the third chukker, resulting in Team "A" riding horses 4, 5, and 6, while Team "B" rides horses 1, 2, and 3. The same pattern is applied to the 2nd and 4th chukkers with horses 7-12.
Actually, yes. Non-collegiate polo players can spend a lot of money taking care of their horses and buying equipment. One of the great advantages of our club is that we get to enjoy a potentially very expensive sport at a fraction of the cost. Instead of paying for everything ourselves, we use funding from the Stanford Club Sports program and money that we have raised to pay for nearly all of our expenses. Our only expenses are club dues of $200 a quarter. Anyone who has had much experience with horses will realize that this is really quite cheap. Whether you would just like to try polo or just want to ride, we have the cheapest deal around.
It can be, but on the whole collegiate polo is pretty safe. Players acknowledge that the sport has the potential to be dangerous. And how many times have you heard it said that so is crossing the street, or getting out of bed each day? It's true that anytime twenty-four legs, six mallets and a ball are traveling at break-neck speeds (pun intended) there is the possibility of harm for both horse and rider. However, extreme care is taken to minimize the risks.
There are no "off sides" or illegal formations designed to equalize the game or make it more fair. Rather, the rules in the sport of polo are designed primarily for the safety of the horse and rider. Dangerous situations and injuries usually result in a violation of the rules, and it is the responsibility of the two mounted umpires and the referee on the sidelines to maintain order on the field. As in any contact sport, without appropriate enforcement of the rules, chaos can result.